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On Liberal Education, Institutional Budgeting and Critical Thinking: - Publications from The Chronicle of Higher Ed, Change Magazine, Academe, Liberal Education

 
 
 
Academic Leadership Case Studies

Conversations and reflections on case studies refine academic leadership and professional decision making by helping people see assumptions, consequences and options. To maximize the learning potential of case studies, one would be well advised to articulate the reasons for the decisions envisioned as flowing from the principles of good leadership and professional practice. What might really have happened (were these not fictional cases in the first place) is not as important as what should have happened, had the people been wiser about what they took the problems to be or more imaginative regarding finding resolutions.

The events and characters depicted in the short cases presented here are all fictional. The situations, however, are not uncommon. There is more than one reasonable way to approach each case; yet, some ideas about what to do or why to do it are going to be more humane, more prudent, more just, more sensitive to core responsibilities, more practical, more effective in the short and long term, and, hence, frankly, better, than others. There are certainly some serious mistakes a person can make in each case, mistakes with unfortunate consequences for the individuals involved, for the common good, and for the institution. If these cases seem too easy, either you are a knowledgeable, skilled, and wise person, or you may be missing something important! Enjoy.

There are 25 brief fictional cases below. The grouping suggests the organizational and leadership level where the case is has proven to be most helpful. But there are no secrets. You can download cases at every level and enjoy thinking through the issues at hand. Each "case" is really a story with questions interspersed to provide opportunities for problem framing, critical and creative thinking, decision-making, and good judgment. Click on a title to view the case in PDF file format.

The lead author of these cases, Dr. Peter A. (Pete) Facione brings three decades of higher education leadership experience as a Provost, Dean, Director and Department Chair. His higher education writings include essays on budgeting, governance, liberal education, outcomes assessment, faculty evaluation, and critical thinking. He has consulted on-site at over sixty institutions around the country. In 2007 Dr. Facione became a senior strategic associate with Stratus-Heery a higher education consulting firm. To discuss your academic leadership development program needs with Dr. Facione contact him directly at pfacione@measuredreasons.com

The materials below, developed during his years as a faculty member and academic leader, are presented here for the benefit of the higher education community. There are fictional case studies to stimulate conversations as well as workshop materials relating to faculty evaluation and leadership responsibilities.

Permission is granted to make copies of these cases and materials for personal, and strictly noncommercial use, provided that proper citation is made to the author(s) and this website.

Faculty
"Too Busy "       (1 page)

A request from the Chair tips the scales for a colleague trying to balance responsibilities to family and to academia.
"Seven Is Forever"      (1 page)

The tenure clock continues to run as an assistant professor lives as if there is no urgency about using the years wisely.

"Academic Integrity -- Four Vignettes"     (2 pages)

"Another Einstein?" "Just a Quick Question," "Protecting the Standards," and "The Data That Wasn't The Data."
"The Reader of Signs"     (1 page)

A faculty mentor receives an e-mail from an anxious colleague asking for assistance in looking for a job at a different institution.

"The Decomposing Constructivist"     (1 page)

A faculty mentor must figure out how to help a colleague who seems to have serious classroom management problems.

"The Holiday Blues"     (2 pages)

A phone call from a student raises questions about a colleague's integrity and good judgment. What to do?

"Grade, Grade Me Good"       (1 page)

A faculty member must respond to a student who complains about a grade, asserts the faculty member is being arbitrary, and believes a much higher grade is essential.
Chairs
"The Core Course Setback"     (2 pages)

A faculty colleague fails to complete a curricular project of vitally importance to the future of the department.
"The Defenders of the Right"    (2 pages)

A student, encouraged by a faculty member, appeals to the Chair to change a final grade assigned by an obstreperous professor.

"The Innocent Gift"    (2 pages)

A faculty member gives an administrative assistant a gift as compensation for unauthorized overtime work.

"Moonlight and Sunshine"    (2 pages)

Faculty moonlighting causes hard feelings in the department and creates potential conflicts of interest.

"Between the Rock and a Hard Place"    (2 pages)

A Chair tries to sort out the rights and responsibilities of the departmental administrative assistant vis-à-vis the expectations of different departmental faculty.

Chairs and Deans

 

 "Clearing Trees and Planting Seeds"    (3 pages)

A Chair seeks the Dean's advice on making a very difficult colleague take on a needed assignment.

"Rumors and Ruminations"    (2 pages)

Senior faculty from different departments compare inconsistent interpretations of college budget policy.
"Eye of the Beholder"    (1 page)

The new Chair's evaluation of an untenured faculty colleague is seriously inconsistent with the past Chair's.
"You Can't Copyright an Idea"     (1 page)

An angry and aggrieved assistant professor accuses a senior colleague of plagiarizing research.

Deans and Associate Dean Leadership Teams

 "The Dean Team"   (2 pages) 

The strength of an established leadership team is threatened by divergent expectations and aspirations.
"Let Me Count the Ways"    (2 pages)

A good Associate Dean struggles with the approaches taken by a newly appointed Dean.
Deans

"The Powerdiving Probationer"    (3 pages)

A new assistant professor alienates almost all departmental colleagues in record time.
"The Evaluation Appeal"     (2 pages)

A faculty member appeals an unfavorable departmental evaluation on grounds of both merit and disability.
"Welcome Back, Popper"     (1 page)

Just before the term starts the Dean learns that a tenured professor, whose courses are fully enrolled, may need a disability leave relating to substance abuse.

"Friends and Family"     (1 page)

A Chair's enthusiasm for hiring a talented friend threatens to generate multiple problems.
"Never Again: The Promotion Denial"     (2 pages)

A new President, seeking to raise standards, denies promotion to a long serving associate dean whom the Dean wants to support.

Chief Academic Officers

 

 

 "The One-time Budget Fix"     (2 pages)

An in-basket awash in budget problems leads the Vice President seriously to consider selling parts of the curriculum.
"Serving the Stockholder's Interests"     (1 page)

An influential benefactor and an angry President demand that an offending assistant professor be summarily fired.

"The Free Market of Ideas"      (2 pages)

Questions of intellectual property rights and curricular control emerge when a star professor's course is sold.
"The Husband's Wife's Professor"     (2 pages)

The husband's attorney demands that college take steps to end an alleged affair between the wife and her professor.

 

 

Academic Leadership Workshop Materials

Faculty, Chairs, and Deans

 "Eleven Faculty Evaluation Vignettes and a Rubric for Faculty Evaluation"      (12 pages)

Peer evaluation is a vital professional responsibility of faculty. Clarify expectations, develop consistent standards of evaluation, and surface areas for potential policy development by applying the five-level faculty evaluation rubric to the vignettes.
Chairs and Deans "A Dozen Questions for Chairs"     (1 page)

A series of questions for conversation and reflection that expand the horizons of one's vision of the leadership opportunities for department Chairs.
Deans and Academic Vice Presidents "Areas of Professional Leadership Responsibility"
(1 page)

A list of areas of potential responsibility for those academics of vision who would be leaders, and not merely managers or administrators.

"Planning a Chair Retreat"      (2 pages)

Topics and ideas for designing a leadership retreat for one's department Chair colleagues.

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