I’m studying for my Social Science class and don’t understand how to answer this. Can you help me study?

For this week’s Discussion, consider the stories told by the faculty and staff in the audio program. Each of these individuals represents a different perspective on issues at their institution. Imagine yourself as a program, department, or division leader at an institution like this. Your concerns are meeting the needs of all students, faculty, and staff in your area, implementing new initiatives or approaches that are likely to improve your area’s effectiveness, and working within budgetary and bureaucratic constraints—priorities that often conflict. You face challenges like those raised by leaders at different institutional levels, as described in your reading in Turnaround Leadership. Use the following questions to guide your Discussion:

• How could an administrator or other leader working with faculty and staff like those in the audio program do a better job of addressing their differing perspectives?
• What leadership challenges have you faced in your work environment? Are these similar to or different from those highlighted in the readings and audio program? What leadership skills appear to be necessary in higher education institutions?
• How do you see people in these roles employing leadership strategies to effect change in the institution?
• Are there common leadership strategies or qualities you can identify in the readings, in the audio program, and in the position announcements you found for the Application Assignment?
• Do people in different roles or at different levels within the institution use different leadership strategies? How?

Posting Instructions

By Day 3

Post your initial response to these questions. Include references or examples from this week’s readings and videos that support your ideas.

Required Readings

Course Readings

Course Text: In Defense of American Higher Education

• Chapter 12, “Governance: The Remarkable Ambiguity” (George Keller)

Book Excerpt: Fullan, M., & Scott, G. (2009). Turnaround leadership for higher education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Turnaround leadership for higher education by Fullan, M., & Scott, G. Copyright 2009 by John Wiley and Sons Inc. Reprinted by permission of John Wiley and Sons, Inc. via the Copyright Clearance Center.

• Chapter 5, “Leadership Capacity for Turnaround” (PDF)

Required Media

Audiocast: “Campus Stories: Faculty and Staff Perspectives” (Approximate running time: 6 minutes)

Audiocast: “Campus Stories: Faculty and Staff Perspectives” (Approximate running time: 6 minutes)
Click here to download a transcript of this audio segment.

In this simulated radio program, we hear the stories of three university staff: a full-time faculty member, an adjunct instructor, and a student services manager. They share their perspectives on changing demands and challenges at their institution.

Start searching out and gathering position announcements and job descriptions in higher education institutions. Browse Internet sites that specialize in higher education jobs and search for at least five position announcements that interest you. If possible, find five that include a reasonably complete job description—duties, responsibilities, and required/desired knowledge, skills, and abilities. In some cases, you may need to visit the Web site of the institution itself to find the job description. Begin with the following sites:

Chronicle of Higher Education – http://chronicle.com/section/Home/5

Higher Ed Jobs – http://www.higheredjobs.com