This study, conducted as part of an unfunded research project, presents the findings of an empirical investigation aimed at developing a comprehensive framework of key competencies for heads of academic departments. The framework is designed to support both the preparation of academics for leadership roles and the ongoing development and…

The Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) created a Small Teaching Challenge, leveraging department chairpersons to encourage faculty adoption of evidence-based, small teaching practices. Inspired by James Lang's "Small Teaching" (2016) and previous collaborations with department…

Adjunct faculty at colleges and universities in the U.S. are quickly outnumbering full-time faculty. This new faculty majority often struggles with low pay and sub-par working conditions. Recognizing this issue has a number of negative impacts for higher education, researchers at a comprehensive university in the southeastern United States…

Although graduate academic institutions implement diverse annual review processes, their overall intent is focused on ensuring continuous improvement of program quality (National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment, 2020). Through program review processes, university leaders (e.g., department chairs, program leads) analyze student…

Department chairs play a key role in efforts to diversify higher education, particularly in fields like computer science that face long-standing gender and racial/ethnic gaps. This study considers the role of computer science department chairs in guiding broadening participation efforts and how they make sense of external dynamics that influence…

To accelerate scientific progress by advancing the spread of open access and free and open source software and hardware in academia, this study surveyed university professors in Canada to determine their willingness accept "open source (OS) endowed chair professorships." To obtain such an "open source endowed chair," in…

Using survey data collected from business school deans/accounting department chairs, a scale measuring factors critical to the success of accounting programs and business schools was developed and tested, and perceptions of competitive performance and alignment of strategic priorities were evaluated. Results indicated that dimensions were…

This research investigated followers' expectations of their heads of departments (HoDs) and how they felt about the fulfilment of the expectations within the context of Ghanaian higher education. It further explored the nature of the challenges the HoDs faced as they tried to meet followers' expectations. The research used a phenomenological…

This study measures the perceptions of departmental culture from both the adjunct faculty and departmental administrator perspectives. The preparation for this study included the development of a validated survey designed to collect mirrored perception data from both groups. Multiple factors in higher education have led to an overreliance on…

Since the COVID-19 pandemic struck, schools across the world closed, either periodically or over a considerable time. The OECD reports that during this period, globally, over 1.2 billion children were out of the classroom. As a result, schools moved part or all of their curriculum online, teaching remotely via digital platforms. Evidence suggests…

The University of Central Florida's First-Year Composition Program has sustained its commitment to values-based sustainable development despite a series of significant changes from 2020-2025. In this program profile, we offer four elements of sustainability--social justice, collective action, sociocultural empiricism, and strategic planning--that…

Inclusive education is a useful policy for giving all persons access to education. However, the effectiveness of practice at the school level depends on the commitment of the educators to promote learning for all students. Although teachers are the actual implementers of inclusive education, school leaders are the main drivers of policy practices…

Purpose: Improving the management efficiency of new principals in low-performing schools has important practical value and theoretical significance. Based on organizational socialization theory, this study adopts a single case study method to analyze in-depth the organizational socialization process of a new principal after taking over a…

The purpose of this research was to investigate whether a mid-sized public university could create a more coherent and efficient undergraduate curriculum over a short period of time with minimal resources. We pursued this question using an action research design. Using a curriculum model, we developed that focused on foundational, breadth, and…

Chief academic officers (CAOs) of independent colleges and universities are the principal leaders of their institutions' academic programs. As such, they oversee the core teaching, research, and academic service functions of their colleges and universities. They also often serve as the seconds-in-command of their institutions after the president;…