The Department Chair as Transformative Diversity Leader: Building Inclusive Learning Environments in Higher Education

This book examines the multidimensional contributions that chairs make in advancing diversity within their departments and institutions in the representation of diverse faculty and staff; in tenure and promotion; curricular change; student learning outcomes; and departmental climate.

Edna Chun and Alvin Evans are award-winning authors and human resource and diversity thought leaders with extensive experience in complex, multi-campus systems of higher education. Two of their books, Are the Walls Really Down? Behavioral and Organizational Barriers to Faculty and Staff Diversity (Jossey-Bass, 2007) and Bridging the Diversity Divide: Globalization and Reciprocal Empowerment in Higher Education (Jossey-Bass, 2009) were recipients of the prestigious Kathryn G. Hansen Publication Award by the national College and University Professional Association for Human Resources. In addition, their co-authored book, The New Talent Acquisition Frontier: Integrating HR and Diversity Strategy in the Private and Public Sectors and Higher Education (Stylus: 2014) received a silver medal in the 2014 Axiom Business Book Awards and is the first book to provide a concrete roadmap to the integration of HR and diversity strategy.Recent publications include Leading a Diversity Culture Shift in Higher Education (Routledge, 2018) that draws on extensive interviews with chief diversity officers and university leaders to provide a systematic approach to diversity organizational learning and The Department Chair as Transformative Leader (Stylus, 2015), the first research-based resource on the academic department chair’s role in diversity transformation. Other books include Diverse Administrators in Peril: The New Indentured Class in Higher Education (Paradigm, 2012), the first in-depth interview study of the work experiences of minority, female, and LGBT administrators in higher education 2012) and Rethinking Cultural Competence in Higher Education: An Ecological Framework for Student Development ( Jossey-Bass, 2016), a study that draws on a survey of recent college graduates now working as professionals to offer leading-edge, integrative models for the attainment of diversity competence.Both authors are sought-after plenary speakers and facilitators at national conferences and symposia. Their numerous journal articles in leading HR and diversity journals focus on talent management and diversity strategies. Edna Chun is Chief Learning Officer and Alvin Evans is Higher Education Practice Leader for HigherEd Talent, a national diversity and human resources consulting firm.

Alvin Evans and Edna Chun are award-winning authors and human resource and diversity thought leaders with extensive experience in complex, multi-campus systems of higher education. Two of their books, Are the Walls Really Down? Behavioral and Organizational Barriers to Faculty and Staff Diversity (Jossey-Bass, 2007) and Bridging the Diversity Divide: Globalization and Reciprocal Empowerment in Higher Education (Jossey-Bass, 2009) were recipients of the prestigious Kathryn G. Hansen Publication Award by the national College and University Professional Association for Human Resources. In addition, their co-authored book, The New Talent Acquisition Frontier: Integrating HR and Diversity Strategy in the Private and Public Sectors and Higher Education (Stylus: 2014) received a silver medal in the 2014 Axiom Business Book Awards and is the first book to provide a concrete roadmap to the integration of HR and diversity strategy.Recent publications include Leading a Diversity Culture Shift in Higher Education (Routledge, 2018) that draws on extensive interviews with chief diversity officers and university leaders to provide a systematic approach to diversity organizational learning and The Department Chair as Transformative Leader (Stylus, 2015), the first research-based resource on the academic department chair’s role in diversity transformation. Other books include Diverse Administrators in Peril: The New Indentured Class in Higher Education (Paradigm, 2012), the first in-depth interview study of the work experiences of minority, female, and LGBT administrators in higher education 2012) and Rethinking Cultural Competence in Higher Education: An Ecological Framework for Student Development ( Jossey-Bass, 2016), a study that draws on a survey of recent college graduates now working as professionals to offer leading-edge, integrative models for the attainment of diversity competence.Both authors are sought-after plenary speakers and facilitators at national conferences and symposia. Their numerous journal articles in leading HR and diversity journals focus on talent management and diversity strategies. Edna Chun is Chief Learning Officer and Alvin Evans is Higher Education Practice Leader for HigherEd Talent, a national diversity and human resources consulting firm.

Walter H. Gmelch is the Dean of the School of Education at the University of San Francisco. Formerly he served as Dean of the College of Education at Iowa State University and Interim Dean of the College of Education, Professor, and Chair of the Educational Leadership and Counseling Psychology Department at Washington State University. Currently, Walt Gmelch also serves as Director of the National Center for the Study of Academic Leadership.As educator, management consultant, university administrator, and former business executive, Gmelch has conducted research and written extensively on the topics of leadership, team development, conflict, and stress and time management. He has published numerous articles, books, and scholarly papers in national and international journals. Gmelch is author or co-author of eleven books. Today, he is one of the leading researchers in the study of academic leaders in higher education, serving as editor of two journals and on the editorial board of a half dozen other journals including The Department Chair, Innovative Higher Education, Academic Leadership, and the Center for Academic Leadership Newsletter. He has directed two national studies of 1,600 university department chairs in the United States, one study of 1,580 Australian department heads, another investigation of 1,000 community college chairs, and recently has completed an international study of 2,000 academic deans in Australia and America.Gmelch has received numerous honors including a Kellogg National Fellowship, the University Council for Educational Administration Distinguished Professor Award, the Faculty Excellence Award for Research, and the Education Press Award of America. In addition, he served in the Danforth Leadership Program; has been an advisor to the Salzburg Seminar on Higher Education; and has been an Australian Research Fellow.