Managerialism In The University
Here is an article that I think you will find interesting: “‘Cuckoo managers’ are throwing out academy traditions” (Times Higher Education, 21 May 2015). The article correctly criticizes managerialism...
View ArticleTop Blog Posts – First Half of 2015
Thank you for reading my blog! Here are the top 15 most viewed posts 1 January to 1 June 2015: Teaching Surveys Priceless Small Improvements The Value Of Higher Education My Student Course Evaluations...
View ArticleNew Books: Lean Teaching and Lean University
You are likely familiar with my e-books on higher education, The Lean Professor for faculty and We Can Do It! for administrators. I’m happy to announce that I’ve made some important changes: The books...
View ArticleLean Higher Ed Conference Presentation
The Third International Conference on Lean Six Sigma for Higher Education was held at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland, on 8-9 June 2015. The theme of the conference was “Making Higher...
View ArticleKaizen for Higher Education
I would like call call your attention to a small (98 page) but important book that I co-authored called Kaizen Forever: Teachings of Chihiro Nakao. While few in pages, the book is a giant in delivering...
View ArticleI Called It!
In December 2004, I wrote an article, “Lean in Higher Education,” about the future of higher education in the United States. I made the case that due to declining enrollments and other factors, “…some...
View ArticleMethodological Errors in Lean for Higher Ed
As both a participant and witness to the practice of Lean management in higher education, I would like to point out methodological errors in relation to how Lean is practiced in industry. Those in...
View ArticleBet On A Boiler
A recent article “More College Students Selling Stock—in Themselves” (The Wall Street Journal, 5 August 2015) highlights the terrible outcomes that fall onto students shoulders when universities are...
View ArticleOutsourcing Fallacies in Higher Education
Outsourcing of services by colleges and universities is again in the news (see “The Ins and Outs of Outsourcing,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, 24 August 2015). Having been a purchasing/supply...
View ArticleRun Universities Like Businesses
This article, “Giving College Administrators a Business Education” (The Wall Street Journal, 27 August 2015), by Bruce Benson, president of the University of Colorado, has received high praise. Let’s...
View ArticleA Shameful Legacy
Top leaders of higher education institutions inevitably hope leave a legacy. Presidents who began their tenure in the late 1980s or thereafter presided over an era of uncontrolled costs, large...
View ArticleStandards for Faculty
There is an important saying in Lean management: “Without standard there can be no continuous improvement.” That saying should be Interpreted as a rule. Standards are important because they establish...
View ArticleThe Rise of Credentials
Non-academic educational credentials – certifications, badges, etc. – have blossomed in recent years. Credentials have become popular with both prospective employees and employers. What has happened to...
View ArticleResources for Teaching Lean Management
Those of you who teach full-time or part-time in colleges or universities will be interested in the following resources to help teach students about Lean management. Use these books for senior-level...
View ArticleWhat Do Professors Actually Do?
This is an op-ed article that appeared in The Connecticut Mirror, a respected nonprofit, nonpartisan news outlet that reports on government policies and politics. I wrote it in response to the ongoing...
View ArticleTeaching Across the Curriculum
Many higher education institutions feature a pedagogical element called “Writing Across the Curriculum.” The intent is to require students to write in every course for the purpose of improving their...
View ArticleResearch and Teaching: A Great Pairing
Public higher education is under pressure from politicians, businesspeople, and taxpayers. They think the only thing professors do is teach, and that, being their only responsibility, should teach more...
View ArticleUniversity Annual Budget Process
Below is a university’s process for developing an annual budget. It takes six months to create a fiscal year budget, when the actual value-added time is probably less than two weeks. It is a...
View ArticleWhere Unqualified Means Qualified
In the not too distant past, Boards of Regents or Trustees who hired university presidents demanded that the candidate be qualified for the position. Typically, that meant the candidate possessed an...
View ArticleLean Governor, Anti-Lean Board of Regents
Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy recently wrote the Foreword to a book titled The Lean CEO: Leading the Way to World-Class Excellence. The Governor wrote how Connecticut business leaders adopted Lean...
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