Fluent Essays

For this assignment, you will select a person who is considered a leader in a higher education context, whether by skill and ability or by virtue of his or her status. This person must be considered to hold a leadership position, such as a program coordinator, divisional or departmental chair, dean, and so forth. After identifying this person, you will arrange a meeting in order to conduct a short interview. The interview does not have to be face-to-face. It can be by phone, email, Skype, or another method that achieves the purpose. Using the information from the interview, you will write an assessment of leadership characteristics in a 4 page paper. Use the following guidelines to complete your Assignment. Interview Guidelines Identify a person in higher education who is in a position of leadership and would be willing to participate in a short interview (10-15 minutes) about leadership characteristics in higher education. Explain to this person that you are completing an assignment as part of the requirements for your MSHE program. In addition, explain the purpose of the assignment: To assess specific qualities of leadership and management characteristics in a higher education context. Obtain permission to interview and explain to him or her that he or she will not be identified by name or institution in the Final Project. Set a time and conditions (e.g., phone, email, Skype, etc.) for the interview and conduct the interview. To help get started with the interview, you may want to consider some of the following questions: What attracted you to a position of leadership in higher education? What do you like most about leadership in higher education? What are the most challenging issues you face in your position and what leadership skills and abilities are most important to meet those challenges? What do you feel are the most critical attributes a leader should possess to be successful in higher education? In your opinion, how are those attributes best developed? You should prepare your questions before you begin the interview. Try to anticipate follow-up questions and note them. Be mindful of the time constraints you have set so you finish in the agreed upon amount of time. Assignment Guidelines Format your paper using APA style guidelines. Cover page — Follow APA guidelines, which include a short title and page numbers in the header. For the body of your paper, use the APA style guidelines for organizing a manuscript and levels of headings. Introduction — This is to be a heading; however, you do not necessarily need to label it "Introduction" just because it is the first section. The heading for this section should reflect the theme of your project; for example, Qualities of Higher Education Leaders. This section provides a general background to establish the context of the report and includes a concise purpose statement. It is one paragraph in length. Background — This is to be a heading. Briefly describe the context of the person you interviewed. For example, explain who this person is and the position he or she holds. Briefly describe some of his or her responsibilities. Establish why this person is a leader in a postsecondary setting. This portion of the paper is approximately one paragraph in length. Do not provide this person’s name in your paper. Do not provide the institution, organization, or agency for which this person works. There is no need to identify personal information as the assignment is not an exposé of a certain leader, but an analysis of particular leadership characteristics. Leadership Analysis — This is to be a heading. For this section of the paper, assess the leadership characteristics of the person you interviewed. Consider the following questions: What are the roles and responsibilities that this leader has at their institution and what type of leadership is required of a person in this type of position? What leadership characteristics did you identify in this leader? How would you define this leader’s leadership style? Do you think this leader’s leadership characteristics and style are a good match their roles and responsibilities? Why? You can provide selected responses and compare them to characteristics you found in the readings, external sources, and your experience. You may want to consider the questions listed above to help guide you with this portion of the paper. Make sure you also support your analysis views with at least three to five scholarly and professional sources, including peer-reviewed journals, books, reliable websites, and so forth; This section of the paper is approximately 1–2 pages in length. Reflection — This is to be a heading. The Reflection section should be the only area where you use personal reference words (i.e., I, me, my); these types of words should not be used in other sections of your assignment. For this section of the paper, reflect on the interview and consider the following: What did you find appealing and why? If there was anything you disagreed with, what was it and why did you not like it? How does the perspective from the interviewee help shape your views of academic leadership? How does the perspective from the interviewee help shape your views of progressing in your career as an academic leader? What conclusions can you draw about leadership roles and responsibilities in higher education based on this interview? This section of the paper is to be approximately 1 page long. Conclusion — This is to be a heading. The conclusion must summarize the most salient points and reiterate the purpose of the paper. References — Follow APA style for all entries. The table below helps with structuring the paper. Cover Page Follow APA style Introduction 1 paragraph Background Approximately 1 paragraph Leadership Analysis Approximately 1-2 pages Reflection Approximately 1 page Conclusion 1 paragraph References Follow APA style Hi!! I'm interested in Career Services, Admissions, Multicultural Affairs.