Leadership in Continuing Education in Higher Education

About the Book

The author has organized 33 years of expertise in Continuing Education into a comprehensive and practical guide to the leadership skills, behaviors and knowledge needed to guide any Continuing Education enterprise past the pitfalls and toward the opportunities available. To meet the needs of adults ages 22 to 85 who are flocking back to school, nearly every college and university has been establishing, and growing their Continuing Education entity. Yet until now there has been very little education for leadership in this rapidly growing field. From management and marketing knowledge to an understanding of the academic culture and creating a work environment that encourages creativity, current theory is intertwined with its implications for the specific task of leading a successful Continuing Education effort.

The book begins with the process of developing a vision for the Continuing Education enterprise and conveying that vision to the staff, faculty and the rest of the institution, then moves on to setting the direction and goals of the organization, staff development, understanding and influencing the political environment, and developing the skills of participative management that lead to program strength and creativity.

Readers will find insightful discussions of the challenges Continuing Education enterprises face in the years ahead and difference between administration and leadership. Also included is an in-depth presentation of management theory and techniques and marketing concepts as they apply to higher education.

The book’s extraordinary contribution is a wealth of detailed information on the specifics of creating a thriving Continuing Education program. Topics includes ways to motivate staff members, develop crucial liaisons and build resources and budgets; guidelines for strategic planning, managing change, and creating dynamic work groups; specific techniques for creative and analytical problem solving; and an extensive collection of useful tools, including questionnaires, models, diagrams, charts, summaries and direct interactive marketing tips.

Features include:

• Specifically targets leadership skills needed in Continuing Education.
• Discusses internal and external challenges and processes.
• Applies important research in leadership behaviors to the specific environment of Continuing Education enterprises within higher education institutions.
• Offers dozens of tools: models, questionnaires, diagrams, charts, summaries and samples.
• Includes how-to information on strategic planning, budgeting, proposal writing, and direct marketing.

About the Author

Over a number of years Cynthia C. Jones Shoemaker has been reviewing text books and current management books in the fields of human and organizational learning with great interest. Currently the Information Age with its accompanying “too much information” (TMI) has been affecting more than just business enterprises and government, but also transition stages in human development. After raising four children and working in higher education both as a professor and as an administrator for many years, it seemed useful to combine these background fields into some practical applications for others in transition and in the workplace. Graduate teaching, along with her doctorate in human development with a minor in management, informed her needs for vision, guidance, sensemaking and purpose. The model Sensemaking Flow Chart here with its clarity, has been helpful to many people in a number of walks of life, ages and stages.