George Mason University
Higher Education Program
CTCH 792 – 002 Higher Education Leadership
Spring, 2008
Instructor: Dr. Noreen Lyne, nlyne@gmu.edu, 202-554-3698
Course Description
Leadership characteristics, qualities and measures of effectiveness are articulated in
literally thousands of publications. As our understanding of leadership deepens and
unfolds, it becomes increasingly important to reassess our own capabilities, strengths and
challenges. While there is “no one size that fits all”, research has assisted us in
identifying a number of key elements essential to personal and organizational health and
effectiveness.
In this course we will address the variety of leadership styles present in organizations
today. Leadership in the higher education context will be the focus of our inquiry into
the topic of leadership. Students will have the opportunity to reflect on their own
individual style, and assess its effectiveness in their organizations. They will also create
an individual development plan that will capitalize on their strengths and move them
forward to expand their capacity for leadership. Several models of leadership
development will be presented to advance knowledge and strategies for developing
others. The intention of this course is to help you be more effective in leadership
situations by helping you to better understand the complex challenges of leadership.
Additionally, it will serve as a guide in helping you critically evaluate and use leadership
theory and research
Learning objectives:
Students will:
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Learn several models of leadership development
Assess their own leadership strengths, provide feedback to others and receive
feedback to better understand their leadership capacity
Create a personal development plan and strategy for developing others.
Learn a range of management/leadership approaches implemented in colleges and
universities
Required texts:
Leadership: Enhancing the Lessons of Experience, fifth edition. Richard L. Hughes,
Robert C. Ginnett, Gordon J. Curphy. New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2006
Management Fads in Higher Education: Where They come From, What They Do, Why
They Fail. Robert Birnbaum. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass/John Wiley & Sons, 2000.
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Course Format:
This course is presented in a seminar format with a combination of presentations and
highly active participation of students in small groups. The course is scheduled for five
week-end sessions. Reading assignments as well as class projects are expected to be
completed in the periods between classes. In addition, ongoing dialogue on key issues
and readings will be led by class members in class and on the web.
As appropriate, guest speakers will bring relevant expert experience to the class dialogue.
Requirements: students will engage in one on one and small group exercises that will
provide a framework for assessing their own leadership style and understanding
organizational dynamics. Students will keep a journal with reflections on the readings
and their observations related to leadership. The journal work will be a key element in an
integrative paper that addresses their personal development plan. The paper will also
address recommended approaches for developing others.
Individual student projects will address leadership paradigms and insights related to
developing a high performing college/university organization.
In addition to the texts, students will review relevant journal articles, actively participate
in Webct discussions and complete a number of leadership assessment tools.
Grading: students will be assessed on class engagement, demonstrated familiarity with
the course materials, completion of an annotated bibliography, completion of the final
integrative paper and the final class project
Course Schedule and Reading Assignments
Week-end #1
January 25, 26
Week-end #2
February 15, 16
Hughes, chapters 1 thru 4
Birnbaum, chapters 1 thru 4
Week-end #3
March 21, 22
Hughes, chapters 5 thru 8
Birnbaum, chapters 5 thru 7
Week-end #4
April 4, 5
Hughes, chapters 11 thru 13
Birnbaum, chapters 8 and 9
Week-end #5
April 25, 26
Hughes, part 5
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Preliminary Bibliography
Bennis, Warren (1995) On Becoming a Leader. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
DePree, Max. (1989). Leadership is an art. New York: Dell.
Goleman, Daniel. (1995). Emotional Intelligence. New York: Bantam Books.
Hughes, Richard L. , Robert C. Ginnett, & Gordon J. Curphy. (2002) Leadership:
Enhancing the lessons of experience (4th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.
Kouzes, James M. and Barry Z. Posner.(2002). The Leadership Challenge, Third Edition.
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Jean Lipman-Blumen. (1966). The connective edge: Leading in an independent world.
San Francisco:Jossey-Bass.
Lombardo, Michael M. and Robert W. Eichinger. (2000). For Your Improvement.
Minneapolis: Lominger Limited, Inc.
George Manning and Kent Curtis.(2003). The art of leadership. New York: McGrawHill Irwin.
McCall, Fr., Morgan. (1998). High flyers, developing the next generation of leaders.
Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard Business School Press.
Palmer, Parker. (1999). Let your life speak: listening for the voice of vocation. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Palmer, Parker. (1994). Leading from within: out of the shadows and into the light. In
J.Conger(ed.) Spirit at Work. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Jon L. Pierce & John W. Newstrom. (2003). Leaders and the leadership process:
Readings, self-assessments and applications (3rd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin,
2003.
Peterson, David B. & Hicks, Mary Dee. (1996). Leader as coach. Minneapolis,
Minnesota: Personnel Decisions International.
Terry, Robert. (1993) Authentic leadership: courage in action. New York: Jossey-Bass.
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