Welcome to the inaugural issue of Cases on Leadership for Equity and Justice in Higher Education (CLEJHE). CLEJHE is to be an ongoing, peer-reviewed, open-access journal devoted to cases on complex issues in higher education leadership and policy with an equity lens. Case studies illustrate complex and diverse settings, dilemmas, and challenges. In education leadership studies, cases are a signature pedagogy to provide students and faculty with opportunities to engage with the intricacies of leadership within the confines of the classroom. Using cases in teaching increases a students’ overall interest in the topic being taught, helps them recall details from the texts studied, and improves their understanding of theoretical arguments and concepts (Krain, 2016). Students enjoy them and instructors perceive case studies as motivating and engaging for students (Thistlethwaite et al., 2012).

The need for innovative, change-adept leaders in higher education contexts is considerable. CLEJHE will focus on providing case narratives to explore, to the greatest extent possible, authentic practice in colleges, universities, and policy settings. Cases can be described as conduits between theory and practice (Vaugeois, 2005). This journal will feature case studies that help learners establish connections among theory, research, and practice in higher education contexts.

CLEJHE is a collaborative project at the University of Colorado Denver involving ThinqStudio and the School of Education and Human Development programs for Leadership for Educational Equity in Higher Education and Learning, Design, and Technology (LDT). The journal editors are doctoral students from the Leadership for Educational Equity in Higher Education program and in this first issue all cases were provided by EdD students in the same program.

CLJHE was made possible by funding from the Colorado Department of Higher Education. It is the first publication by ThinqPress, an open-access (OA) press that will enable faculty, students, and programs to co-publish OER textbooks, journals, and courses in support of three related goals: (a) producing and disseminating open educational resources (OER), (b) sparking and sustaining open education practice (OEP), and (c) establishing partnerships that demonstrate high-impact practices in open program pedagogies, quality assurance, and rigorous scholarship.

We, the editors, are very pleased to present this inaugural issue and thank the contributing authors and reviewers for their support. It has been a privilege to bring these cases to current and future leaders in higher education. We are excited to begin building CLJHE into a journal that advances learning experiences providing opportunities for exploration of higher education leadership and policy ambiguities as well as the processes of sensemaking, puzzle solving, and decision making.

It is our hope that scholars and practitioners in the field of higher education leadership and policy will consider CLEJHE as a venue for communicating original cases to a broad readership. The ongoing success of CLEJHE depends on the submission of high-quality case manuscripts and a rigorous double-blind review process. We look forward to working with our Editorial Board, reviewers, and future submitting authors in the months and years to come.

Sincerely,

Brian DeLevie
Visual Arts, University of Colorado Denver

Dan H. Lawrence
Library, Community College of Aurora

Jacquelyn Ray
Library Services, Walla Walla Community College

CO-editors of Cases on Leadership for Equity and Justice in Higher Education

References

Krain, M. (2016). Putting the learning in case learning? The effects of case-based approaches on student knowledge, attitudes, and engagement. Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, 27(2), 131–153.

Thistlethwaite, J. E., Davies, D., Ekeocha, S., Kidd, J. M., MacDougall, C., Matthews, P., Purkis, J., & Clay, D. (2012). The effectiveness of case-based learning in health professional education. A BEME systematic review: BEME Guide No. 23. Medical Teacher, 34(6), e421-444. https://doi.org/10.3109/0142159X.2012.680939

Vaugeois, N. (2005). Making the case for case study learning. In N, Vaugeois (ED.), 11th Canadian congress on leisure research (n.p.). The Recreation and Tourism Research Institute.