New Courses in Educational Leadership Open for Enrollment in 2022-23

Lehigh University College of Education will offer three courses in Higher Education through the Educational Leadership Program, beginning in Fall of 2022. All three courses will be taught by former Lehigh University President John Simon and will address current challenges facing higher education.

Courses are open to current students as well as individuals in the community interested in higher education. There are no prerequisites for the courses and the three courses do not need to be taken as a sequence. 

In fall 2022 Dr. Simon will be offering “Leadership and Governance in Higher Education”. This course explores the interrelationships between leadership, organizational culture, administrative structures, and governance in American higher education. Readings will provide students with a deeper understanding of how universities work and how leadership and governance shape decision making and organizational change. In class discussions of case studies will provide students the opportunity to explore tensions that arise between competing interests of different constituencies and how leadership and governance can work to address such issues. Please note that this will be an in-person course that meets weekly.

In spring 2023 Dr. Simon will focus on “Current Challenges Facing Higher Education.” This online, asynchronous course, will introduce students to key challenges confronting American higher education. The class will focus on macro forces influencing universities, including technology, demographics, and globalization. With that backdrop, subsequent discussions will largely draw from current events taking place on university campuses. Students will explore different perspectives on such events and discuss actions university leadership could take to guide their institutions.

Finally, in Summer 2023, course content will be tailored to the interests of the individuals who enroll. ​​Students will select a topic in higher education that they want to explore in depth. The topic can be related to any administrative office at a university (e.g., student affairs, athletics, development, alumni relations, admissions), any activity led by the senior leadership team (strategic planning, campaigns, DE&I efforts), or multi-institutional topics (partnerships, mergers, acquisitions, establishing campuses and/or programs in other countries). Student’s topics will be framed in discussion with the Dr. Simon. Projects can be individual or team based. This course will use a hybrid format with in-person meetings at the beginning and end of the course and flexible options for meeting for sessions in between. 

By expanding the Educational Leadership Program to offer courses in higher education we hope to meet the needs and interests of our current and future students working towards leadership roles in a higher education setting. 

Ready to learn more about our Educational Leadership Program? Visit our Ed Leadership website page >>

If you're interested in taking a course, please start your application or reach out to our admissions team at coe-admissions@lehigh.edu