2023 Growth-Minded Institutions

Read stories from growth-minded institutions to see how they have developed leaders. We selected institutions that have shown investment in their faculty and staff.

California State University, Sacramento ⟶

Dallas College ⟶

Pensacola State College ⟶

University of Delaware ⟶

University of Kentucky ⟶

Colorado State University, Pueblo ⟶

Johns Hopkins University ⟶

Texas Woman's University ⟶

University of Florida ⟶

University of Oregon ⟶

Learn From Our 2023 Growth-Minded Featured Institutions

California State University, Sacramento

Expanding inclusive leadership development for faculty and staff.

Ensuring an inclusive setting for faculty, staff, and students can only help both working and learning. Initially, leaders from the College of Arts & Letters at Sacramento State wanted to provide department chairs a full year of DEI & Inclusive Leadership training. During this venture, department chairs were able to take part in a DEI training pilot specifically geared toward the needs of academics. The success of this venture has spurred leadership to expand professional development opportunities to other groups in their college such as mid-career faculty, allowing them to develop their leadership bench further.

DEI & Inclusive Leadership Training ⟶

Cultivating a Generation of Future Leaders ⟶

Colorado State University, Pueblo

Leadership development by example.

Support for professional development from leadership, particularly from those at the very top, can be crucial to getting those efforts off the ground. This works best when leadership brings genuine enthusiasm to their support of professional development and not just tacit buy-in. At Colorado State University, Pueblo, we can see this begin with past president Tim Mottet, who identified two to three strategic trainings for the entire campus to take part in. The concepts explored in those trainings became part of strategic campus-wide discussions and helped create a common language and understanding. His example has inspired others. Leaders from all campus corners are now encouraged to suggest trainings for their teams.

Dallas College

Integrating self-awareness and personal leadership development campus-wide.

In times of great change, understanding the impact of stress on your leadership is critical. As such, it is essential to ensure that the leadership bench at your institution is equipped to face the challenges of today and tomorrow. Dallas College is an institution that has shown a commitment to encouraging leadership development at all levels. Through close collaboration between the Dallas College human resources department and their Academic Impressions account manager, they have integrated the Five Paths to Leadership℠ into their campus-wide leadership program, giving budding and established leaders alike a glimpse into their leadership styles and how they “show up” to the job.

Five Paths to Leadership℠ Self-Assessment ⟶

Support Your Faculty’s Success at Their Most Crucial Stages ⟶

Johns Hopkins University

Integrating leadership development into the campus culture.

Providing professional and leadership development resources and opportunities can go a long way in building the professional capacity of faculty and staff. The John Hopkins Provost’s Leadership, Advancement & Development Academy (L.A.D.) took it a step further. L.A.D. integrated existing resources and collaborated with experts in the leadership space to create holistic programming to meet their faculty’s needs. They have incorporated training opportunities throughout the faculty lifecycle, including inclusive leadership, faculty career design, faculty success, and supervision to help create a robust learning environment.

Pensacola State College

Meet people where they are; learning opportunities for leaders at all levels.

Employees don’t always know what options are available to them regarding professional development and research has shown that employees won’t ask out of fear of appearing inadequate. While letting employees know about available resources, the greatest buy-in will come when the organization can meet employees where they are. Stakeholders at Pensacola State were invested in employees understanding what resources were available, offering easy-start options, and guidance for various needs. They also go beyond the basics, offering learning plans and lists of curated trainings segmented based on subject so that learners at any level have an easily accessible starting point.

Academic Impressions Trainings ⟶

Maximize Your Learning with a Conference 3-Pack ⟶

Texas Woman's University

A multifaceted approach to leadership development.

Meeting the training needs of a campus may require a multifaceted approach. That has been the course taken by Texas Woman’s University. This approach has meant sending employees to learn off-campus, creating hosted opportunities for deep on-campus learning, access to professional development resources, and even executive coaching has been opened to many willing leaders on campus. TWU is truly invested in meeting its faculty and staff through all means available. What’s more, Kim Miloch, TWU’s Vice Provost of Faculty Success, has shared her expertise with others by facilitating the training, A Values-Based Approach to Leading Through Shared Governance: A Discussion for Department Chairs.

University of Delaware

Integrated and holistic Department Chair Development.

Department Chairs perform essential roles in their departments but often don’t receive the training or access to the resources they need to thrive. They need both a deeper understanding of departmental and institutional policies and the skills needed to manage people and processes. In cases like this, it can make sense to integrate outside trainings with your institutional resources to provide a richer learning experience. That’s what the University of Delaware did when they created a year-long program for their new department chairs. Across seven modules, chairs received instruction on important University of Delaware processes, policy, and operations, along with trainings on building leadership capacity, managing up, emotional intelligence, managing employees, conflict management, and leadership communications.

Training & Resources Designed Specifically for Department Chairs ⟶

Giving You the Tools for Sustainable Fundraising ⟶

University of Florida

Integrated MGO onboarding to get them up and running quick.

It is important to streamline the development of your Major Giving Officers so that they can hit the ground running. The development of these key fundraising figures is important to the University of Florida, which holds a professional development membership specifically to meet its needs. Mike Amish, director of talent development with the University of Florida, uses his experience to foster the talents within his own institution and help those outside it, too, through his participation in our summit for advancement talent development leaders.

University of Kentucky

Developing the next generation of research leaders.

Professional development isn’t a one-size-fits-all service, and each segment of an institution may need its own solutions. That’s what we see in our interactions with the University of Kentucky. Among the projects that we’ve watched grow at their institution, the Research Leadership Academy (RLA) is the most exciting. This program nurtures the institution’s next generation of research leaders. This application-based program is already hosting its second cohort and has received notice from the White House based on the research that emerged from it. Other departments have been inspired by the RLA and followed suit by providing professional development opportunities to their faculty and staff.

Become a Future-Ready Leader ⟶

Building an In-House Leadership Development Program in Higher Education ⟶

University of Oregon

Aligned leadership and professional development with the institution’s mission and goals.

While your goal may be to provide professional development to your entire campus eventually, it may be important to start small. That’s what the University of Oregon did when testing its professional development service, starting small with a core group of users to see if it would work for them. Once they received that buy-in, they also created their own membership launch plan and crafted communications to spread the word about the membership in-house. The institution provides “Provost Picks,” or trainings from across four categories that speak to University's mission and goals. What’s more, University of Oregon Associate Vice Provost Sierra Dawson will help facilitate the Academic Impressions conference Building an In-House Leadership Development Program in Higher Education to share her knowledge on staff development.

Members Top 12 Resouces of 2023