Higher Ed Leaders: We have the Support & Strategies You Need

Onboarding Isn’t what it Used to Be: Lessons from a Hiring Manager and New Staff Member at the University of California, San Diego

Michael Bumbry, Ph.D., Senior Director of Alumni Outreach and Engagement, UC San DiegoJennie Van Meter, Senior Director of Alumni Engagement Strategy, UC San Diego Like many industries, higher education too has had to reimagine work in light of the global pandemic. Our decisions will have a lasting impact on the way business is conducted. At […]

How One Institution Launched a DEI Plan Without a DEI Office

Co-Written by:Kinsley McNulty, Program Coordinator of Student Life, New York Institute of TechnologyDiandra Macias, Program Coordinator of Student Life, New York Institute of TechnologySamantha Mon, Assistant Director of Career Services, New York Institute of TechnologyPaul Ferrante, Assistant Director of Student Life, New York Institute of Technology This past year, the global pandemic and the Black […]

Ghostwriting for the President: 3 Techniques to Capture Their Voice

“Let us never underestimate the power of a well-written letter.”– Jane Austen, Persuasion A decade ago, when I was getting started in the legal department at Missouri State University, one of our campuses became embroiled in a turf dispute with another educational institution. Stakeholders from both institutions met to explore collaborative options. The stakeholder meeting […]

Professional Development as a tool for Succession Planning: The story of Colorado School of Mines Foundation

Also Contributing Editors:Rusty Brunner, Human Resources Manager, Colorado School of Mines Foundation Succession planning and robust professional development programs are not often associated with advancement shops in higher education. Some feel that with the high employee turnover rate in advancement, they cannot justify the financial investment. However, an alternative perspective is that professional development leads […]

What Becoming a Parent Taught Me About Assuming Leadership in a Time of Crisis

By Kayleigh MacPhersonExecutive Director, Scholarships and Student SupportUCLA Development Assuming leadership in a time of transition and tumult – parenting lessons that helped our team thrive during the pandemic. Returning to work from one’s first multi-month parental leave is challenging no matter the specific circumstances. Whether it is a crisis of identity, scheduling, responsibilities, time, […]

Keys to Cultivating Emotional Intelligence as a Department Chair Part One: Awareness and Emotional Intelligence

Academia’s leadership challenge is that almost none of us have been trained to manage people, much less other academics; almost none of us have significant, sustained leadership development opportunities; most academic chairs are happy to step back into faculty roles. Emotional Intelligence can help us be more effective and resilient, as leaders and as members […]

Distributed Leadership as a Sustainable and Inclusive Leadership Approach

Introduction Distributed leadership is best defined as participatory leadership across an organization. In an organization which practices distributed leadership, both the responsibility and the accountability of leadership is embraced and shared by those who have the expertise and skills to move the institution forward. This is accomplished not singularly as a positional leader, but through […]

A Year in Crisis: Lessons in Communication Learned as a Department Chair

Introduction We have just passed the one-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic. While this experience may have provided opportunities for us to learn and grow, it has also taught us there are critical elements of our life and work where no substitute is sufficient. One of these elements is communication. The extreme safety measures of […]

Persistent Tension in Academic Leadership and How to Make it Productive

Leadership is hard Let’s face it, leadership is hard and exhausting. Leadership was hard before the Covid-19 pandemic, and the additional complexities that leaders have been facing over the past year have been significant. Leaders at all levels are increasingly finding themselves making more decisions more quickly, with more significance, and with less information. The […]

The Power of A Coaching Mindset and Its Impact on Leadership in Higher Ed

Coaching and leadership have not always been discussed together. For many leaders, coaching is somewhat of a mystery. I would like to share my journey of discovering coaching as a powerful leadership development tool that has transformed the way I lead, and how I was motivated to become a leadership coach. I will try to […]