Nine higher education institutional administrators who embraced and supported OER (Open Educational Resources) implementation on their campuses were interviewed. As a generic, qualitative, inductive study, the goal of the research was to uncover what motivated them to lend their time and energy to such an initiative; how they perceived the value…

This applied dissertation was designed to explore the communication between higher education leaders and faculty at the department level in the United States at a southeastern higher education institution. The study sought to explore (a) the communication relationship between leaders and followers; (b) commitment to the organization; and (c)…

One of the most overlooked and complex problems that universities and colleges face nation-wide is how to reduce and eliminate research misconduct. Because of the confidential nature of allegations of research misconduct and the high rate of underreporting, administrators at scholarly institutions struggle with understanding the cause of such…

A national sample of 1515 university administrators (academic deans, directors, associate deans, and department chairs) completed a survey of leadership skills, preparedness for administrative role, and job satisfaction. Overall, participants felt least well prepared in the areas of developing entrepreneurial revenue, developing metrics to…

Through the study of leadership, the concept of leadership effectiveness and its importance has emerged. Effective leadership contributes to successful organizations (Amagoh, 2009; Leithwood, Jantzi, & Steinbach, 1999). According to Gordon & Yukl (2004), because of constantly changing environments, it is important to continue research in…

Colleges and universities looking to recruit leaders from within the faculty ranks will face more and more difficulty. From their respective positions--as a provost (Janel) and a search consultant (Dennis)--they often hear senior executives in higher education say that building a new generation of faculty leaders will be a major challenge in the…

This study examined the perceptions and concerns of current academic department chairs as they consider the transition to full responsibilities as a faculty member after the completion of a term in this leadership role. Currently, little research has focused on the dynamics of this transition process. Findings indicated that most department chairs…

This article uses three frames of analysis, each with gendered implications, to interpret the author's narrative of experience as a department chair (head of department) in a Canadian university from 1999 to 2002. The narrative is based not only on memory but on transcripts of interviews conducted with the author at various points during her term…

Objective: Being successful in the role of an Interim Chair requires an approach to transitional leadership that is different from that of individuals filling the Chair role permanently. This article reviews pertinent literature on the topic. Method: The author reviewed the literature, cited pertinent articles, and supplemented with personal…

This exploratory study of department chairs, deans, and faculty at extensive research public universities in Florida resulted in the identification of 85 future competencies of department chairs using a human resources perspective. Results include a discussion of the top 20 most important competencies and the top 20 competencies anticipated to be…

Research leadership in Australian universities takes place against a backdrop of policy reforms concerned with measurement and comparison of institutional research performance. In particular, the Excellence in Research in Australian initiative undertaken by the Australian Research Council sets out to evaluate research quality in Australian…

Background: Over the last decade, several factors have placed faculty workloads in higher education under scrutiny. Improvements in technology and increases in the numbers of participants in higher education have lead to increased costs, which have largely been absorbed by the taxpayer. The increase in the diversity among students attending…

This study seeks to better understand why faculty accept or resist seeking academic leadership positions such as dean or director, associate dean, or department chair. It seeks to improve understanding of the attitudes faculty hold about administration, the barriers they see to moving into administrative roles, and the reasons some choose an…

Although academia is becoming more like business in many respects--not all of them positive--it has not borrowed one of the best attributes of business culture: its tradition of developing leadership through succession planning. As a result, much talent is underutilized. This includes, most prominently, that of women and minorities, who tend not…

Promoting academic departmental productivity requires vision, passion, and sensitivity while coping with the rapid pace of change. This paper presents 10 proven strategies for managing some common challenges faced by academic department chairs: (1) building a sense of family purpose; (2) establishing mechanisms to assure accountability; (3)…