Leadership for Academic Units: A Performance Improvement Model for Department Chairs, Deans, and Academic Vice Presidents (and those who aspire to be)

Performance, Quality Performance, and Continuous Improvement

A system that continually receives the same inputs and processes them the same way, without regard for disturbances, will always generate the same results. For example, a pilot who ignores weather disturbances, head or tail winds, and other disturbances after taking off and simply follows the original flight plan is not likely to arrive at the planned destination and might possibly cause the plane to crash and burn. A pilot must recognize disturbances and adjust and adapt the flight plan in order to reach the planned destination. So, too, must an academic system following the directions laid out in its strategic plan be able to periodically determine where it is, compare that to where ...