Leading Academic Change

Reviews / Votes

"College students were far more uniform in age, race, and socio-economic background a few decades ago than they are now, yet colleges and universities have often failed to design programs of study that work for these students. Leading Academic Change outlines the steps to take toward change on behalf of the new majority students, the non-white, low-income, working, second language, or adult learners who often find themselves in very unfamiliar territory in college classrooms.

This book is, above all, a call to give all students our very best, both in our classrooms and at our institutions. It is also a well-timed reminder that change is inevitable and that equity can be a means to achieving educational quality."

Reflective Teaching

"In Leading Academic Change, Elaine P. Maimon has tapped her robust experience in university leadership to offer valuable insight and actionable ideas for higher education leaders focused on helping students persist, graduate and go on to lifelong learning and success.

Noting that first generation, low-income and returning adult students now make up the majority of undergraduates at America's universities, Maimon rightly calls for more effective learning models for them than the century-old system characterized by two years of general education and two years of specialized study. Leading Academic Change provides a thought-provoking, worthwhile guide for leaders in education to manage change at a time when so much change is taking place. We owe it to our students to honor Maimon's tenet of putting them first as we look to the future."

IBHE Bulletin

"Academic leaders - be they presidents, faculty, staff or community partners seeking to improve higher education and K-12 schools - will reap tremendous value from Leading Academic Change. Dr. Maimon has done a masterful job that will galvanize leaders to adopt an equity-minded, student-centered framework to increase student access, engagement, and success. Scholars and practitioners will appreciate the thoughtful guidance throughout this book that leverages design thinking to transform our nation's colleges and universities for long-term sustainability to produce graduates ready and able to tackle the challenges of the 21st century."

Martha J. Kanter, Executive Director, College Promise Campaign, Former U.S. Under Secretary of Education (2009-2013)

"Leading Academic Change offers important insights regarding the challenges and opportunities present during this extraordinary moment in the history of higher education. Drawing from her decades of leadership in the Academy, Elaine sets forth a compelling case for reexamining traditional educational structures and hierarchies, and exploring possibilities for transforming our models, guided by the profound principle that, 'Nothing is more powerful in higher education than uncompromising commitment to student success.'"

John J. DeGioia, President of Georgetown University

"One of America's best university presidents has written a brilliant book that will surely inspire and instruct other educational leaders. Each page overflows with eloquence, wisdom, evidence, and powerful examples. This book is perhaps Maimon's most significant gift to higher education. Anyone interested in transformation must read it."

Shaun R. Harper, Clifford and Betty Allen Professor

University of Southern California Rossier School of Education

"Elaine Maimon combines her long experience as a leader in the writing across the curriculum movement, where writing becomes a tool for learning in higher education, with her long experience as president of one of those increasingly rare public universities where equity is treated as a means of achieving quality. This book is a practical yet radical response to those in higher education who would separate thinking and writing (and make writing remedial), as well as those who would separate quality and equity (and make equity an afterthought). It is a must-read for college teachers and administrators who seek a positive, principled response to the problems besetting US higher education."

David Russell, Professor of English

Iowa State University

"Raising the bar for student success is critical for America as it confronts the challenges of the twenty-first century. This is the right time to address transformational leadership in higher education and the indispensable role of public four-year comprehensive state colleges and universities. Leading Academic Change: Vision, Strategy, Transformation combines the author's scholarly knowledge and practical experience to provide guidance, encouragement, and inspiration for transformational leadership. This book is an indispensable resource for those committed to improving their institutions in the interest of student success."

Muriel A. Howard, Ph.D., President

American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU)

"The conception of a purposeful and public-spirited liberal education set forth in these pages applies directly to students' career interests, and to all majors, including majors whose titles 'sound like a job.' Whether students aspire to be accountants, or health workers, or the entrepreneurs of tomorrow, the author wants all of them to emerge with well-anchored big picture knowledge and the judgment to connect knowledge with ethical action. But to help students actually achieve this kind of education, educators themselves will need to break free of old assumptions about how students should proceed through college. Leading Academic Change shows us how."

--from the foreword by Carol Geary Schneider

"Elaine P. Maimon, president of Governors State University, located thirty miles south of Chicago, has written an insightful, practical, and strategic book showing how public institutions can be transformed when administrators think like professors and lead by example rather than by decree.

This book is a must-read for chairs, deans, provosts, and presidents who seek to inspire transformational change. The final paragraph of Leading Academic Change vows to rattle old hierarchies that stifle true reform. 'If we can do that,' Maimon writes, 'we will unleash the power of an educated electorate to search for truth and to create an inclusive society worthy of our highest aspirations.'"

Leading Academic Review

"The importance of the new majority student, defined as those individuals who come from lower socio-economic backgrounds or whose parents did not attend college, has grown significantly over the past decade. For many colleges, attending to the needs of these students fundamentally returns them to their institutional promise and mission. These colleges are exploring many avenues that promote degree completion through interventions and supports that meet the unique needs of these students, albeit with limited or uneven results. It is for this reason that Leading Academic Change: Vision, Strategy, Transformation is so timely, moving the reader to consider change that is transformational. Furthermore, the premise of this book is that serving these students is the right thing to do for society as well as the economic futures of these young people.

This book was inspirational and its rationale built upon our collective desire to promote the democratization of our society through quality higher education. While efforts here were targeted specifically at the new majority student, one could make a strong argument that these changes would benefit all students."

Teachers College Record