New Models of Hybrid Leadership in Global Higher Education.

Abstract

This manuscript highlights the development of a leadership preparation program known as the Nanyang Technological University Leadership Academy (NTULA), exploring the leadership challenges unique to a university undergoing rapid growth in a highly multicultural context, and the hybrid model of leadership it developed in response to globalization. It asks the research question of how the university adapted to a period of accelerated growth and transition by adopting a hybrid approach to academic leadership. The paper uses qualitative methodology to review NTULA’s first cohort, including interviews and participant survey responses. The findings illuminate three key areas of the hybridized leadership model that are challenging to balance, including managing the transition from the leadership style required to drive rapid institutional change to the approach needed to preserve that growth, how leaders reconcile the need to be responsive to both administration and faculty, and how to lead in a highly diverse, multicultural space. Introduction Nanyang Technological University (NTU), a researchintensive public university in Singapore, has recently been ranked as the world’s best young university according to the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) “Top 50 Under 50,” a ranking of the world’s top 50 universities that are under 50 years old (NCPRE 2014). Media headlines highlight the rapid rise of this young university, with Channel NewsAsia announcing “NTU emerges second in Times Higher Education’s young universities ranking” (2016, 2016) and the Straits Times reporting that NTU placed 13th in the World University Rankings, up from 39th last year (2016). NTU achieved this dramatic rise in the rankings in less than ten years. In 2006, NTU’s Board of Trustees laid the foundations for a new direction, tasking new Provost Bertil Andersson, former Rector of Sweden’s Linköping University, with a mandate to transform NTU from a teaching university to a researchintensive global university (Andersson and Mayer 2015). Donna C. Tonini is Associate Director at the Center for Global Studies and former Lead Postdoctoral Researcher in Leadership & Cultural Studies for the National Center for Professional and Research Ethics at the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign. She holds an Ed.D. in International Educational Development, Teachers College, Columbia University. Nicholas C. Burbules is Gutgsell Professor in the Department of Educational Policy, Organization and Leadership at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. His primary research areas are philosophy of education; teaching through dialogue; and technology and education. He has authored/coauthored 13 books, most recently with Paul Smeyers, David Bridges, and Morwenna Griffiths, the International Handbook of Interpretation in Educational Research (Springer, 2015). He has a Ph.D. in philosophy of education, Stanford University. C.K. Gunsalus, Principal Investigator and Director, National Center for Professional Research Ethics, Professor Emerita, Business; Research Professor, Coordinated Science Laboratory. A nationally-recognized expert on leadership and professionalism in academia, research integrity, whistleblowing, and ethics, Gunsalus is author of The Young Professional’s Survival Guide (2012), and The College Administrator’s Survival Guide (2006). 1 Tonini et al.: New Models of Hybrid Leadership in Global Higher Education Published by New Prairie Press, 2017 38 Vol. 43, No. 3, Summer 2016 This transformation was not painless. After a change in tenure rules, NTU began the “difficult exercise” of reviewing its faculty in accordance with higher standards that “created a unique recruitment opportunity and was a major signal of intent to the whole institution” (ibid. 179). To rebuild its faculty, NTU initiated an intensive strategy to recruit top candidates from prestigious universities around the world. This hiring initiative resulted in a highly diverse faculty who enhanced the academic environment and prestige of NTU (Andersson and Mayer 2015, 180). The leadership challenges of a university undergoing such rapid growth in a multicultural context are myriad: The whole university is moving to a more researchintensive university, to become a global research leader in some areas, improve the academic profile of the school, and develop more leaders... We need to better understand direction, the environment, and the culture we need to work within it, and outside faculty need time to adjust to this... The challenge is to get everyone to adapt, especially as we are a young university. (NTU Faculty5-3, interview by Donna Tonini, February 2015). Seeking to build the leadership capacity of its faculty, NTU partnered with the National Center for Research and Professional Ethics (NCPRE) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Illinois) to create a set of leadership development resources and programs “to develop leaders who are prepared to deal with complex issues, such as managing change and navigating cross-cultural interpersonal issues, by drawing on evidence-based practices” (NCPRE 2014). Known as the NTU Leadership Academy (NTULA), NTU and NCPRE developed a comprehensive program that included reusable instructional materials, a series of live workshops, a year-long virtual cohort program, and a library of additional leadership resources. The program is now in its second yearlong cohort of new participants. This manuscript examines the development of the leadership preparation program, and asks the research question of how NTU adapted to a period of accelerated growth and transition by adopting a hybrid approach to academic leadership. The methodology uses a qualitative approach to review NTULA’s first cohort using interviews and survey responses from the participants, and additional reflections from the NCPRE core team. The purpose of this paper is to explore how leadership came to be defined in the NTULA context, and how these perspectives shed light on how globalization and new models of higher education intersect to create a “hybrid” model of academic leadership (Tian, 2012). How the NTU and NCPRE Collaboration was Established NTU was inaugurated in July 1991 as the result of a merger between the former Nanyang Technological Institute, an engineering institution, and the National Institute of Education, Singapore’s national teacher training institute (NTU 2016). NTU became autonomous in 2006, as its Board of Trustees implemented its mandate to transform from a teaching institute into a research-intensive global university (Andersson and Mayer 2015). Currently, NTU is one of Singapore’s two largest public universities, along with the National University of Singapore. According to President Andersson, the transformation of NTU into a research-focused institution was driven by a number of major initiatives, with internationalization as the key driver of its strategy (ibid.). The first major change was for NTU to become more comprehensive, adding disciplinary coverage in the arts and humanities, as well as business, international studies and education to its core STEM fields (Andersson and Mayer 2015). The next major step was the recruitment of international faculty and leaders, with the addition of senior-level academics from prestigious universities around the world. NTU also leveraged Singapore’s National Research Foundation Fellowship program and introduced an Assistant Professor initiative to create attractive start-up conditions for new faculty (ibid.). This intensive strategy resulted in NTU becoming “one of the most internationally diverse universities in the world” with its faculty representing 70 nationalities (ibid. 180). NTU also established two “Research Centres of Excellence,” drawing academic talent from around the world (ibid. 180). Finally, NTU also benefited from Singapore’s proposal to bring in international academic institutions to create research partnerships with their national universities, building links with top institutions from around the globe (ibid.). It was in this environment of academic globalization that the partnership with Illinois’s NCPRE was formed. The National Center for Professional & Research Ethics (NCPRE) studies, creates and shares resources to support the development of best ethics and leadership practices in academia, research, and business (NCPRE 2016, Home). NCPRE is led by C. K. Gunsalus, Professor Emerita of Business and Research Professor at the Coordinated Science Laboratory within the College of Engineering of the University of Illinois. The author of two books for college administrators and young professionals, Gunsalus consults broadly in higher education, including presentations and problem-solving advice on a range of issues. (C. K. Gunsalus & Associates 2016). Upon reading Gunsalus’ books and learning about her seminars, NTU invited her to give a workshop on leadership development and ethics in Singapore in 2013. NTU Deputy President and Provost Freddy Boey proposed a collaboration to establish a leadership academy within NTU for university leaders throughout Asia. In 2014, Illinois and NTU launched a partnership to develop a signature Leadership Academy (NTULA) as “the premiere program in Asia for global research universities of the future” (NTU and Illinois 2014, 2). According to Gunsalus, the goal is to work with NTU “to develop higher education’s next crop of leaders into more ethical and evidence-based decision-makers” (NCPRE 2014). In November 2014 NCPRE hosted the NCPRE Illinois/NTU Leadership Retreat on “Leading the Research University of the Future,” a thought leader conference designed to build relationships and explore topics relevant to the NTULA. The conference themes were strategic leadership, anticipating and managing change, and data-informed decision-making (NCPRE 2014). Attended by academic leaders from Illinois, 2 Educational Considerations, Vol. 43, No. 3 [2016], Art. 7 https://newprairiepress.