Taking steps to build department cultures that value diverse leadership: Opinion

In an article for Inside Higher Ed, Karen Spierling describes the process of building a new department with a positive and inclusive departmental culture from the ground up. Spierling describes the three key assumptions that this new department’s leadership rests on and how these assumptions contribute to a functioning departmental culture. The author says that the department recognizes that members’ personal lives shape how their work is accomplished, supports them by ensuring “reasonable flexibility,” and uses intentional and inclusive communication to avoid creating problems and to ensure that all voices are heard. Spierling also says that faculty and staff have developed a consistent way to provide coaching to students who communicate disrespectfully. Inside Higher Ed (Subscription) Note: Archived stories may contain dead links or be missing source links.