The Administrative Life

The view from Spencer's Butte above Eugene, Oregon. A grassy pathway leads to a bank of pine trees in the middle distance. Beyond the trees and far below lies Eugene, OR. In the distance are mountains, the blue sky filled with gray and white clouds.

Provost The Administrative Life The Long Road

A Pivotal Week in the Life of the Provost’s Office

Last week marked a pivotal moment in my transition to the role of Provost at the University of Oregon. We held two retreats, one early in the week for the Office of the Provost (OtP)…

Christopher LongAugust 20, 2024

BillHD makes a gesture to a whiteboard off camera. He is sitting around a table with people listening to the point he is making. Sonja is watching Bill with her hand to her face, thinking.

Dean Living The Administrative Life

A Letter to Bill Hart-Davidson

The spirit of your gifts are present all around us, they animate our relationships and illuminate a world broken without you and better because of you.

Christopher LongMay 3, 2024

$Looking up from the ground through the tall Redwoods of the Cathedral Grove in Muir Woods in California. The sky is seen refracted through the branches of the enormous redwoods.$

Presentation: Other The Administrative Life

Using Obsidian Notes to Create Context and Connection for Meaningful Productivity

As many of you know, I find joy in refining the system that shapes the way I work and in sharing my approach here on the Long Road blog. So let this be the latest…

Christopher LongJanuary 19, 2024

A wooden gate framed by two columns of beige brick covered by green vines with red blossoms opens onto a tiered garden with a birdbath in the center. Off in the distance beyond the garden there are trees in full autumn folliage. The path leading to the bird bath is lined with purple flowers on this sunny November day in the Dumbarton Oaks gardens.

Dean Initiatives The Administrative Life The Liberal Arts The Long Road

Coalition for the Future Academy

The metaphors we use shape the future we create. Upon entering the National Building Museum in Washington, DC, you are immediately confronted by four enormous Corinthian columns supporting a spacious atrium. There they stand, four…

Christopher LongJanuary 18, 2024

A diverse group of people of wide-ranging ages stand in a courtyard in front of a colorful mural of Grace Lee and James Boggs with young people. A young Grace Lee Boggs is in yellow, holding a megaphone to her mouth. Jimmie Boggs, on the right, is in a dark jacket, hands folded in front of me, listening. There is a diverse group of young people between them.

Dean Initiatives The Administrative Life

Ubuntu, Drawing, and A Pilgrimage to the Boggs Center

I am learning how to draw. It started during the pandemic, but if I am being honest, my practice has languished. Over the last few weeks, however, I have felt the need to redouble my…

Christopher LongOctober 21, 2023

In the foreground in focus are white values cards with black letters laying on a dark wooden table with words like "Support for Failure," "Holistic," "Accessibility,"Excellence," "Appreciation," written on them. We read the cards upside-down as we look down the table, our perspective at table-level looking toward a woman in a black mask leaning over a computer pointing to something as participants around the table look toward the laptop on the table. The laptop and the people are out of focus at the depth of field is short and the focus is on the cards nearest us on the table.

Dean The Administrative Life

Finding the Values in Committee Work

The transformative power of values-enacted scholarship is only really felt in lived-experience. Just before spring break, and only two weeks after the mass shooting on the MSU campus, a small group of staff, directors, and…

Christopher LongMarch 16, 2023

Two people sit in gray chairs with dark wooden legs on a small stage with wooden floors. There is a round coffee table made of dark and light wood between them on which is a microphone with a pop filter, papers to which the speakers are referring, and two bottles of water. Amy DeRogatis is on the left, speaking and smiling slightly as she looks down at her paper and talks into the microphone. On the right is Isaac Weiner, grinning broadly as if laughing. On the left of the stage is a fake white tree with cotton "snow" underneath and white lights on the branches. The wall behind the stage is white, broken up with gray/blue squares of fabric designed to dampen the sound. The microphone is attached by a wire that goes to an amplifier that is just visible on the right, behind Isaac. There is a blue light coming out of the bottom of the amplifier.

Dean The Administrative Life The Long Road

What Does Religion Sound Like?

This question, What does religion sound like?, inspired the creation of a remarkable collaborative project on Religious Sounds between Amy Derogatis of Michigan State University and Isaac Weiner at The Ohio State University. Yesterday, I…

Christopher LongJanuary 28, 2023

The group is gathered around Queen Cherice Harrison-Nelson who is on the right, with Toni Gordon leaning in next to her, Ural Grant on her right, Jessica Reed next to Ural, and in the back, Sharieka Botex and Marquis Taylor. They are in a conference room where the presentation on prioritizing joy in graduate education was given.

Education Living The Administrative Life The Graduate Experience

Ubuntu As Leadership Practice

There are times when your life seems to be telling you a story. When this happens, it is wise to listen. In October 2022, my life began to speak the language of Ubuntu, the powerful…

Christopher LongDecember 30, 2022

Education The Administrative Life The Long Road

Toward a More Just and Beautiful Future

As my eighth year at Michigan State University begins, I have been reflecting on the work we have done and the work that lies ahead. In many ways, this past semester and the next mark…

Christopher LongAugust 16, 2022

The Administrative Life

Revolutionary Dean

A few weeks ago, I was asked to speak to an amazing group of new deans at Michigan State University about the role of the dean in higher education during a period of intense transformation.…

Christopher LongFebruary 25, 2022

Red Cedar River in Winter, white snow covers the trees on both sides of the river which is beginning to ice over from the banks.

Presentation: Other The Administrative Life

From Productivity to Meaningful Work

Six years have past since I wrote A Few Notes on Productivity, a post that outlined my approach to productivity in academic and administrative life. More than 11 years have somehow passed since I wrote…

Christopher LongApril 2, 2021

Dean The Administrative Life The Long Road

Failures to Listen

One year ago today, Rachael Denhollander addressed the Ingham County court in Michigan, her abuser, and the institutions that failed to protect her and her #SisterSurvivors. Listen again to part of what she said on…

Christopher LongJanuary 24, 2019

The Administrative Life The Long Road

Bonomi, Rothman, and a Human Rights Approach to Sexual Misconduct in Higher Education

In her recent article in the Journal of Family Violence, Amy Bonomi, Chair of Human Development and Family Studies at Michigan State University, insists that sexual assault and relationship violence cannot be effectively redressed until we undertake…

Christopher LongSeptember 4, 2018

Dean The Administrative Life The Long Road

Open Letter to the College of Arts & Letters

Dear College of Arts & Letters Students, Faculty, Staff, Alumni, and Friends, In the wake of the survivor impact statements, the Nassar sentencing, and the resignation of President Simon, we have entered an important period…

Christopher LongJanuary 25, 2018

Dean The Administrative Life The Long Road

Practicing Gratitude

Last weekend was homecoming on the Michigan State University campus, and I found myself reflecting on the meaning and significance of gratitude. So many alumni returned to campus to give thanks for all the ways…

Christopher LongOctober 24, 2017

Dean The Administrative Life The Long Road

Charting a Path to Intellectual Leadership, then Following It

As a junior faculty member, I attended every possible workshop on tenure and promotion I could find. Inevitably, however, as the shared wisdom of those who had successfully been tenured and promoted washed over me,…

Christopher LongMarch 14, 2017

The Administrative Life The Liberal Arts

Open Letter on the Executive Order on Immigration

Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff in the College of Arts & Letters: Many of you have written to express your concern about the executive order signed by the President of the United States on January…

Christopher LongJanuary 30, 2017

The Administrative Life The Liberal Arts The Long Road

Between Beginning and Routine

With the new year comes the deluge of resolutions. This ritual of new beginnings affords us an opportunity to begin anew, for, as the ancient proverb reminds us, “well begun is half done.” Aristotle, Politics,…

Christopher LongJanuary 15, 2017

Black and white abstracted image of layers of circles and squares

Digital Humanities The Administrative Life The Long Road

Critical Diversity in a Digital Age

Last year we developed a strategic plan in the College of Arts & Letters that called for a cluster hire in culturally engaged digital humanities that focuses on humanities questions of race, inclusion, cultural preservation,…

Christopher LongOctober 31, 2016

Dean Education The Administrative Life The Long Road The Undergraduate Experience

Finding Your Place, Leaving a Mark

Dear College of Arts & Letters Class of 2020, Welcome to Michigan State University! As you begin your journey in the College of Arts & Letters at Michigan State University, let me tell you a…

Christopher LongAugust 31, 2016

Dean Digital Humanities Digital Scholarship The Administrative Life The Long Road

Investing in Humanities Publishing

To be honest, I didn’t know what to expect when I arrived at the headquarters of the Association of American Universities in Washington, D.C. early last week to take part in a discussion about a…

Christopher LongAugust 8, 2016

The Administrative Life The Long Road

MSU Shadows

A year ago today, as I began my tenure as Dean of the College of Arts & Letters at Michigan State University, I made reference to a passage by Peter Raible, one that draws from…

Christopher LongJuly 1, 2016

Education The Administrative Life The Long Road

5 Things That Facilitate Academic Collaboration

Lists are the current vernacular of the internet. There is even a social media site, li.st, wholly dedicated to the creation and sharing of lists of all sorts. So, as I considered how I might…

Christopher LongJune 27, 2016

Dean Education The Administrative Life

Learning to Play in a More Inclusive Key

On three different days in three different meetings, the same note was sounded. It struck a cord that resonated with me as I listened to faculty from three groups talk about their experience in the…

Christopher LongApril 25, 2016

The Administrative Life The Long Road

Arts & Letters Scholars

On the surface, it appeared to be a simple question of style: should we spell out “and” or use the ampersand when referring to the College? But form and content are intertwined; no style presents…

Christopher LongMarch 3, 2016

The Administrative Life The Long Road

Practicing Inclusion as a Matter of Institutional Habit

Institutions of higher education across the country have long talked about diversity and inclusion. Many have established offices of equity or inclusion and hired staff to ensure that the institution is living up to its…

Christopher LongFebruary 14, 2016

Education The Administrative Life The Long Road

Engaged Scholarship

This was initially posted on Medium as part of my Writing Along the Way project. Engaged Scholarship To speak of “applied” scholarship is to divorce theory from practice in a way that impoverishes both. This,…

Christopher LongDecember 24, 2015

The Administrative Life The Long Road

Catalytic Opportunities

Continuing my experiment in public writing along the way, this post on Medium outlines the contours of what I've been thinking about as "catalytic opportunities." Catalytic Opportunities I’ve begun thinking about strategic initiatives as catalytic.…

Christopher LongDecember 11, 2015

The Administrative Life The Long Road

Habits of Public Writing

This post on Medium initiates an experiment in public writing designed to facilitate transparency and refine my thinking in relation to issues I face in my role as Dean of the College of Arts and…

Christopher LongDecember 6, 2015

Green grass leading up to the beautiful Katsura Tree in the Beal Botanical Garden. There are purple flowers in the foreground on the right.

Dean Education The Administrative Life The Long Road

A Living Place of Education

The places we inhabit habituate us. The virtues they cultivate are grounded in the values they embody. In 1855, a natural opening in the oak forest of the Burr farm was selected as a fitting…

Christopher LongJuly 28, 2015

Dean The Administrative Life The Long Road

The Edge of the Oak Opening

As I begin my tenure as Dean of the College of Arts and Letters at Michigan State University I find myself thinking of these lines adapted from Deuteronomy 6:10-12 by Peter Raible: "We build on…

Christopher LongJuly 1, 2015

Education Living LwCH The Administrative Life The Long Road

Inhabiting a Liminal Space

With the announcement that I would be recommended as Dean of the College of Arts and Letters at Michigan State, Val, the girls, and I entered a liminal space. I have long be drawn to the…

Christopher LongMay 25, 2015

The Administrative Life The Long Road

A Few Notes on Productivity

I was asked to facilitate a discussion about productivity and administration with my Associate Dean colleagues on the Academic Council for Undergraduate Education (ACUE) at Penn State. Being something of a productivity geek, I jumped…

Christopher LongJanuary 19, 2015

The Administrative Life The Liberal Arts The Long Road

Butterflies Pinned

In the winter of 1988, during my freshman year at Wittenberg University, I took Professor Warren Copeland’s Introduction to Ethics: Racism course. This course and its sister, Advanced Ethics: Racism, which I took the following…

Christopher LongJanuary 19, 2015

Education The Administrative Life The Long Road The Undergraduate Experience

Deliberating #PSUGenEd

Today we embark upon an exciting new phase of the General Education reform process at Penn State. After more than a year of conversations and discussion, we are now in a position to engage in…

Christopher LongSeptember 21, 2014

The Administrative Life The Liberal Arts The Long Road The Undergraduate Experience

Beginning Anew with #PSUGenEd

At the Penn State General Education Spring 2014 retreat, we decided to begin anew with GenEd as we try to find ways to feasibly adopt a curriculum that would be animated by substantive integrative learning…

Christopher LongMay 18, 2014

The Administrative Life The Long Road

On Welcoming philoSOPHIA to Penn State

From time to time, I am called upon in my role as Associate Dean to welcome academic groups to campus. This afternoon, I had the opportunity to say a few words of welcome to philoSOPHIA:…

Christopher LongMay 1, 2014

The Administrative Life The Liberal Arts The Long Road The Undergraduate Experience

General Education Reform at Penn State

The Information Technology unit at Penn State holds IT Matters breakfasts a few times a year. This semester I joined colleagues on stage to talk about my work and how it intersects with IT at…

Christopher LongApril 15, 2014

The Administrative Life The Liberal Arts The Long Road The Undergraduate Experience

#PSUGenEd and the Research Endeavor

We at Penn State are engaged in an intense, ongoing and, in my view, very healthy dialogue about General Education reform. In order to integrate the research endeavor into the undergraduate experience, we ought to…

Christopher LongApril 10, 2014

The Administrative Life The Liberal Arts The Long Road

Deliberating GenEd Reform at Penn State

One of the values we hope to integrate into the new General Education curriculum at Penn State is the recognition of the importance of public deliberation. Deliberating in public is difficult; it requires certain intellectual…

Christopher LongJanuary 28, 2014

The Administrative Life The Long Road

Toward a Deliberative University Public

I have always sought to integrate my philosophical commitments into my administrative life. So, when Noëlle McAfee came to campus to deliver a paper entitled, "Deliberation and the Affective Dimensions of Public Will-formation," I found…

Christopher LongNovember 13, 2013

The Administrative Life The Long Road

General Education Reform and the Art of Listening

By the time we took the stage as the final panel of the day, we had heard the voices of expert educators, faculty, administrators, employers and alums speak about the value and importance of general…

Christopher LongNovember 3, 2013

Old Main at Penn State - View from inside to columns outside

Grants, Fellowships, Awards The Administrative Life Vita

ALP at Penn State: A Vision of the New Research University

University budgeting and strategic planning was the focus of the final Academic Leadership Program (ALP) sponsored by the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC) held at Penn State, April 12-14, 2012. No two topics have more…

Christopher LongApril 22, 2012

ALP Fellows at the University of Chicago

Grants, Fellowships, Awards The Administrative Life Vita

ALP at University of Chicago: Virtues of an Education for Democracy

In her address to the Committee on Institutional Cooperation's Academic Leadership Program at the University of Chicago last Thursday, Martha Nussbaum offered a compelling defense of a liberal arts education. She advocated for an education…

Christopher LongFebruary 20, 2012

Grants, Fellowships, Awards The Administrative Life Vita

ALP at Indiana: Herman B. Wells

Sometimes without looking, one finds a paradigm - an example that can serve as a model. Last week I visited Indiana University as a one of Penn State's Academic Leadership Fellows in the Academic Leadership Program of…

Christopher LongNovember 11, 2011

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