The leadership team should represent campus stakeholder groups and be inclusive of the many different stakeholder voices on campus. Representation should also consider the different tasks and the challenges that the team might face. Every institution needs to consider the right composition for the leadership team. Recommended leadership team members and their key responsibilities are listed below.
Recommended leadership team members include:
- Administrator(s) with authority to support the work across the institution
- Mathematics faculty representing gateway courses and developmental programs
- Directors of advising
- Staff directly responsible for students’ first-year experience (e.g., tutoring center staff)
- Lead the initiative at the institution.
- Report to the president.
- Ensure that all stakeholders are identified and actively involved in the work.
- Identify obstacles and opportunities.
- Ensure that an institution-wide communication plan is implemented.
- Provide information about current programs.
- Review options for implementation.
- Establish and lead the instructional team for new courses.
- Ensure that courses are scheduled.
- Ensure that a mathematics department communication plan is implemented.
- Reach out to key partner disciplines.
- Plan for coordination with other mathematics reform initiatives.
- Provide information about current programs and services.
- Consult on options for implementation.
- Identify all staff and faculty who advise students.
- Ensure that a communication, training, and implementation plan on recruitment and advising is implemented.
- Provide information about current programs and services.
- Consult on options for implementation.
- Identify opportunities to build on existing student support services to facilitate the implementation of mathematics pathways.
- Identify services that may need to be created or expanded, including advising and recruitment, academic support, success programs such as Early Alert, etc.
The following additional team members should also be considered.
- Institutional researchers
- Registrars
- Faculty of partner disciplines
- Collect data on current programs.
- Support the leadership team in using data.
- Collect data to be used in implementation and evaluation.
- Provide logistical support for registration.
- Collaborate with information technology department to program the registration system in support of mathematics pathways (e.g., default mathematics course for programs of study).
- Provide information about current programs.
- Engage in multidisciplinary discussions with mathematics faculty.
- Work with mathematics faculty to align mathematics pathways to programs of study so that one clear and appropriate pathway is defined for each program.
The leadership team does not have to be newly created; an existing team overseeing college-wide initiatives, such as Achieving the Dream, could take responsibility for implementing mathematics pathways. Using an existing team builds on current structures, making it more likely that the work will be coordinated with other systemic improvement efforts. Care should be taken to ensure that mathematics pathways are not absorbed or diluted by other initiatives.
Over time, members of the leadership team may change. Good planning, documentation, and communication across the institution help ensure smooth transitions and bring new members up to speed quickly.
The leadership team, composed of representatives from different stakeholder groups, will be more efficient when all members are clear about their own responsibilities. A charge must first be established to define the purpose and authority of the team as a whole. Then, the roles and responsibilities of each team member should be determined. Some roles are based on areas of expertise. For example, a faculty member may be asked to represent the interests and concerns of adjunct faculty. Other roles are based on the functions within the leadership team. Common roles include facilitators, managers of information, and communicators.
- Facilitators provide leadership to make steady progress. They monitor work plans and timelines, and keep the work moving forward between team meetings. Facilitators develop meeting agendas and ensure that the team focuses on agenda topics.
- Managers of information keep a record of what occurs during meetings, including key ideas, decisions, and assignments.
- Communicators ensure that team members are following the team’s communication and engagement plan. They also may manage logistics for meetings (e.g., invitations, meetings, meals).
Resources
helps the institutional leadership team to develop and establish an effective charge that communicates its goals and areas of work.
Depending on the size and reach of the institution, biweekly or monthly meetings are required. As implementation progresses through the stages, bimonthly or even quarterly meetings may suffice. Regardless of their regularity, leadership team meetings should be planned from the beginning to ensure that all members can attend all meetings.
Resources
includes key tasks and considerations when planning for effective meetings.
Like key administrators, leadership team members must appreciate the rationale and institutional need for a transition to mathematics pathways. In communication with their different stakeholder groups, team members should be able to convey clear connections between mathematics pathways and the institution’s mission, goals, and strategic plan.
Resources
explores current multiple mathematics pathways initiatives that may help students complete their entry-level mathematics coursework in one year or less.
A defined decision-making process reiterates the importance of having diverse stakeholders involved in mathematics pathways implementation.
Clear guidelines for making decisions will benefit the leadership team and the institution as they engage in transformative change. An institution may have advice to the leadership team about decision making. The book Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High (2012) may also be helpful in choosing methods of decision making:
- Command: Decisions are made by one person without discussion.
- Consult: Decisions are made after gaining information from others.
- Consensus: Decisions are made after extensive involvement from all and there is agreement.
- Vote: Every member has a vote and a predetermined threshold is reached.
Recall that the leadership team is responsible for managing information flow. Team decisions should be recorded and clearly communicated to the different stakeholder groups identified in the communication and engagement plan.