Chapter 9: Educational Reprogramming: Leadership Perceptions and Practice of Academic Program Directors in a College of Education During COVID-19

Educational leadership is commonly envisioned from the perspectives of organizational structure, scheduling, instructional supervision, and assessment. Additionally, the extant research regarding leadership in higher education, unlike literature focused upon K–12 education, is scarce and has rarely included analyses of leader effectiveness. While research on organizational leadership has more recently emphasized the importance of adaptability, vulnerability, and emotional awareness for leaders in an ever-changing, global economy, leadership in higher education institutions has remained slow to change compared to leadership development efforts in other settings. In contrast, interdisciplinary leadership encompasses notions of identity and transformative approaches to organizational and systemic challenges and promotes competencies such as self-awareness, strategic planning, innovation, and decisiveness. This chapter highlights the potential changes of collegiate leaders’ perceptions and responsibilities to the students, faculty, and staff they serve as an impending result of the COVID-19 pandemic—especially leaders such as academic program directors who frequently engage both students and faculty in learning yet are often overlooked as potential change agents. Furthermore, case examples are highlighted throughout the chapter to display how the infusion of transformational leadership helped academic program directors in the educational leadership department of a college of education fulfill the administrative demands of their role while also reflectively serving as a colleague, confidant, counselor, and coach to effectively guide their programs and support the faculty and students they lead.