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Institutions of higher education are not like corporations: they
have multiple goals, not even limited to the central ones of
teaching and research, nor are they organized hierarchically. One
class of leading inhabitants, faculty members, are a cross between
independent contractors and employees; another class,
administrators, are a cross between bosses and colleagues. Fitting
Form to Function discusses how such institutions are best
organized; how decisions are best made at various levels; how
administrators and faculty can effectively collaborate in giving
shape to a university or college. The book takes up such topics as
the office of the president, of the provost, the dean and the
chairperson of a department. It considers how committees are formed
to function effectively-from a faculty senate to budget and
planning committees to those that advise on promotions and others
that adjudicate when there are grievances. Fitting Form to Function
is written in an informal style. No jargon, no footnotes, but
sporting 27 recurring maxims, such as Maxim 1, In academic
institutions, the forces of nature are centrifugal; organizational
art must be used to create propensities toward coherence; Maxim 17,
Boundaries are less likely to create solidarity among those who
live within them than they constitute barriers for those residing
outside them; and Maxim 23, 'A' people hire (or retain) 'A' people,
while 'B' people hire 'C' people.
Have you ever thought that you might want to write a story but
simply couldn't find a way to get started? This book, What's the
Story?, just might launch you on the road to writing fiction. It
consists of twenty casts of characters - made up of three to seven
personages, with each character described in a paragraph. Both the
individuals and the casts differ greatly from one another. Most are
presented as currently living in various locations across America;
others are no longer alive or are set in different parts of the
world. No group of characters suggests any particular story, but
rather hints inconclusively at numerous possibilities. The given
information is designed to prod the imagination without
constraining its flight. The witty drawings that accompany the
casts should inspire readers to try their hands at fiction and
learn the art of writing.
A Sixty-Year Ride through the World of Education depicts the
author's educational pursuits from elementary school to provost.
Learning is followed by teaching and writing and, soon, academic
administration. Interspersed among these thirty-three short
autobiographical sections are fourteen others that deal directly
and practically with educational topics. This short work is a rich
introduction to the world of education in the last half-century.
Academic administration, argues Rudolph Weingartner, is different
from administration or managing in business because of the special
character of institutions of higher learning. Colleges and
universities are founded to serve certain purposes; they are
supported in various ways by governments and private individuals;
and, as professional institutions, they have students, among
others, as clients to whom they owe education services in ways
analogous to the obligations hospitals have to their patients. In
this book, Weingartner argues that academic administration is not
just another job of managing, but a calling that importantly
assists institutions to carry out their missions.
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