Innovative Leadership Strategies in Higher Education
The following recommends two books relevant to general higher education practice. Rational for these choices is provided.
The first book, "Leadership in Continuing and Distance Education in Higher Education" by Shoemaker (1998) is recommended. This book is designed to meet the needs of adults aged 22 years to 75+ years who are pursuing higher education. The book provides information related to the continuing education and distance education program. The book provides ways to motivate staff and develop liaisons, methods to build resources and budgets, resources to manage change and create effective work groups, techniques and tools, and a review of innovative programs. Samples of documents and reports are also provided with a list of relevant organizations worldwide. This book is an important resource for adults and educators (leaders) in higher education. The book is a useful tool to help leaders motivate their staff with guidelines for strategies to develop effective collaboration and tools (questionnaires, diagrams, models, charts, diagrams) for daily work.
This book is important since distance education has become more popular in the 21st century (Garrison, 2000). Garrison pointed out that advances in technology have pushed distance education practices to the forefront in higher education. Despite these changes, educational leaders may lack an adequate understanding of technology and the full range of related possibilities. Garrison stated that the field of education is changing from a focus on organizational and structural issues to transactional issues. Educational leaders must learn how to communicate with distance education approaches. The new leader must be technically literate as well as politically powerful. The leader must understand distance education practices and possibilities.
Garrison (2000) reported that new programs bring with them new...