Academic Leadership in the New Normal

The COVID-19 pandemic. The assault on the U.S. capitol. Global warming. Toxic polarization. These and other factors have created what many in higher education now refer to as “the New Normal.” It is a period when many of our former assumptions about higher education—including the reason for going to college itself—are increasingly being called into question. How can administrators and faculty members lead most effectively in this altered landscape of higher education? What has really changed, and what has remained relatively untouched by recent events? In Academic Leadership in the New Normal, Jeffrey L. Buller provides surprising answers to these questions. He traces why the future of higher education has now become much harder to predict and offers suggestions about what academic leaders should do as a result. He concludes that, counter to all expectation, the New Normal is a period when data analysis will be less, not more valuable for making decisions about the future. And he advises colleges and universities on how to prepare the next generation of academic leaders. Jeffrey L. Buller is a senior partner in ATLAS: Academic Training, Leadership, & Assessment Services. After a long career as an academic administrator, he now trains and advises academic leaders all over the world.