University Leadership
At Transcontinental University, we are all partners in learning.
Leadership Structure
Transcontinental has a flat, organic web organizational structure with empowerment at its core, fostering non-linear processes of learning, innovation, and continuous improvement. In line with the Knowledge Creation process, any faculty can initiate an innovation at any time, and, unlike many like many traditional Universities, we have opted not to use formal titles within rigid and political hierarchies.
The two aspects of Transcontinental University’s structures can be loosely defined as:
Academics Leadership
Academics are under the leadership of the Chief Academic Officer, Dr. Lloyd Williams, who has three PhD degrees in diverse fields. The academics aspects include:
- Course and program design, delivery, assessment, and improvements.
- All research activities
- All institutional administrative operations for Ohio and beyond, including registration, records, accounting, institutional advancement, and quality assurance
- A learner support team of student affairs
Business Leadership
The President of Transcontinental University is Dr. Ted Sun, who holds two terminal degrees, one in business and another in psychology. The business aspects include:
- Business development
- Strategic partnerships with other universities
- Corporate partnerships
- Systemic enhancements to higher education
- Accreditation initiatives
Academic Organizational Units
Transcontinental University maximizes the quality of the graduate courses and any other future academic courses by utilizing three primary organizational units within the design of the academic structure. These organizational units conduct frequent assessments and enhancements of the academic courses based on the knowledge creation spiral.
Academic Departments
Transcontinental University currently offers one academic unit– the Graduate School of Business for its graduate degrees. While Transcontinental University applies an integrative approach to learning, departments still maintain sole responsibility for the quality of the contents and delivery of specific module areas. The departments include: Economics, Marketing, Management, and Organizational Learning, Strategy, Finance, Entrepreneurship, and Research. Each department is overseen by its Department Chair, who reports directly to the Chief Academic Officer of the University.
Academic Steering Committee
The focus of Transcontinental University is to provide an integrative study that goes well beyond the traditional walls of isolated modules. To ensure each module has a systemic integration to other modules, the Academic Steering Committee is responsible for the quality of the curriculum from design to continued enhancements. Transcontinental University applies a unique Systemic Design Process that enables faculty, administration, and external stakeholders to engage in the design of the curriculum. For example, the interconnectedness between finance, governance, and technology are woven into two sequential modules, rather than designed as separate modules. The Academic Steering Committee is responsible for overseeing Transcontinental University ’s Integrative Design Process and is composed of top-rated faculty based on Transcontinental University’s faculty performance assessments. The Academic Steering Committee reports to the Chief Academic Officer of the University.
Academic Review Board (ARB)
The Academic Review Board serves as the quality control over all research related activities. This review board is invariably composed of at least three, but not more than five, members to review completed research studies. For review of final thesis/dissertations, at least one of the review board members is professionally engaged in a respective field of the study. The Academic Review Board reports to the Research Director.
Institutional Review Board (IRB)
The Institutional Review Board conducts preliminary reviews of learner research proposals and serves as the quality and risk control over research activities. The Board ensures that research follows established standards of ethics according to the American Psychological Association’s guidelines for human research protection while minimizing legal risk to both the learners and the University. The board is comprised of at least three faculty members, along with the Research Director providing oversight, and the Vice Chancellor who provides final approval to any research.