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

Reengineering Student and Academic Affairs

In 1996, the American College Personnel Association (ACPA) issued a landmark paper entitled “The Student Learning Imperative: Implications for Student Affairs” (ACPA, 1966). This was followed in 1997 by the published results of a joint study between ACPA and the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators entitled “Principles of Good Practice for Student Affairs” (ACPA, 1977). An expanded version of these findings was subsequently published in book form (Blimming and Whitt, 1999). These studies concluded that student learning and personal development are the primary goals of undergraduate education. They point out that “people want to know that higher education is preparing students to lead ...