As collaboration becomes more standard in the academic profession, clear policies are needed to ensure that faculty derive the maximum benefit from working together. The growing trend toward collaboration has implications for faculty, administrators, and the general higher education community. Faculty who are accustomed to working alone should consider developing collaborative relationships. Carefully managed collaborative partnerships can enrich academic life. To be successful, collaborators must know the dynamics of the collaboration process and be prepared to cope with collaboration's challenges as well as reap its rewards.
Administrators have a key role to play in fostering effective collaboration.
They can allocate discretionary resources and shape supportive policies to encourage faculty to work together. More important, administrators can stimulate collaborative work by recognizing and rewarding collaborative achievements in public and private ways. They can also promote teamwork by collaborating themselves in team teaching an occasional course or conducting research with faculty colleagues. If the higher education community wishes to encourage more faculty teamwork, some significant reforms will be needed. For example, as part of professional socialization, students should be introduced to the merits and processes of collaboration.