Review of Bridging the Gap: Leadership, Technology, and Organizational Change for University Deans and Chairpersons (Paperback)

Bridging the Gap is a book whose audience is a relatively small niche but that niche effects a large portion of our society. This book is aimed at the middle layer of leaders in the colleges of the United States; specifically deans and department chairs. These are the people that affect change in colleges and universities from a powerful but less visible position because they are part of the decision making process in upper management and are the sounding board for those in the trenches of the lecture halls.

The editors approach the book in three parts. They begin with an overview of change theory laying a foundation that essentially states that being the conduit for positive change is one of the most important jobs these leaders have. The second part of this book consists of actual case studies. They have interviewed a number of deans and chair people from a variety of colleges and gotten their story regarding the joys, pitfalls and politics of making positive change a reality in this environment. The final section has a summary and suggested strategies that one might use in the college environment to lead as those who were interviewed have done.

I found this book to be very helpful and surprisingly insightful. I am new to the academic political hierarchy and now I am better prepared to seek out and pay attention to what I truly need to know. I also have a better understanding of where my strengths lie and what to keep in check. In some ways colleges, like so many companies, are going through growing pains as they keep up with the technological advances that force the old guard to change the way they do business, competition is simply too great to ignore the wired world of the 21st century. Additionally, I was surprised at how many academic leaders have no formal management or leadership training. They have simply grown through the ranks.

This book provides many perspectives and a suite of useful advice. If you are interested in being a leader or understanding what it takes to get things moving in the college environment I would highly recommend Bridging the Gap.


Product Description
When we think of leadership - in academe or elsewhere - we tend to envision it coming either from the very top or from the grassroots level. But as Michael Johnson, Donald Hanna, and Don Olcott, Jr., write in Bridging the Gap, "the most important leadership in the academy emanates from the center" - that is, from you and your colleagues who serve as the chairpersons of academic departments or the deans of academic divisions. "Deans and chairpersons seldom get the glory and the press," the authors note, "but they and their units are the heart and soul of the modern college and university."

As a dean or chair, you have an enormous responsibility - and opportunity - to lead dynamic change within your unit. But how do you do that without alienating your faculty colleagues and throwing out what's already working? How do you mix the best of the old with the best of the new? The key is to simultaneously manage three interconnected dimensions of organizational change in the academic setting: leadership, technology, and culture.

Bridging the Gap shows you how to do just that - using a theoretical perspective in the early chapters followed by a unique practical approach in the later chapters that features the real-life experiences and advice of deans and chairpersons who were interviewed specifically for this book.

About the Author
Michael J. Johnson currently serves as Associate Professor of Educational Administration at the University of Alaska Anchorage. He has authored numerous articles on the use and impact of technology on education working for a number of foundations and professional organizations. In the last few years he has developed online mediated advanced degree programs at two universities and several educational technology institutes for university administrators in the western states. Prior to returning to higher education, he served as Director of Strategic Initiatives, Western Region Higher Education, for Apple Computer in the 14 western states. Contact information: Michael Johnson, Associate Professor of Educational Leadership, University of Alaska Anchorage, 3211 Providence Dr., Anchorage, AK 99508.

Donald E. Hanna is Professor of Educational Communications, University of Wisconsin-Extension. He has been an administrator and a faculty member at four U.S. land-grant universities and was the recipient of a Kellogg National Leadership Fellowship. Dr. Hanna served as Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Extension (1993-1997) and previously was Director of Continuing Education and Public Service (1983-87) and Associate Vice-Provost for Extended University Services (1987-1993) at Washington State University and Professor of Adult and Continuing Education. An author of numerous articles, chapters, and books. Hanna received, with co-author and editor Colin Latchem, the 2001 UCEA Wedemeyer Award for the best book in the field of distance learning for Leadership for 21st Century Learning. Contact information: Donald E. Hanna, Professor of Educational Communications, University of Wisconsin-Extension, 432 Lake Street, Room 213, Madison, WI 53706.

Don Olcott, Jr. is the Executive Director, Division of Extended Programs, at Western Oregon University. Dr. Olcott is also President of Harmony James Associates, specializing in higher education and distance learning planning, development, and evaluation consulting. Don was the 2000 University Continuing Education Association's (UCEA) Gayle B. Childs award recipient for exemplary long-term leadership, scholarship, and applied contributions to the field of continuing and distance learning. Dr. Olcott received the 1998 Charles Wedemeyer Outstanding Distance Learning Practitioner in North America award from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and The American Center for the Study of Distance Education. Contact information: Don Olcott, Jr., Executive Director, Division of Extended Programs, Western Oregon University, Monmouth, OR 97361.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Bridging the Gap: Leadership, Technology, and Organizational Change for University Deans and Chairpersons (Paperback)