Abstract
Introduction: The new Medical College in Jeddah (COM-J) - a branch of King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences - is currently confronting many challenges, accelerating the need for effective academic leaders. Unfortunately, little is known about how the competency of academic leaders underpins effective performance or how leaders might be aided in acquiring competency. This environment has driven authorities at COM-J to be proactive in the establishment of the Academic Leadership Development (ALD) program for current and potential future academic leaders.
Objectives: To assess the perception of academic leaders on the importance of capability, different approaches and criterion for judging effective performance.
Methodology: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted with 47 academic leaders at COM-J. In addition to demographic data, information on academic leaders' perception of the importance of three datasets (capabilities, approaches and judging criteria) was collected using a five-point Likert scale (1 - low to 5 - high). The project team and experts in the field of leadership development assessed the face validity of the survey instrument. The reliability of the survey instrument was calculated; Cronbach's coefficient alpha was 0.97 (a high value).
Program Model: In response to the need mentioned in the introduction, we have adopted a model of academic leadership development that has already been tested in several large-scale studies of effective leadership in higher education.
This model suggests an ongoing process with 4 stages; Diagnosis, Development, Implementation and Evaluation. Areas of good practice are retained, and those requiring further attention and new gaps for development are re-addressed.
Results: The response rate was 100% (47), and the academic leaders perceived that a combination of emotional intelligence (both personal and interpersonal), cognitive capabilities and a set of relevant skills and knowledge are necessary for effective performance as an academic leader at COM-J.
Conclusion: We produced a model for an ALD program at COM-J with the following attributes:
A set of capabilities and competencies for effective leadership at COM-J.
A set of quality checkpoints (criterion for judging effective performance) at COM-J.
An online tool to enable future leaders to complete the same survey and compare their responses.