Leadership and Strategic Planning

• Strategic Planning in Higher Education
• Mission/Vision Development
• Change Management
• Leadership Assessment
• Center Roundtable
• Academic Leadership Program (ALP)
• Contemporary Issues in Leadership Series
• E-Leadership Forum

Effective leadership is central to the success of any organization. ODL programs in this area focus on establishing organizational vision and values, sharing information on contemporary leadership issues, principles and strategies, developing plans, and sharing information on effective organizational practices. For further information or questions, contact us at center@odl.rutgers.edu .

Strategic Planning in Higher Education

Strategic planning is vital for clarifying an organization's mission, vision, and goals, and for establishing measurable goals and action plans. The process includes the design of communication strategies. The Center provides an innovative approach that parallels and complements the Excellence in Higher Education program. The ODL strategic planning program uses a modular approach to assessment-based planning that allows an organization to follow a step-by-step process tailored to its particular planning needs.

Mission/Vision Development

Having a clear and shared understanding of the mission and goals of academic and administrative units is a critical component of leadership, and a necessary step in effective planning. ODL offers strategies, methods, and assistance with this process.

ODL also offers assistance to units in establishing action steps that translate their mission, future aspirations, and priorities into ambitious yet realistic goals.

Change Management

The Center provides workshops, materials, and professional assistance with programmatic, structural, or technological change in academic and administrative units. Programs in this area consider concepts and models of organizational change, and provide guidance in collaborative strategies for leaders undertaking change initiatives within their units.

Most departments find it helpful to make use of an independent facilitater to help move such change initiatives forward. ODL provides customized facilitation of small group and staff meetings, retreats and planning sessions, organizational climate assessment and improvement planning, focus groups, and other individual department gatherings. For more information or to set up a meeting to discuss your needs, contact Sherrie Tromp at tromp@odl.rutgers.edu.

Leadership Assessment

ODL offers academic and administrative leaders an approach for gathering feedback from colleagues on accomplishments and areas that need improvement. The assessment framework allows leaders to adapt a standard leadership questionnaire to the specific questions, needs, issues, or priorities of particular leaders or departments. The approach also includes a process for analyzing, reviewing, and using feedback results.

Center Roundtable

Effective leadership today, whether in higher education, business, healthcare, or government, requires an understanding of contemporary leadership concepts, a familiarity with effective leadership practices across sectors, and competency in an array of personal leadership strategies and skills.

Leadership challenges include creating and maintaining a culture that supports and encourages excellence, promoting the development of leadership capability throughout an organization, and creating workplaces that are increasingly less defined by brick and mortar structures, and more by colleagues bound together in practice communities through the use of communication and information technology.

The Center Roundtable is a forum for dialogue and information exchange among faculty and staff and leaders in education, business, healthcare, and government on these and other relevant issues.

The Roundtable is designed to address the ever-increasing recognition of the importance of leadership skills and the expressed need for and value of developing competencies in these areas. Interaction with thought leaders and practitioners will provide opportunities for faculty and staff to develop awareness and enhance knowledge in these areas.

Academic Leadership Program (ALP)

The Academic Leadership Program provides an integrated approach to addressing the information and networking needs of deans and department chairs. Components of the program include: a "Welcome Back" event in the fall for academic administrators; an orientation for new deans and chairs, a luncheon series for discussion of topics of mutual interest, an academic leadership website http://www.academicleadership.rutgers.edu/; and other special programming and materials. The ALP provides a forum for disseminating information on policies and practices within the institution, addressing theoretical and practical problems of academic leadership, sharing effective practices across disciplines, and creating a collaborative network of administrators and faculty members charged with providing academic leadership for the institution.

ALP, now in its third year, is sponsored by the Center, under the auspices of the University Vice President for Academic Affairs. Program activities are coordinated by a New Brunswick planning committee, chaired by Dr. Barbara Bender, Associate Dean, Graduate School, New Brunswick Campus. For past program topics click here. For further information, contact the center at center@odl.rutgers.edu or Dr. Bender at bbender@rci.rutgers.edu

Contemporary Issues in Leadership Series

The Contemporary Issues in Leadership Series serves the university community by encouraging:

• Discussion of theory and research on current leadership topics and issues.
• Interdisciplinary/interdepartmental information sharing and networking.
• Enhancement of information sharing between the higher education, K-12, business, healthcare, and government communities.
• Support of personal and professional development opportunities for faculty, staff, students, and guests.

This year, the series was tied to several undergraduate courses. To make this learning experience available to all Rutgers faculty, staff, and students, as well as others within the higher education, business, healthcare, and government sectors, each lecture is broadcast live via the web, then archived for future viewing by individuals or classes. Past topics can be viewed here. Past lectures can be viewed via the web at www.rutv.rutgers.edu/rutvonline.html.

Videotapes are available for loan, free of charge, to those wishing to use the lecture with a larger group. In addition to live web broadcasting, the Center offers selected "discussion with the speaker" breakout sessions. These sessions allow attendees to explore the topic more fully with the speaker after the lecture.

The Rutgers lecture series has become a model for The University of Delaware and several other colleges and universities that have established similar programs.

E-Leadership Forum

Leadership is the theme of countless articles and books, and the complexities help explain why there are so many ways of thinking about it. To facilitate knowledge sharing and learning related to this important topic, the Center for Organizational Development and Leadership (ODL) launched a new Website feature that connects members of the RU community to available information resources on leadership and organizational development.

It makes leadership information - in various web-based forms - available on the desktop. "Leadership Spotlight" presents the user with journal articles on current leadership issues. "This Month's Focus" highlights a particular dimension of leadership from a variety of viewpoints. The "Leadership Perspectives segment presents streaming Q and A video featuring guest lecturers from ODL's Contemporary Issues in Leadership Lecture Series, and "Message Boards and Postings" allow members of the community to engage in scheduled real time "chats" about specific topics.