The Caring University: Reimagining the Higher Education Workplace After the Great Resignation

How to transform higher education workplaces into environments where all employees can thrive.

Colleges and universities rarely establish working conditions and cultures that prioritize employee well-being. During the pandemic, many staff and faculty members questioned their careers in higher education. Because of this mindset, leaders in higher education must rethink their approaches to attracting, growing, and retaining talent. In The Caring University, Kevin R. McClure describes six organizational changes to create a university dedicated to creating working conditions and cultures in which all employees can flourish.

At the heart of the caring university is the premise that all employees have talent, all employees should be treated as whole people, and all employees deserve to be cared for as essential contributors to organizational success. McClure's proposed changes draw upon wisdom of organizational change theories, decades of scholarship in higher education and social science, as well as site visits to institutions where he conducted more than 100 original interviews with staff, faculty, and administrators.

The Caring University diagnoses major problems in the higher education workplace and offers practical approaches to address them as part of a sustainable change process. The book brings together several strands of inquiry and conversations in practice that have typically been discussed separately--such as burnout, caregiving, and leadership--and weaves them into a cohesive narrative that addresses all employees in higher education. This essential book reimagines the higher education workplace as a site where all employees can thrive.

Kevin R. McClure is the Murphy Distinguished Scholar of Education and Associate Professor of Higher Education at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. He writes the Working Better column for The Chronicle of Higher Education.