Today’s community college president needs to find a point of balance that supports external visibility as the executive leader alongside internal recognition as the academic leader of the institution. Read about strategies for the new president to stay in touch by Charles R.Dassance and Ruby Evans in the May Leadership Abstracts.
** To view the web version of this abstract, in printer friendly layout, go to https://www.league.org/publication/abstracts/leadership/labs0405.htm **
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Seven Strategies for Presidents to Stay in Touch With Teaching and Learning by Charles R.Dassance and Ruby Evans
In the early history of higher education in America, the college president was clearly the academic leader of the institution. In some cases, the president was the only employee, leaving little room for doubt about the president’s role as the chief academic officer for the college.
Organizational charts of contemporary community colleges have evolved to accommodate multilevel, often complicated administrative structures that seemingly obscure the main mission of the community college: teaching to facilitate student learning. Accordingly, today’s community college president needs to find a point of balance that supports external visibility as the executive leader alongside internal recognition as the academic leader of the institution.
We offer seven fundamental strategies that presidents can use to keep in touch with teaching and learning.
STRATEGY 1: Be informed on the theory of teaching and learning. The
president should demonstrate knowledge of current literature on teaching and learning. When engaged in dialogue with faculty and administrators, the president should be familiar with curricular innovations and reforms regarding the teaching and learning process. For example, what’s happening with brain research, technology use, or collaborative learning strategies that is exciting faculty practitioners? Yes, we have a lot on our plates. But teaching and learning deserves our focus. The good news is that the remaining strategies help us stay better connected.
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Dr. Susan Salvador
Office for Student Services
05/19/2004 |