Current Issues in the Leadership of Change

Catalog description

In addition to access to robust data and a grasp of the core principles for managing change in higher education, senior campus administrators need the skills to make sound judgments in actual situations when data sources are slim and time is short. This course will focus on decision-making when new and emerging changes require quick action—that is, those developments that have little history, past analysis, or experience available to guide the immediate application of core principles to emerging challenges and opportunities. The course will begin by examining key decision points during the COVID 19 period (beginning in February 2020) for better understanding of the many leadership decisions that were made during that period under great pressure. Then the course will examine additional recent issues that continue to require attention by campus leaders but without the advantage of long periods of study. These include the Great Resignation; challenges of hiring faculty in competitive fields such as nursing; reductions in operating budgets, including termination of personnel and cuts in benefits; the effects of volatile interest rates on borrowing, endowment earnings, and prices of fuel and food; unpredictable international enrollment; and decline in alumni donations. Finally, the course will explore several trends with lengthier histories of how higher education leaders have addressed them. Possible topics include demographic changes; curriculum changes in foreign languages and in general education; libraries and technology.