The Responsive University: Restructuring for High Performance

In The Responsive University, William G. Tierney brings together a distinguished group of practitioners and scholars to describe how colleges and universities might respond more effectively to changing social, demographic, and political forces. In each chapter, the contributors diagnose a specific problem and show how solutions can be found by reorienting basic work structures and designing nimbler, more creative organizations. Looking at such issues as tenure, partnerships, governance, and performance, they seek to encourage systemic change throughout the academy, rather than in one segment or another. The changes they propose in areas such as management, marketing, and assessment are far-reaching and, at the same time, practical, real-world solutions for achieving high performance in colleges and universities.

William G. Tierney is the Wilbur-Kieffer Professor of Higher Education and the director of the Center for Higher Education Policy Analysis at the University of Southern California. His books include Promotion and Tenure: Community and Socialization in Academe and Building Communities of Difference: Higher Education in the 21st Century.