Leading Academic Change : Vision, Strategy, Transformation

Written by a sitting college president who has presided over transformative change at a state university, this book takes on the big questions and issues of change and change management, what needs to be done and how to do it. Writing in a highly accessible style, the author recommends changes for higher education such as the reallocation of resources to support full-time faculty members in foundation-level courses, navigable pathways from community college to the university, infusion rather than proliferation of courses, and the role of state universities in countering the disappearance of the middle class. The book describes how these changes can be made, as well as why we must make them if our society is to thrive in the twenty-first century.

Elaine P. Maimon is the fifth president of Governors State University (GSU); she has lead the university in creating seamless pathways to student success, earning GSU the 2015 ACE/Fidelity Investments Award for Institutional Transformation. Dr. Maimon came to GSU with considerable administrative and faculty experience: Chancellor, University of Alaska Anchorage; Vice President, Arizona State University, where she led the West Campus; Dean of Experimental Programs, Queens College (CUNY); Associate Dean of the College, Brown University; Associate Vice President, Arcadia University (Beaver College); and Assistant Professor of English, Haverford College.

An expert in the teaching of writing and a founder of Writing Across the Curriculum, Dr. Maimon has published many books, including A Writer's Resource (6th edition). Her numerous awards include the Donna Shavlik Award for Women’s Leadership in Higher Education (ACE, 2014) and the Chicagoland ATHENA Leadership Award (2014).

Elaine's professional website is www.elainemaimon.com.

A Checklist for Transformative Leaders by Elaine Maimon, from The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Designing Higher Ed for a Healthy Democracy: How one institution made the shift to helping underserved students reach their academic goals, from University Business Magazine.

Carol Geary Schneider has been president of the Association of American Colleges and Universities since 1998.