Effective Practices for Academic Leaders: Leading Change Through Assessment

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Executive SummaryWith increasing public demands for accountability, there is a need to collect and present evidence of the effectiveness of practices and outcomes in higher education. Transformational leadership can facilitate the use of such evidence to improve programs and services that positively influence student learning. This form of leadership can be initiated top-down by presidents, chief academic officers, deans, and department chairs and/or bottom-up by students, faculty, staff, and other stakeholders. This briefing explores the leadership styles and insights about assessment of top administrators from eleven colleges and universities nationwide that have established reputations for good practice in outcomes assessment. In interviews with these leaders, we examine their perspectives on the following aspects of assessment: the vision, barriers, risks, methods of stakeholder engagement and support, collection and application of data, and sustainability of the process. Emergent themes in leading institutional change through assessment include the need for collaboration among administrators, faculty, and student affairs professionals, adequate training, recognition, and rewards for faculty and staff, and incorporation of assessment data into strategic plans, annual reports, budget hearings, and program reviews.