August 2015
Even though Mother Nature doggedly claims that summer is still around, many of you are already in the throes of the fall term.
To affirm that you are not alone and to share how your colleagues approach similar situations, the RP Group is launching two series:
1. Leading from the Middle's "Making Change from the Middle" series features profiles about community college middle leaders working to strengthen their students' success and the effectiveness of their institution. These individuals include a range of positions--faculty, department chairs, directors, deans, student services professionals, researchers, and classified staff--who find themselves with either formal or unofficial leadership responsibilities. When considering how decisions are made and action occurs in our colleges, we often focus on executive leadership and the role these individuals play. However, precious little exists about middle leaders who lead and sustain many critical initiatives within the community colleges. You can read the first one here.
We are working to develop this group of critical change makers through our Leading from the Middle Academy. We aim for these stories about middle leaders-- what they do and how they work--to expand our understanding of institutional leadership and to inspire readers to consider their own role in ensuring their college's success. Contact Robert Gabriner (gabriner@sfsu.edu) to share your thoughts.
2. Perspectives will feature an ongoing firsthand account of using a set of MOOCs for professional development. Erik Cooper, Dean of Planning, Research, and Resource Development at Sierra College will document his experiences in enrolling in the Data Science sequence via Coursera. You can read his introductory piece in this issue.
Welcome to an early fall...we hope you can find some lingering bits of summer in the coming month.