Few resources exist for individuals who wish to subscribe to a practical, applied learning approach to higher education administration. To that end, the book's vignettes: 1) reflect the diversity of issues, roles, contexts and situations postsecondary leaders face—yet are uncommonly addressed in learning resources; 2) place learners in authentic higher education administrative circumstances in which they must respond; 3) facilitate further individual or collective exploration; and 4) may be adapted to a broad array of formal and informal professional development needs.

The book's scenarios include a broad assortment of exhibits (e.g., correspondences, articles, institutional policies, etc.) which allow learners to practice evaluating a range of information sources common in postsecondary administration. In addition, each vignette provides learners with guided opportunities to determine how and why they might respond in the situations presented, and offers chances to assess the responses of actual higher education administrators to authentic situations and challenges.