The rise and fall of camelot: designing, implementing, and dismantling  (Page 5/16)

DH3 was a research faculty member of the department who agreed to serve as Department Head after DH2’s departure. DH3 attempted to bring back some of the openness and collegiality that had existed in the department under DH1. DH3 and I had collaborated on research prior to her becoming department head and that collaboration continues today. DH3 returned to faculty upon the elimination of our department.

The MSA program was moved into the department of Human Services following the reorganization of the college of education, under the direction of DH4. It is difficult for me to characterize DH4 as his prior reputation as an honest, “hands off” leader has not been what I have experienced with him. DH4 is a strong supporter of Dean2 and has adopted the hierarchical management style the dean favors. DH4 expressed a desire to learn about the MSA program but also began making decisions about schedules and faculty that had previously been made by the program coordinator. DH4 also has accused me of several failings based on hearsay without discussing the accusations with me. These things have led to a relationship best characterized as mutually distrustful.

Faculty. The longest serving educational leadership faculty member is FMA. He has been at Western for about 20 years. At the time of my arrival, FMA taught a variety of courses for ELF. His primary involvement in the MSA consisted of supervising interns, however with the revisioning process, he became a much more active part of the program. FMA is strongly committed to teaching leadership from an aesthetic paradigm.

FMB had been at Western for several years prior to my arrival. She was a co-coordinator of the doctoral program but also supervised interns for the MSA. Though she was heavily involved in the early phases of the revisioning process, her focus remained on the doctoral program.

My part in this story begins in August, 2006. I arrived at Western Carolina University for my first academic appointment after 17 years in K-12 teaching and administration. I entered higher education because I thought I could make more of a difference in K-12 education by training principals than by being one. I also wanted the opportunities to do research and to be engaged in multiple K-12 schools. Soon after my arrival I was asked to coordinate the Master’s of School Administration program. I was the first of three new hires in the department of Educational Leadership and Foundations that year and have designated myself as FMC1.

FMC2 came to Western with many years of K-12 experience and several years of higher education experience. FMC2 has a passion for building professional learning communities. Her first two years at Western were split between teaching in the MSA and some curriculum and instruction (C&I) courses.

FMC3 is a retired school superintendent and was an adjunct instructor prior to my arrival. He is immersed in the writings of Dewey and Giroux, takes a critical view of education today, and believes strongly in principal supervision as a means to improving teacher instruction. None of the three of us hired that year had experience with online teaching prior to coming to Western.