Many institutions and academic units are seeking to make their curriculum more interdisciplinary, but lack the necessary infrastructure to make this happen. There is also a great deal of variability in terms of what an interdisciplinary curriculum can look like. This report adds value by providing an overview of how interdisciplinary education is taking shape in higher ed, diagnosing key challenges, and providing examples of how other institutions have approached this work.
In large part because of the funding opportunities it occasions, interdisciplinary research—and finding ways to facilitate more of it –is high on the priority list today for many institutions. But because academe has historically prized discipline-specific research and individual scholarship over collaboration, facilitating more interdisciplinary research opportunities on campus can be challenging. This report is meant to explore some of these key complications and suggest strategies to help academic leaders and research development professionals navigate these challenges. It will be of most benefit to institutions, centers, or departments that are just getting started in the interdisciplinary research space, and who want to gain a better understanding of the challenges and barriers they are likely to encounter.
Higher ed is facing an unprecedented demand for student mental health services. In response, many institutions are in the process of building toward scalable, multi-prong solutions to help meet this demand and are in need of information on common challenges and best practices that have worked for others in bolstering services. The purpose of this report is to help you think more broadly and creatively about your own institutional approach to student mental health.
The silo mentality that often exists on our campuses often limits our collective actions, and creates redundancy and replication. Given shrinking resources and the rapid pace of change, the siloed approach to team building and decision making is neither strategic nor feasible. We must work collaboratively to utilize the collective talents of our campus stakeholders. And learning to build high performing teams is one of the most effective ways we can meet the many challenges that confront us. If a senior leader can build a stellar team, the organizational leverage that can be achieved is powerful and can be a game changer for a campus. In this scenario: Stakeholders understand that cross-boundary collaboration is expected and supported by the actions of the senior team, because they model the way. Campuses are able to solve complex challenges because people work together to manage these challenges. People share resources, ideas, attention and effort, recognizing that the team, not just some individuals on it, really matter in serving the mission and vision of their campus. We have had the opportunity to work with scores of senior teams in higher education. Almost always, these teams were comprised of highly intelligent, dedicated, honest, and mission-driven individuals. But […]
Higher education will face daunting and complex challenges over the next decade, and campuses will need high-performing teams, especially a high-performing senior team, in order to face those challenges. Building and nurturing a great team is a daunting and noble task for any leader. It takes courage and care, perspiration and aspiration, and investment of time and attention—all of which are in short supply on campuses. The good news is that the effort is almost always worth it because an exceptional team can do amazing work. It makes the campus feel alive and energized. People talk about all the possibilities that can be realized. The gift that a stellar senior team gives their campus is that they model the way for others, not with platitudes and pontifications, but with a more powerful teaching model—their actions. The senior team’s behavior has a trickle-down effect: if everyone on the senior team learns how to operate as a real team, they can then teach their direct reports how to be a real team. Those direct reports can, in turn, teach their own direct reports. This cascading learning process creates extraordinary leverage throughout campus. We have examined several campuses that have great teams at […]
As the landscape of higher education becomes more competitive than ever, mergers, partnerships, and other institutional combinations are becoming a reality for a large number of colleges and universities. This report was written to help higher ed leaders proactively learn about what goes into a merger or partnership on the front end and to share critical lessons learned from leaders who have already been through this process. Read this report to better understand and evaluate your own institutional readiness for a merger, acquisition, or strategic partnership.
