5 new and noteworthy books for higher ed leaders

Here’s a quick roundup of recommended reading for college and university leaders

How Boards Lead Small Colleges
By Alice Lee Williams Brown, with Elizabeth Richmond Hayford; Johns Hopkins University Press

While the media frequently report on threats facing colleges and universities, no sector of higher education is in more danger than private colleges with small endowments and low enrollments. Numerous small private liberal arts colleges could benefit from careful consideration of characteristics and practices of successful trusteeship.


How to Be a Dean
By George Justice; Johns Hopkins University Press

A deanship in higher education is an exciting but complex job combining technical administration and academic leadership. On one hand, the dean is an institutional leader, standing up for the faculty, staff, and students. On the other, the dean is a middle manager, managing personnel, curriculum, and budgets and trying to live up to the expectations of the governing board, president, and provost. But what is it really like to be a dean?


How to Run a College: A Practical Guide for Trustees, Faculty, Administrators, and Policymakers
By Brian C. Mitchell and W. Joseph King; Johns Hopkins University Press

Residential colleges are the foundation on which US higher education is based. These institutions possess storied traditions fondly cherished by students, alumni, and faculty. There is no denying, however, that all colleges today struggle with changing consumer preferences, high sticker prices, and aging infrastructure. Technological and pedagogical alternatives—not to mention growing political pressure—present complex challenges. What can colleges and smaller universities do to stay relevant in today’s educational and economic climate?


13 Ideas That Are Transforming the Community College World
Edited by Terry U. O’Banion; Rowman & Littlefield

America’s community colleges are experiencing the most creative and substantive period of transformation in their 118-year history. There has never been so much research, so much support from foundations, and so much commitment from national leaders to reimagine community colleges for today and for the future.


Exponential Technologies: Higher Education in an Era of Serial Disruptions
By Darrel W. Staat; Rowman & Littlefield

Exponential Technologies: Higher Education in an Era of Serial Disruptions provides an introduction to leaders in community colleges and universities to the near future impact of technologies that a developing in an exponential manner. Whereas past technologies grew in a linear pattern, gradually, the technologies of the twenty-first century develop in what appears initially to be gradual, almost off to side without much fanfare. However, the gradual process reaches a certain point when it suddenly, without warning, increases in speed phenomenally; it appears to come from nowhere to the surprise of many.

Most Popular