Implementing Sustainable Change in Higher Education
This book offers formal and informal leaders at all levels of their institution theory-informed and practical guidance on implementing and sustaining change through collaborative leadership. The framework and concepts presented are applicable at the department, program, campus, or system level to guide minor, incremental, or transformative change.Achieving a shared organizational vision can be a daunting challenge, given the multiple missions of higher education, varied and often conflicting stakeholder viewpoints, siloed organizational structures, traditions of shared governance, and a highly educated workforce bringing together colleagues with diverse disciplinary perspectives. Achieving these aims requires taking into account the organization’s systems and values and the needs and aspirations of corresponding stakeholders across the enterprise. Ruben provides a guide for achieving and sustaining these goals in an engaged and collaborative manner.Employing the author’s widely used Excellence in Higher Education (EHE) framework, this book offers principles and practices relative to change, collaboration, and organizational vision that can greatly enhance the prospects for effective outcomes, highlighting three key themes:·Understanding and leveraging the dynamics of change. ·Leading collaboratively, and meaningfully engaging one’s colleagues. ·Adopting and pursuing a shared vision of organizational purpose and aspirations.The book is intended for faculty and staff who want to advance the effectiveness and impact of their program, department, and institution, and to do so in a way that creates a shared vision to sustain these benefits into the future. It serves as a text for the growing number of leadership development programs, and for courses with a focus on higher education leadership.