About 10 years ago, the academic deans and academic directors that make up the University Council on Teaching and Faculty Development at Tufts University noticed a problem. Academic leaders weren’t given the training and support they needed to excel in their positions. It was not a particularly unique problem—lots of institutions expect new leaders to magically know how to navigate the complexities of their new positions—but it was one in which they were committed to solving.
Connections Are Everything: Putting Relationships at the Heart of Higher Ed
As academic leaders, we are under so much pressure to deliver—enrollment targets, strategic plans, graduation rates, AI policies, and on and on—that we can lose sight of what our students