The 2013 International Leadership Conference: Managing Global Universities

A report on the conference held at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China. Last November delegates from UK, Australia, Middle East, China, India gathered in the unique setting of the University of Nottingham Ningbo China to explore the challenges of managing universities in an era of globalization. The conference, supported by The Chronicle of Higher …

The Imperfect University: 2013 collection

Because universities are still difficult, but still worth it With the latest post, on Robbins, we are now up to a total of 18 pieces to date in the Imperfect University series. Covering a wide range of occasionally relevant issues I do hope there is something for everyone in here. And there is a question …

Inspiring Leadership

A Decade of Leadership from the Leadership Foundation. A new HEPI report is out. Inspiring Leadership - Personal Reflections on Leadership in Higher Education is written by Ewart Wooldridge who recently stood down as Chief Executive of the Leadership Foundation after 10 years at the helm. As he says in the introduction things have changed a …

2013 International Leadership Conference: Managing Global Universities

A reminder about this forthcoming conference taking place at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China. The 2013 event, which takes place from Monday 4 - Thursday 7 November 2013 will mark the third anniversary of the International Leadership Conference. The conference has previously welcomed delegates from the UK, Denmark, China, Colombia, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, the US and …

The Imperfect University: what do we know about HE leadership?

What do we know about leadership in higher education?   Not a lot, seems to be the answer. I’ve written a bit before in the Imperfect University series about leadership in universities. There is a new report out which seeks to sum up what we know about leadership in HE. This report, written by Professor …

The Imperfect University: the first chapter

Because universities are difficult, but worth it This year there have been a dozen posts in the Imperfect University series. Covering leadership, staff mobility, regulation, governance in Scotland and Virginia, not so revolutionary online provision, the CDBU and more regulation, there was I hope something of interest for many in here somewhere. The Imperfect University …

The Imperfect University: the year to date

Because universities are difficult, but worth it With the latest post, on why administrators really do matter in universities,  we are now up to a total of 11 pieces to date in the Imperfect University series. Covering leadership, staff mobility, regulation, governance in Scotland and Virginia, not so revolutionary online provision, the cult of efficiency …

The Imperfect University: Governance challenges at the University of Virginia

University of Virginia: considerable turbulance at the top A rather topical post for the latest in the Imperfect University series. There have been some extraordinary goings on at the University of Virginia. To the surprise of just about everyone the University's Board of Visitors (its governing body) decided two weeks ago to remove the President, …

The Imperfect University: the story so far

Because universities are difficult, but worth it I've managed six posts to date in the Imperfect University series to date. Covering leadership, regulation, governance in Scotland, not so revolutionary online provision and more regulation I hope I've managed to offer something a bit more substantial here. Anyway, I'd be grateful for any feedback on the …

Engineers in charge?

The Chronicle of Higher Education has a piece on an interesting development at Georgia Tech. The argument here is that we should deploy the skills of the engineer in running our universities in order to properly to address the problems we face: So what if engineers tackled those problems using their reasoning skills and tested …

Administrators cannot offer ‘enlightened management’

Some views on administrators and academics as university leaders Geoffrey Williams has recently argued that administrators cannot deliver enlightened management in universities. According to Williams only academics can do so: Administration, like death and taxes, has always been here. Universities need enlightened management; the reality is that only faculty can provide this. Universities also require …

Nottingham wins a THELMA

THE Leadership and Management Awards 2011: Outstanding Communications and Marketing Team The full details of the results in each category can be found on the THE site. An earlier post reported the nominations Nottingham had received. On a really entertaining evening this was a terrific win for the University of Nottingham. And this is what …

Universities are “well-managed” shock

Remarkable speech at THE Leadership and Management Awards 2011 The THELMAs ceremony, on 16 June, was remarkable for a number of reasons. Not least the fact that Julian Clary was hosting. But perhaps the most surprising thing was the speech by David Willetts. First, it lasted barely a minute: realising that he was all that …

Nottingham shortlisted in THELMAs 2011

THE Leadership and Management Awards 2011 Shortlist Announced Times Higher Education has published the shortlist for the 2011 THELMAs Having sifted through almost 200 entries from 95 different institutions, we can now unveil the shortlist for the Times Higher Education Leadership and Management Awards 2011. The shortlisted entrants are competing in 16 categories ranging from …

“Top scholars should lead research universities”

Top scholars should lead research universities: Review of fascinating new work in University World News. Research universities should be led by brilliant scholars and not merely talented managers, says Warwick University fellow Amanda Goodall. It is not sufficient for leaders to have management skills alone, Goodall states in a new book. In Socrates in the …