L Milne's List: Faculty Leadership

• The concept of leadership has been around for centuries beginning with Plato’s belief that leaders are created based on his or her class position, whereas, current leaders are created based on his or her relationships with other individuals. In August 1994, 54 researchers from 38 countries gathered for the first GLOBE research conference, and during this conference the researchers came to a consensus on the universal definition of leadership (House, Javidan, & Dorfman, 2001): the ability of an individual to influence, motivate, and enable others to contribute toward the effectiveness and success of the organizations of which they are members. A leader’s upbringing, life experiences, and daily interactions define his or her leadership style. The difference between a   good leader and a   great leader is his or her ability to adapt to change (Collins, 2001). Good leaders tend to follow his or her leadership plans even when the leadership plan is not working, but a great leader will adjust his or her leadership plans accordingly.
• This paper used the scholarship, practice, and leadership model to determine the future effectiveness of transformational, transactional, contingent, and charismatic leadership styles through knowledge management, informatics / innovations and rapid change, and ethics.

• Yet while it has outlasted many other higher education reforms, assessment of student learning (arguably) seems to have stalled as a vehicle for transforming higher education. Yes, data collection is happening in many places and there are pockets of excellence (e.g., Alverno College, Truman State), but assessment is hardly a mature endeavor, tied in to the planning and budgeting processes, retention and tenure expectations, or the culture of much of higher education (Wright 2002). Much assessment focuses on student satisfaction and post-college success (as opposed to actual learning), while few investigations of learning address high-level or complex cognitive skills (Peterson and Vaughan 2002).
• Much assessment takes place because of accreditation expectations, conducted with a compliance mentality and doing little to transform faculty or institutional practice.
• Angelo (2002) argues that for a scholarship of assessment to thrive, we must align faculty culture, institutional structures, and leadership for change.
• It is up to us as leaders to create a climate where it is not accreditation that drives assessment, but rather a process of inquiry (driven and owned by faculty) that also fulfills accreditation requirements.
• nstitutions must also attend to professional development that will help faculty build a common language and practice of assessment. At one institution, we used weekly learning communities to build faculty skills in effective assessment; department representatives learned about assessment together and then mentored their department colleagues. At another institution, we held monthly workshops where multiple faculty from departments came together for skill-building and shared work time. Faculty valued this approach for the time it gave them to collaborate. Whether it is one of these or some other model, institutions should use ongoing professional development to give faculty the tools for assessment success.
• Still, institutions should identify one or more faculty members to facilitate or coordinate assessment. Assessment leaders do not need to excel in statistics and measurement; this idea is a misconception based on a focus on the mechanics of working with data.
• Assessment leaders must be able to conceptualize a system, bring people together around a vision, and build cross-unit partnerships that support faculty work. They should be able to orchestrate the process of assessment, helping faculty see and realize the vision of assessment for improvement rather than accountability.
• These assessment leaders should be able to communicate and support the attainment of basic expectations for effective assessment
• This assessment leader should also be visible. He or she should be able to communicate the values of assessment and the plan for moving forward, as well as reach out to faculty to engage in professional development and share resources. Moreover, he or she should be committed to soliciting the feedback of faculty as assessment work unfolds. Giving faculty clear channels through which they can raise questions about assessment, share concerns, and evaluate the effectiveness of the effort is essential to turning reluctance into buy-in.
• These leaders cannot be expected to do their work on top of existing faculty duties.

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• Although this change process was used in a management and marketing   department, the dynamics of change are the same in any department.   A leader is needed, one who ca manage resistance and conflict so   that the department is strengthened and faculty are revitalized   rather than demoralized by the process.