As our work at the National Forum has evolved over the past 10 years, so has our approach.  Whereas earlier projects focused on various aspects of higher education for the public good, we are currently reframing our work from a leadership perspective.  Specifically, we are trying to ask one another how all of our various projects create and promote leadership opportunities around higher education for the public good.  Thus, we are giving significant attention to providing resources for partners across the country and around the world as they address issues of access and opportunity, and as they promote higher education as a bulwark of the public good.

However, we have also committed to several research projects that specifically examine leadership as a theoretical construct.  Some of the projects currently underway include:

• An examination of the spiritual aspects of male faculty teaching and scholarship.  Spirituality is showing up more commonly in several conceptualizations of leadership, including especially spiritual leadership and servant-leadership.  This qualitative study examines the spiritual implications of faculty leadership and promises to highlight some original and exciting findings.  This is an unfunded project, for which the authors will seek publication in various outlets.
• An examination of the interplay between servant-leadership and college chaplaincies.  Servant-leadership draws from many religious sources and experiences; often those who most readily relate to the theory have some personal religious or spiritual experiences that resonate with the theory.  This qualitative study explores the ways that college and university chaplains make use of servant-leadership in their chaplaincies.  This is an unfunded project, for which the authors will seek publication in various outlets.
• Compendium of contemporary research on servant-leadership.  Since 2008, the National Forum has partnered with the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership on the Greenleaf Scholars Program.  As a result, 10 Scholars have been funded to engage in original, empirical studies of servant-leadership.  These studies, along with other contemporary scholarship, provide exciting evidence of the viability of servant-leadership in practice.  This edited volume will highlight contemporary scholarly research, in an accessible format, to help bring research to bear on numerous organizational settings.  This project is unfunded.