Agile Faculty
Practical Strategies for Managing Research, Service, and Teaching
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9780226463018
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Agile Faculty
Practical Strategies for Managing Research, Service, and Teaching
Digital tools have long been a transformative part of academia, enhancing the classroom and changing the way we teach. Yet there is a way that academia may be able to benefit more from the digital revolution: by adopting the project management techniques used by software developers.
Agile work strategies are a staple of the software development world, developed out of the need to be flexible and responsive to fast-paced change at times when “business as usual” could not work. These techniques call for breaking projects into phases and short-term goals, managing assignments collectively, and tracking progress openly.
Agile Faculty is a comprehensive roadmap for scholars who want to incorporate Agile practices into all aspects of their academic careers, be it research, service, or teaching. Rebecca Pope-Ruark covers the basic principles of Scrum, one of the most widely used models, and then through individual chapters shows how to apply that framework to everything from individual research to running faculty committees to overseeing student class work. Practical and forward-thinking, Agile Faculty will help readers not only manage their time and projects but also foster productivity, balance, and personal and professional growth.
Agile work strategies are a staple of the software development world, developed out of the need to be flexible and responsive to fast-paced change at times when “business as usual” could not work. These techniques call for breaking projects into phases and short-term goals, managing assignments collectively, and tracking progress openly.
Agile Faculty is a comprehensive roadmap for scholars who want to incorporate Agile practices into all aspects of their academic careers, be it research, service, or teaching. Rebecca Pope-Ruark covers the basic principles of Scrum, one of the most widely used models, and then through individual chapters shows how to apply that framework to everything from individual research to running faculty committees to overseeing student class work. Practical and forward-thinking, Agile Faculty will help readers not only manage their time and projects but also foster productivity, balance, and personal and professional growth.
See a video introducing the book.
176 pages | 4 halftones, 13 line drawings, 21 tables | 6 x 9 | © 2017
Education: Higher Education
Reviews
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Author’s Note
1 Reimagining Paths to Faculty Vitality in Higher Education
Understanding Faculty Career Stresses
New Faculty
Mid-career Faculty
Women Faculty
Faculty of Color
Contingent Faculty
Shifting the Narrative
Introducing Agile and Scrum
Origins of Agile and Scrum
Scrum Values
Applying Agile to Faculty Work
An Agile Faculty Manifesto
Agile Faculty Values
Enacting the Agile Faculty Mindset
2 Working the Agile Way Using Scrum
What Is Scrum?
How Is Scrum Different?
What Is the Scrum Process?
What Happens during the Sprint?
How Have I Used Scrum in My Own Experience?
A Research Example
A Service Example
A Teaching Example
Wrapping Up
3 Organizing and Prioritizing Your Personal Research Agenda
To-Do List vs. Backlog
Create Your Research Agenda Backlog
Build a Realistic Sprint Plan from the Backlog
Make Your Sprint Backlog Visible
Remain Agile in the Face of Change or Opportunity
Wrapping Up
4 Running a Collaborative Research Project or Program
Understanding the Foundations of Collaboration
Laying the Groundwork for Good Scrum Research Teams
Who, and How Many?
How Will You Work Together?
Prioritizing, Estimating, and Visualizing the Research Backlog
Prioritizing with a Product Owner
Estimating Backlog Stories
Scaling the Backlog across Multiple Teams
Wrapping Up
5 Leading Effective Agile Committees
Serving as an Agile Leader
Launching (or Resetting) the Agile Faculty Committee
Pick the Right People
Hold a Committee Retreat
Facilitating the Agile Committee
Setting Meeting Agendas
Facilitating Discussion
Managing Conflict
Wrapping Up
6 Mentoring Students and Peers with Agile Activities
Understanding Mentorship as an Agile Teaching Activity
Using Epics and Stories with Undergraduate Mentees
Mentoring Research Students
Mentoring New Faculty
Mutual Faculty Mentoring
Wrapping Up
7 Organizing Your Course as an Epic
Rethinking Backward Design as Agile Course Design
Brainstorming about the Course
Articulating Epics and Stories
Determining Assessment Criteria for Epics
Framing the Course Schedule
Creating a New Course Using Agile Backward Design
Grant Writing: Brainstorming about the Course
Grant Writing: Articulating Epics and Stories
Grant Writing: Determining Assessment Criteria for Epics
Grant Writing: Framing the Course Schedule
Revising an Existing Course Using Agile Backward Design
Publishing: Brainstorming about the Course
Publishing: Articulating Epics and Stories
Publishing: Determining Assessment Criteria for Epics
Publishing: Framing the Course Schedule
Adapting the Agile Backward Design Process in Other Contexts
Multi-section Courses
Curriculum (Re)Design
Wrapping Up
Appendix 7.1: Complete Schedule for Grant Writing Course
Appendix 7.2: Complete Schedule for Publishing
8 Planning and Implementing Scrum-Based Group Projects
Comparing Cooperation and Collaboration
Aligning a Group Project Idea with Important Course Considerations
Creating a Short Group Project with One Sprint
Creating a Long Group Project with Multiple Sprints
Writing the Assignment Sheet
Encouraging Collaboration and Introducing Scrum
Acting as Product Owner and Scrum Master
Product Owner
Scrum Master
Wrapping Up
Afterword: Imagining the Agile College and University
What if . . .
. . . important committees ran like Scrum teams?
. . . student and faculty peer mentoring used an Agile coaching approach?
. . . programs were sprint- rather than semester-based?
. . . research teams were housed in interdisciplinary, collaborative, Agile centers?
. . . academic publishing used an agile model?
Wrapping Up
References
Author’s Note
1 Reimagining Paths to Faculty Vitality in Higher Education
Understanding Faculty Career Stresses
New Faculty
Mid-career Faculty
Women Faculty
Faculty of Color
Contingent Faculty
Shifting the Narrative
Introducing Agile and Scrum
Origins of Agile and Scrum
Scrum Values
Applying Agile to Faculty Work
An Agile Faculty Manifesto
Agile Faculty Values
Enacting the Agile Faculty Mindset
2 Working the Agile Way Using Scrum
What Is Scrum?
How Is Scrum Different?
What Is the Scrum Process?
What Happens during the Sprint?
How Have I Used Scrum in My Own Experience?
A Research Example
A Service Example
A Teaching Example
Wrapping Up
3 Organizing and Prioritizing Your Personal Research Agenda
To-Do List vs. Backlog
Create Your Research Agenda Backlog
Build a Realistic Sprint Plan from the Backlog
Make Your Sprint Backlog Visible
Remain Agile in the Face of Change or Opportunity
Wrapping Up
4 Running a Collaborative Research Project or Program
Understanding the Foundations of Collaboration
Laying the Groundwork for Good Scrum Research Teams
Who, and How Many?
How Will You Work Together?
Prioritizing, Estimating, and Visualizing the Research Backlog
Prioritizing with a Product Owner
Estimating Backlog Stories
Estimating with T-shirt Sizing
Estimating with Story Points
Estimating with Story Points
Estimating in Practice
Scaling the Backlog across Multiple Teams
Wrapping Up
5 Leading Effective Agile Committees
Serving as an Agile Leader
Launching (or Resetting) the Agile Faculty Committee
Pick the Right People
Hold a Committee Retreat
Team Building
Committee Charter Development
Goal Setting and Backlog Generating
First Sprint Planning
Committee Charter Development
Goal Setting and Backlog Generating
First Sprint Planning
Facilitating the Agile Committee
Setting Meeting Agendas
Facilitating Discussion
Managing Conflict
Wrapping Up
6 Mentoring Students and Peers with Agile Activities
Understanding Mentorship as an Agile Teaching Activity
Using Epics and Stories with Undergraduate Mentees
Mentoring Research Students
Mentoring New Faculty
Mutual Faculty Mentoring
Wrapping Up
7 Organizing Your Course as an Epic
Rethinking Backward Design as Agile Course Design
Brainstorming about the Course
Articulating Epics and Stories
Determining Assessment Criteria for Epics
Framing the Course Schedule
Creating a New Course Using Agile Backward Design
Grant Writing: Brainstorming about the Course
Grant Writing: Articulating Epics and Stories
Grant Writing: Determining Assessment Criteria for Epics
Grant Writing: Framing the Course Schedule
Revising an Existing Course Using Agile Backward Design
Publishing: Brainstorming about the Course
Publishing: Articulating Epics and Stories
Publishing: Determining Assessment Criteria for Epics
Publishing: Framing the Course Schedule
Adapting the Agile Backward Design Process in Other Contexts
Multi-section Courses
Curriculum (Re)Design
Wrapping Up
Appendix 7.1: Complete Schedule for Grant Writing Course
Appendix 7.2: Complete Schedule for Publishing
8 Planning and Implementing Scrum-Based Group Projects
Comparing Cooperation and Collaboration
Aligning a Group Project Idea with Important Course Considerations
Creating a Short Group Project with One Sprint
Creating a Long Group Project with Multiple Sprints
Writing the Assignment Sheet
Encouraging Collaboration and Introducing Scrum
Acting as Product Owner and Scrum Master
Product Owner
Scrum Master
Wrapping Up
Afterword: Imagining the Agile College and University
What if . . .
. . . important committees ran like Scrum teams?
. . . student and faculty peer mentoring used an Agile coaching approach?
. . . programs were sprint- rather than semester-based?
. . . research teams were housed in interdisciplinary, collaborative, Agile centers?
. . . academic publishing used an agile model?
Wrapping Up
References