Leadership steps to ensure a bold new future for higher ed

Someone recently asked me what the biggest difference was between teaching in the military system of professional education and in a civilian institution of higher learning. I quipped that in the Army a decision marks the end of discussion and the beginning of action, while in civilian academia a decision merely signals the beginning of a debate.

Our colleges and universities are notoriously impervious to sweeping change — and that’s not always a bad thing. Bright ideas must eventually garner the support of a skeptical (and often tenured) faculty that serves as an effective error-correcting mechanism.

My recommendation to university presidents is to devote their energies to finding and supporting the innovators within their institutions rather than exhausting themselves by fighting with those who are recalcitrant.

A retired U.S. Army colonel, George Reed is an associate professor at the University of San Diego.

Full Story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/29/AR2010052900312.html?hpid=sec-education