Developing Curricular Consensus for Land-Grant Academic Leadership Development Programs: A Delphi Study

To face the challenges that beset land-grant universities in the 21st Century, leadership development programs exist to prepare academics for university administration. However, a small percentage of administrators participates in these programs. Furthermore, many academic leaders begin their roles feeling unprepared for the challenges therein. This study sought to attain consensus regarding the educational inputs and outcomes for academic leadership development programs for emerging leaders within the land-grant university system. Expert opinion was solicited through a Delphi study of program directors and educators for two national, land-grant academic leadership development programs. Participants outlined the theories, paradigms, philosophies, and outcomes they felt are important for academic leadership development programs, resulting in 122 items. Of these, 84 items achieved consensus. Highlights included participants valuing adaptive, authentic, transformational, and values-based leadership concepts in academic leadership development curricula. Additionally, learning outcomes for these programs should include a sense of purpose, critical thinking skills, cultural intelligence, design thinking skills, and emotional intelligence. These findings are useful to leadership educators as they prepare emerging leaders across the three land-grant mission areas. Additionally, this study’s results could be of use in developing a greater awareness for the types of opportunities available to emerging leaders in the land-grant system.