An Illustrated Guide to Managing Institutions of Higher Education

Book excerpt: Institutional leadership in higher education today requires the management of academic, financial and human resources to deliver teaching, research, external engagement, IT, student support, quality assurance, and estate management activities at levels ranging from local to global. This requires the development and deployment of subject expertise, diplomacy as well as a whole range of practical and technical skills. It can be difficult to balance the strategic needs of the institution with its practical, day-to-day management. Drawing on more than 60 years of higher education experience around the world, the authors set out the fundamental elements of all higher education institutions and place them in a practical framework to enable leaders to understand their institutions more clearly, and develop appropriate responses to the unique issues that arise in each. Accessible, insightful, comprehensive and universally applicable, An Illustrated Guide to Managing Institutions of Higher Education draws on numerous real-world examples and offers practical exercises to enable institutional leaders to understand how their institutions actually work, to develop appropriate responses to the issues that confront them and to manage their institutions more effectively.