How to transform higher education workplaces into environments where all employees can thrive. Colleges and universities rarely establish working conditions and cultures that prioritize employee well-being. During the pandemic, many staff and faculty members questioned their careers in higher education. Because of this mindset, leaders in higher education must rethink their approaches to attracting, growing, and retaining talent. In The Caring University , Kevin R. McClure describes six organizational changes to create a university dedicated to creating working conditions and cultures in which all employees can flourish. At the heart of the caring university is the premise that all employees have talent, all employees should be treated as whole people, and all employees deserve to be cared for as essential contributors to organizational success. McClure's proposed changes draw upon wisdom of organizational change theories, decades of scholarship in higher education and social science, as well as site visits to institutions where he conducted more than 100 original interviews with staff, faculty, and administrators. The Caring University diagnoses major problems in the higher education workplace and offers practical approaches to address them as part of a sustainable change process. The book brings together several strands of inquiry and conversations in practice that have typically been discussed separately―such as burnout, caregiving, and leadership―and weaves them into a cohesive narrative that addresses all employees in higher education. This essential book reimagines the higher education workplace as a site where all employees can thrive. Professor McClure provides a much-needed call to action and practical guide to create true caring universities for the faculty and staff who lead, manage, and support efforts to prepare students for lives of leadership and service. The employee experience must be a strategic priority for the entire organization. ―Andy Brantley, College and University Professional Association for Human Resources Higher education used to be an employer of choice, but the environment has changed dramatically in the last decade. The Caring University is a timely and important book to address this crisis. Leaders must take to heart that students will not succeed and higher education will not meet its learning mission if faculty and staff are not part of a caring community and treated with fairness, dignity, and respect. ―Adrianna Kezar, Pullias Center for Higher Education, University of Southern California In their never-ending quest for status, universities have placed competition and individual achievement over collective welfare. Kevin McClure has laid out a plan for moving from cold bureaucracies that prioritize external stakeholders to a generative culture that puts its own people first. It's past time to start the process. ―Holden Thorp, Editor-in-Chief, Science The Caring University offers a compelling and timely road map for transforming the higher ed workplace. McClure illustrates through engaging case studies not only that supporting employee well-being is the right thing to do but also that it is a strategic necessity for institutional success. This book is essential reading for any college leader who wants to build a more humane and effective organization where talented people want to work, grow, and stay. ―Jeffrey Selingo, author of Who Gets In and Why: A Year Inside College Admission McClure thoughtfully details the concerns that generations of higher education employees have faced and outlines a better way forward to improve the quality of life for employees and the quality of education for students. This is a must-read for administrators, faculty, and staff alike. ―Robert Kelchen, University of Tennessee, Knoxville McClure's book does what it sets out to do, and it does so in a surprisingly readable way. This was my first time reading it, but it won't be my last. Nicely done. ―Matt Reed, Inside Higher Ed The Caring University: Reimagining the Higher Education Workplace after the Great Resignation is a guide for how colleges and universities can ― and should ― take better care of their employees...In this highly readable book, full of case history material, McClure offers many good ideas for making academic bureaucracies more humane. ― Forbes One of this year's buzziest books on higher ed. ―Colleen Flaherty, Inside Higher Ed [A] well-researched book. It is thorough in identifying the issues that complicate higher education, across the public and private sectors. It is appreciative in an uncompromising belief in potential for structural improvements. The book is practical in its insights as it invites leaders to be co-creators of the Caring University through the practices of holding pain and practicing compassion. ― Christian Scholar's Review How to transform higher education workplaces into environments where all employees can thrive. Kevin R.