Colleges and universities need leadership at every level, but often faculty are reluctant to lend their leadership abilities because the notion of them as leaders is often at odds with their perception of themselves as academics. "It's not who we are. We're people who challenge and question all the time. When we associate leaders with authority, most faculty shy away from that," says Marlene Moore, dean of the college of arts and sciences at the University of Portland.

As college teachers, most of us know that the profession is changing, but we aren't always as up on the details as we should be. The changes occurring today have implications for everyone who teaches. Just a couple of facts make that abundantly clear. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, between 2001 and 2003 only 54 percent of the faculty hired were appointed to full-time positions, and 35 percent of all full-time appointees were not in tenured or tenure-track positions.

A recent informal poll conducted by Magna Publications' electronic newsletters Faculty Focus and Eye on Students asked, "Would you like to see student affairs work more closely with academic affairs on your campus? What is preventing-or encouraging-collaboration on your campus?"

This is not a rant. As a college administrator, I am fully aware of the importance of assessment, and the bureaucratic efficiencies mandated in higher education in our country today. However, I do think it is important for academic leaders to be able to step back from the fray and the daily demands of administration and think about the philosophical and educational implications of the standards movement in higher education. Most college and university administrators are keenly aware of the standards movement in K-12 public school education, a dominant theme of contemporary education reform that has now moved to the college campus.