Agile Faculty

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