The inherent synergy of interconnected leadership, quality, policy, and change can create institutional tensions. At other times it can create a dynamic organizational entity with new opportunities, efficient operations, and a shifting culture responsive to the needs of diverse stakeholders in the highly competitive and rapidly changing landscape facing higher education.
It is imperative to view leadership, quality, change and policy as part of the same puzzle and collectively contributing to the overall success or failure of the institution. It is difficult to describe leadership without discussing organizational change processes; conversely to discuss online learning and policy without a focus on quality is unimaginable in the 21st century. This special issue of AJDE serves as a call for increasing research on those meso-level topics which have been largely ignored, but are now of crucial importance.
In this special issue, Matkin addresses Reshaping University Continuing Education: Leadership Imperatives for Thriving in a Changing and Competitive Market. The need for universities to get out of the way of their traditions (barriers) and elevate their competitive capacity is highlighted. Solid recommendations for leaders to position CE units to thrive in a highly charged landscape are provided. Next, Olcott asks, “Can micro-credentials help position the institution’s academic, public service, and economic and workforce development market positions for the future?” Valuable resources and considerations for educational leaders are provided to guide a decision as to where and how these shorter, competency-based skill certifications might be A Catalyst for Strategic Reset for U.S. Higher Education Institutions.
We then move into the challenging work of empirical study of organizational change in higher education. Simunich and colleagues detail their investigation of Creating a Culture of Online Quality: The People, Policies, and Processes that Facilitate Institutional Change for Online Course Quality Assurance. This mixed methods study explores uniform data and lessons learned from educators at multiple U.S. educational institutions who are actively implementing guided and identifiable shifts into a culture of quality. Recommendations are provided as a “pathway leading to lasting organizational change that [withstands] both personnel changes and institutional challenges.” Next, Edge and colleagues document Leading University Change: A Case Study of Meaning-Making and Implementing Online Learning Quality Standards. It is a human story of leading a “nimble network” of faculty and staff while continuing maintenance work within an established hierarchical system. In this open access article, the authors provide solid recommendations growing out of their lessons learned.
For Spanish readers, Sangrà and team present two investigations of Liderazgo y tensiones en la universidad: el reto de integrar la educación digital (Leadership and tensions in the university: the challenge of integrating digital education). Ten tensions are revealed and related to the leadership competencies necessary to solve them. We encourage non-Spanish readers to use a digital translator to learn about the leadership challenges Spanish higher education. The issue concludes with an interview with Dede who provides thought-provoking ideas on the pandemic as a transformative opportunity for education, on scaling of online learning innovations, and the necessary unlearning on which these transformations rely.
We hope our readers will find actionable recommendations to empower their colleges and universities to be more responsive and competitive in the future, as well as new energy for engaging in research at the management, policy, quality assurance, and organization levels.