An Effective Leader

An Effective and Responsible Professor of Mathematics

An effective and responsible leader faces many challenges, and knows how to conquer them all to achieve success, but what makes an effective and responsible leader? There are many characteristics an effective leader needs to be successful, and most of them revolve around the four frames structural, human resource, political, and symbolic. Seeking to develop my knowledge of leadership, I researched leadership in higher education. I investigated a position of leadership in higher education, and I had the opportunity to interview three wonderful women. The investigation allowed me to broaden my perspective and learn that each position and person has a unique view of leadership. There are

Three professors shared with me information about their current position and their experiences. Dr. Dena Walker is currently an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Northwestern Oklahoma State University. Some of her responsibilities include teaching twenty-seven hours a year in selected mathematics courses, planning, determining curriculum, classroom instruction and management, one-on-one tutoring, advice students, and any other tasks that she is assigned. When she was hired, she did not have a Doctorates degree which is required for her current position. Dr. Walker signed a contract that she would complete her Doctorates within six years. For her to be able to teach mathematics it is required to have at least eighteen hours of graduate level math. When asked what some of the most difficult day-to-day decisions were, Dr. Walker responded that it was determining if students grasped the material and being consistent and fair while grading. As far as ethical issues, she has not faced any major decisions but she mentioned the possibility of being asked to change a grade. She is open to ideas and suggestions from other professionals because she wants to be an effective teacher. Dr. Walker maintains her passion and motivation by looking at the students that want to succeed and learn, and the key thing to stay out of

Mary Riegel, Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Northwestern Oklahoma State University. She is responsible for teaching twenty-seven hours a year in selected math courses from 0 level to 4000 level. Her teaching responsibilities include planning, grading, maintaining office hours, advising on limited bases, and other possible tasks assigned. She has a PhD in Combinatorics and Optimization. Her current position does not require that she has an education degree, only that there is at least eighteen hours of graduate level math. Dr. Riegel has strictly a math background. The most important day-to-day decisions for Dr. Riegel is making conscious decisions on what is best for the students even if it is not the best for her. Her students are her priority. There is always a different way to get the student to understand. She is open to new ideas, and the best way she handles it is reflecting and thinking of other ways to look at things from another angle. Her most conflicting ethical issue is cheating. She encourages her students to work together, but there is always that habit that they try to work together when it comes to test time. She mentioned how it is difficult to deal with a student that cheats because she does not want to automatically fail them, but you also want the student to understand the difference between right and wrong. Dr. Riegel keeps her passion and motivation by keeping interest in the material so that