Research exploring the challenges department chairs face has long suggested the role is difficult and lacks tangible reward (Buller, 2012, 2015; Gmelch et al., 2017). Yet, as higher education demographics, settings, and organizational expectations change and chairs function in more uncertain and increasingly complex institutional environments, it…

Higher education institutions in Cameroon have undergone a major transformation (since the 1993 reforms) with a major objective to improve on the quality of graduates. However, concerns about leaders who are central to the implementation of these reforms have not been taken seriously. We live in a,multicultural context, especially in Cameroon with…

As institutions seek to shift into more advanced analytics and data-based decision-support, many institutional research offices face the challenge of meeting the office's current demands while taking on more intricate and specialized work to support decision-making. Given the great need organizations have for information that supports real-time…

The Maryland State Board of Education and Maryland State Department of Education are developing a multiyear Strategic Plan that will be released in three phases leading up to June 2023. The Strategic Plan will anchor the vision, mission, values, priorities, enablers, goals, and flagship programs, initiatives, and strategies to realize the…

The Maryland State Board of Education and Maryland State Department of Education are developing a multiyear Strategic Plan that will be released in three phases leading up to June 2023. The Strategic Plan will anchor the vision, mission, values, priorities, enablers, goals, and flagship programs, initiatives, and strategies to realize the…

As we move into the second decade of the twenty-first century, educational institutions and especially colleges of education have been under a lot of pressure to update, change, and relook at the way they deliver teacher educational practices. In the process, state departments of education (DOEs) are perceived to be micromanaging these…

The evaluation of teaching quality is a concern for leaders in higher education. Faculty supervisors must make recommendations for hiring, promoting, and rendering tenure decisions for faculty members. In addition, they must deal with problem faculty and decide how to address faculty misbehavior. Oversight and management of faculty teaching…

This article develops and implements an agile management approach in higher education. Such an approach follows core practices, such as project plans. The project manager has to identify the agility drivers that represent changes and pressures; prioritize agility capabilities to take advantage of changes; identify agility providers to obtain…

This case study describes a collaborative decision-making process for developing effective academic accommodations for a music major with a disability, whose prior accommodations suggested by the Disability Support Services (DSS) failed to address her needs. Cross-departmental collaboration between the DSS and the School of Music, as well as…

This paper deals with policymaking in the higher education sector as an activity which happens on many levels, with many and varying interests involved. As the present thematic issue highlights, language is present in higher education policymaking, whether explicitly or implicitly. This special issue's initial claim is that "Policy is what…

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…

For the study we report here we used the theoretical framework of organizational justice to examine academic administrator's perceptions of resource distribution decisions. We asked deans, school directors, and department chairs in one midwestern state about their perceptions of the fairness and likelihood of use of various distribution principles…

Within the scope of leadership and management, decision making greatly defines the role of university administrator, in particular, the university department head and his/her ability to be a reflective practitioner in the realm of decision making. Decision making is one characteristic of university department head work which warrants close…

Institutions of higher education are entering a new era, one where cost, value, and quality are at the front of mind. To proactively ensure long-term viability, institutions must operate differently. This qualitative case study examined how the St. Alexander University School of Education's Annual Report Process impacted institutional…

The academic department chairperson continues to face significant challenges in the administration of the contemporary university. Due to retrenchment resultant from the 2008 Global Financial Crisis (GFC), higher education has already faced significant financial cutbacks, and more reductions seem inevitable. Particularly susceptible are…