The ACAD Leader reflects our mission to provide academic leaders who share a commitment to student learning and to the ideals of liberal education with networking and professional development opportunities and to support them in their work as educational leaders. The Leader is a forum for members to share experiences and opinions related to their work as academic administrators. In addition, it provides members and prospective members with news about ACAD events.
ACAD is not responsible for ideas and opinions expressed by the author. Authors are not compensated for publication of their material and retain copyright for their submissions.
While seeking high-quality content, the Leader is not a formal scholarly journal. Submissions can be similar to traditional academic articles with cited sources; reflections in the first person based on individual experience; or case studies that can be used by other administrators. Book reviews need not be limited to sources about the academy or academic leadership, but items reviewed should demonstrate relevance to academic administration and be applicable to administrative work. Reviews should offer positive reflections on a source or sources recommended to ACAD members; reviews should not present negative commentary on sources that are not recommended for study.
Article Length and Subject Matter
Authors are encouraged to consider the following suggestions:
Substantial submissions (approximately 1000-2000 words)
- scholarly essays based on historical or contemporary research with cited sources
- commentaries based on personal experience with or without cited sources
- thoughts based on national or regional issues in higher education
- reflections on ACAD conferences or events
- reflections regarding on-campus events with broad significance or application
- leadership challenges/problems that could be used as case studies
- advice or insights into leadership
- advice or insights into professional or career development suitable for both The ACAD Leader and/or ACAD’s Career Center page
- comparative reviews of two or more books on a similar topic
Mid-length submissions (approximately 500-1000 words)
- shorter submissions on any of the topics above
Short submissions (250-500 words)
- Open letters to the ACAD membership
- Book reviews
The Editorial Board may consider submissions longer than 2000 words but, in general, the Leader is a forum for items that can be read quickly rather than extended works more suitable for another publication. Word documents will be submitted to the Editorial Board without information identifying the author.