CFP: Toxic Cultures in Higher Education
Editors:
Monica D.T. Rysavy, Ph.D., Ed.D.
Russell S. Michalak, MLIS
Trevor A. Dawes, MLS
Jon Cawthorne, Ph.D.
About this Edited Collection
With a new decade, there are now emerging challenges in higher education due to COVID, inequity, social justice, food insecurity, wage disparity. Even before the pandemic, there has not been a broad examination of higher education workplace cultures. This CFP seeks interested authors who work in higher education to identify the signs, find solutions and collectively address the problems that create and sustain toxic cultures. Toxic cultures in libraries have not been well-documented in the literature. Furthermore, what publications do exist, minimally (if at all) focus on how to effectively navigate or improve the culture of organizations struggling with a toxic culture.
We are soliciting chapters of case studies for our upcoming edited collection (published by ACRL) that discusses the toxic "us vs. them" culture between libraries, library staff, and any other college and university stakeholder group that is so pervasive in much of higher education.
We are looking for contributions from a broad spectrum of individuals working in higher education. Each chapter should be written through the lens of equity, diversity, and inclusion.
Chapter topics may focus on, but are not limited to the following:
- Challenging situations: Narratives describing specific toxic culture challenges related to any college stakeholder group vs. libraries and/or library staff.
- Turnaround stories: Toxic culture situations that were turned around through the efforts of individuals working at the specific institution
- Other suggested topics include, but are not limited to toxic cultures and as it relates or contributes to:
- wellness,
- work/life balance,
- financial stresses,
- tenure issues,
- human behavior,
- multigenerational workforce,
- compensation,
- favoritism,
- unions,
- faculty rank,
- DEI,
- training and development,
- appreciation,
- scholarship, and
- technical skills
Each chapter (3,500 - 5,000 words) should provide lessons learned and/or practical suggestions for readers to provide actionable advice for resolving institutional and organizational concerns related to toxic behaviors in the workplace.
Tentative Timeline:
- November 1, 2021 - CFP opens
- November 19, 2021 - CFP closes
- December 10, 2021 - Notification of submission status (accepted or declined) sent
- February 7, 2022: 1st Draft Due*
- February 25, 2022: 1st round revisions are sent by Editors to Contributors
- May 7, 2022: 2nd round revisions* are due by Contributors to Editors
- 3rd round revisions: As needed
- July 8, 2022: Final Manuscript submitted to Publisher
* Please note that all chapters will be reviewed by potentially all editors for commenting and track changes.
How to Submit Your Proposal
Please submit your proposal by completing the proposal submission form available by visiting https://airtable.com/
Please note that a 500-word abstract is required (and must be submitted via a shared Google doc in the submission form) and should include an overall outline of the proposed chapter with clearly labeled relevant headings that address the topic of the edited collection as described in this CfP. Please make sure to also address, even if only at a high level, what lessons learned / practical actionable next steps readers can take away from your chapter to hopefully help address similar concerns they may be facing.
Questions or concerns? Please submit let us know by visiting https://airtable.com/
