Understanding University Committees
Understanding University Committees

Author: David A. Farris

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2023-07-03

Total Pages: 229

ISBN-13: 1000978702

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Committees are indispensable to the governance of higher education, yet there is seldom guidance to faculty and administrators on how committees should be conducted or how to maximize committee obligations. This is the first handbook on how both to manage committees and how to engage effectively as members to achieve departmental or broad institutional goals, and how participation valuably contributes to individual learning and advancement.Based on empirical research, organizational theory, and interviews with faculty and administrators, Dr. David Farris provides an informative and vivid examination of the dynamics of committee work, addresses the planning, conduct, roles, composition, and dispositions of members as well as the institutional context and structures in which they operate that are vital to organizational success.Committees are not just laboratories for implementing the vision of university leadership, developing solutions to institutional challenges, and refining organizational procedures; they are the proving ground for future leaders in higher education. How members perform in committees reflects our professionalism, aptitude, integrity, and character – all-important considerations given that we serve as ambassadors for our department, college, office, and colleagues.In offering guidance on good committee practices, a recurring theme of this book is that readers should critically evaluate individual performance and how it impacts others or the committee at large. Too often the locus of control is presumed to be reserved for the chairperson even though significant influence can be exercised through informal leadership, member dispositions, and leveraging social networks.In addition to reviewing the mechanism of committees, David Farris provides practical information regarding the functional application of committees (tactical, operational, or strategic), committee leadership and management, group dynamics that influence committee performance, and the importance of diversity and inclusive committee cultures to institutional performance. Throughout the book he identifies opportunities for faculty and administrators to reflect on their committee experiences, challenges readers to consider how to capitalize on committee experiences, and consider the various ways that committees shape institutional culture and performance.This book provides guidance on how to create committees that are conducive to fair, equitable, and engaging participative decision-making experiences to yield the best results and to promote enthusiasm for participation in committees, whether as chairs or committee members.

How Writing Faculty Write
How Writing Faculty Write

Author: Christine E. Tulley

Publisher: University Press of Colorado

Published: 2018-04-09

Total Pages: 271

ISBN-13: 1607326620

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In How Writing Faculty Write, Christine Tulley examines the composing processes of fifteen faculty leaders in the field of rhetoric and writing, revealing through in-depth interviews how each scholar develops ideas, conducts research, drafts and revises a manuscript, and pursues publication. The book shows how productive writing faculty draw on their disciplinary knowledge to adopt attitudes and strategies that not only increase their chances of successful publication but also cultivate writing habits that sustain them over the course of their academic careers. The diverse interviews present opportunities for students and teachers to extrapolate from the personal experience of established scholars to their own writing and professional lives. Tulley illuminates a long-unstudied corner of the discipline: the writing habits of theorists, researchers, and teachers of writing. Her interviewees speak candidly about overcoming difficulties in their writing processes on a daily basis, using strategies for getting started and restarted, avoiding writer’s block, finding and using small moments of time, and connecting their writing processes to their teaching. How Writing Faculty Write will be of significant interest to students and scholars across the spectrum—graduate students entering the discipline, new faculty and novice scholars thinking about their writing lives, mid-level and senior faculty curious about how scholars research and write, historians of rhetoric and composition, and metadisciplinary scholars.

How University Boards Work
How University Boards Work

Author: Robert A. Scott

Publisher: JHU Press

Published: 2018-01-15

Total Pages: 225

ISBN-13: 1421424940

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An expert guide designed to help university trustees become effective leaders. Honorable Mention for Eric Hoffer Award (Business Category) by The Hoffer Project We expect college and university trustees to hire the president, advise senior staff, manage investments and financial decisions, and oversee major strategic initiatives. Unfortunately, they sometimes come into this powerful role with little or no understanding of what they are meant to do or how their institutions work. How University Boards Work, by Robert A. Scott, is designed to help trustees understand how to fulfill their responsibilities. Written by a widely respected leader in American higher education and former university president, How University Boards Work is the product of personal experience and considerable research. This concise, straightforward guide includes: • an explanation of the difference between governance and management • tips on how best to prepare for board decisions and discussions • examples of positive and negative board behavior • guidance about board professional development • advice on managing transitions between chief executives How University Boards Work will prove an invaluable resource for those responsible for governing colleges and universities, whether privately financed or state funded. It will also be an illuminating read for board secretaries, campus executives and administrators, faculty leaders, alumni volunteers, and public officials, as well as anybody seeking to understand institutional governance in the light of past and current trends in higher education.

Recommended Principles to Guide Academy-Industry Relationships
Recommended Principles to Guide Academy-Industry Relationships

Author: American Association of University Professors American Association of University Professors

Publisher: University of Illinois Press

Published: 2014-02-15

Total Pages: 370

ISBN-13: 0252096584

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The reputation of a college or institution depends upon the integrity of its faculty and administration. Though budgets are important, ethics are vital, and a host of new ethical problems now beset higher education. From MOOCS and intellectual property rights to drug industry payments and conflicts of interest, this book offers AAUP policy language and best practices to deal with all the campus-wide challenges of today's corporate university: • Preserving the integrity of research and public respect for higher education • Eliminating and managing individual and institutional financial conflicts of interest • Maintaining unbiased hiring and recruitment policies • Establishing grievance procedures and due process rights for faculty, graduate students, and academic professionals • Mastering the complications of negotiations over patents and copyright • Assuring the ethics of research involving human subjects. In a time of dynamic change Recommended Principles to Guide Academy-Industry Relationships offers an indispensable and authoritative guide to sustaining integrity and tradition while achieving great things in twenty-first century academia.

Not-for-Profit Audit Committee Best Practices
Not-for-Profit Audit Committee Best Practices

Author: Warren Ruppel

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2006-02-10

Total Pages: 178

ISBN-13: 0471770167

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How can not-for-profit organizations be sure they play by the rules when the rules aren't clear? Due to recent, very public accounting scandals and the resulting Sarbanes-Oxley Act and other regulations, public companies have strict guidance on financial governance and accounting, including the functions and responsibilities of audit committee members. Though not-for-profit organizations are subject to increased scrutiny, there has been no detailed guidance for their audit committees. This book fills the void and helps not-for-profit organizations answer these questions: * In today's skeptical environment, how can responsible financial governance and reporting reassure wary donors and supporters, and perhaps give the organization a competitive advantage? * How should the audit committee be structured? * Which Sarbanes-Oxley requirements (if any) should the audit committee adopt? * Which best practices best fit the organization's structure and financial reporting needs? Complete with checklists, sample questions, and an index for quick reference, Not-for-Profit Audit Committee Best Practices covers: * Different types and unique characteristics of not-for-profit organizations * The audit committee's role in preventing and detecting fraud * Important internal controls and the internal audit function * The relationship of the audit committee and the independent auditor This heads-up, hands-on guide helps audit committee members select and structure appropriate best practices and function in the most effective manner for their unique not-for-profit organizations. It's also a valuable reference for board members, managers, independent auditors, and advisors of not-for-profit organizations.

Understanding Climate's Influence on Human Evolution
Understanding Climate's Influence on Human Evolution

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2010-03-17

Total Pages: 129

ISBN-13: 0309152399

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The hominin fossil record documents a history of critical evolutionary events that have ultimately shaped and defined what it means to be human, including the origins of bipedalism; the emergence of our genus Homo; the first use of stone tools; increases in brain size; and the emergence of Homo sapiens, tools, and culture. The Earth's geological record suggests that some evolutionary events were coincident with substantial changes in African and Eurasian climate, raising the possibility that critical junctures in human evolution and behavioral development may have been affected by the environmental characteristics of the areas where hominins evolved. Understanding Climate's Change on Human Evolution explores the opportunities of using scientific research to improve our understanding of how climate may have helped shape our species. Improved climate records for specific regions will be required before it is possible to evaluate how critical resources for hominins, especially water and vegetation, would have been distributed on the landscape during key intervals of hominin history. Existing records contain substantial temporal gaps. The book's initiatives are presented in two major research themes: first, determining the impacts of climate change and climate variability on human evolution and dispersal; and second, integrating climate modeling, environmental records, and biotic responses. Understanding Climate's Change on Human Evolution suggests a new scientific program for international climate and human evolution studies that involve an exploration initiative to locate new fossil sites and to broaden the geographic and temporal sampling of the fossil and archeological record; a comprehensive and integrative scientific drilling program in lakes, lake bed outcrops, and ocean basins surrounding the regions where hominins evolved and a major investment in climate modeling experiments for key time intervals and regions that are critical to understanding human evolution.