Archives: Courses

Identifying and Mitigating Imposter Syndrome

Everyone experiences imposter syndrome at some point in their lives—that dreaded feeling that you don’t belong or that you haven’t earned the right to be doing the work you’re doing—when in fact your experience and expertise are more than enough. In addition, even though it’s a universal phenomenon, women tend to experience imposter syndrome more than men.  Our excellent on-demand webcast, Creating an Inner Coach Stronger than Your InnerCritic provides activities and reflections to work through these feelings of inadequacy on an on-going basis—but what do you do when you are experiencing imposter syndrome in real-time?  In this one-hour webcast, you will learn how to:  You will leave with strategies you can use right away during moments when you identify the symptoms of imposter syndrome in your behavior. 

Leveraging Video for Donor Stewardship

Developing videos for your donors can seem daunting, especially when you have a lot to say and only 60-90 seconds to say it. However, using video as a tool to communicate not only meaningful information but also gratitude to your donors can change the game in your stewardship efforts. Producing videos that show gratitude and impact for your donors not only ensures a great initial impression, but it will also give you the opportunity to ensure that your donors stay engaged with your institution for years to come. Join us online to learn how you can use video in your stewardship process by choosing appropriate messaging and tone, as well as knowing how to coach speakers to showcase their passion. During the webcast, you will hear how Towson University has used ThankView technology to communicate gratitude to their new donors. You will leave this program with newfound knowledge on how to strategize and develop your own stewardship videos.

Foundations in Budgeting for Department Chairs

Department budgeting requires more than just tracking revenue and expenses in a spreadsheet. This video course presents you with the tools, tips, and knowledge you need to plan for, create, manage, and communicate about your department’s budget in a strategic and meaningful way, ensuring the needs of your students, faculty, and staff are fully met. You will learn how to: Approach decision-making in a way that supports your department’s highest priorities Communicate with five essential partners to drive the right levels of engagement, trust, and collaboration Approach budget cuts in a way that mitigates fear and instead creates opportunity within your department The principles of budgeting shared in this course can be implemented by any Department Chair or Program Director responsible for overseeing a budget. This video course will be especially beneficial for chairs who are new to budgeting and/or those who have received little training on the subject.

Fostering Curiosity as a Creative Leader

Curiosity drives learning. Yet for many of us, it is not uncommon to feel constrained in our curiosity. Fear of failure, reticence to challenge the norm, intolerance to ambiguity, or simply forgetting the power of curiosity can limit leaders in their ability to deal with complex problems. When we do not push beyond our limits and develop a curiosity mindset, we often miss out on the most valuable opportunities that can move us, our students, and our institutions forward.   Join us online and learn how to reframe the way you confront and communicate complex problems, so that you and others remain open to new possibilities and invite curiosity thinking. In this webcast, you’ll learn how to ask questions that invite possibilities, use data to broaden perspectives, and encourage the sharing of new ideas. You’ll also get tips on how to validate different ideas and create a sense of belonging as you foster diversity of thought, perspective, and experience within your team.

See Something, Say Something: Building Your Capacity to Respond to Bias

Witnessing inappropriate and/or biased behavior can be uncomfortable—but the discomfort is likely tenfold for the person actually experiencing it. We all have an active role to play in creating more inclusive and equitable environments on campus, however, responding appropriately can be daunting at first and it takes practice.   Join us for this training to raise your own self-awareness and build confidence so that you can intervene appropriately during challenging situations whether they be with students, colleagues, or leadership. 

Building Academic Leadership Development Programs on Your Campus

Academic leaders are typically expert scholars in their fields but don’t learn core leadership skills when they move into their leadership positions. They rarely get formal training on ways to be simultaneously self-aware, emotionally intelligent, savvy about navigating systems and hierarchies, as well as effective at financial management, public speaking, crisis management, and conflict resolution. To support the health and climate of their departments and, in turn, institutions, academic leaders need to intentionally develop these crucial skills. Join us online with Jennie S. Knight, Ph.D., to hear how the University of Virginia has developed their successful Leadership in Academic Matters program (LAM) that draws on cross-campus collaborations and addresses diversity, equity, and inclusion. You will leave with solid ideas for how to approach your academic leadership programs that create an inclusive, equitable climate in which staff, faculty, and students can thrive.

Inclusive Leadership: Understand Your Intersecting Identities to Better Serve Others

In research, it is not uncommon to interrogate your own positionality in relation to who you are researching to avoid bias. As leaders, however, we’re often focused on the long-term strategy and health of the organization and ignore the important practice of understanding who we are in relation to who we lead. When you understand where your social and political position of power comes from and how it can influence your leadership in productive and counterproductive ways, you are able to align the values of different groups across the organization and operate as a truly inclusive leader. Join us online for a three-hour training where you’ll explore how your social identities–including age, gender, race, sexual orientation, and others–shape your position of power or privilege as an inclusive leader. You’ll begin by taking a quick assessment to help you understand your social identities and how they connect to your leadership. Then you’ll discuss the challenges and opportunities those power dynamics present in the workplace with your peers. We also invite you to come to this training prepared to discuss a specific leadership challenge you are facing. Explore with fellow attendees how your position of power and social identities might help you […]

Strategies for Successfully Supporting an Interim Leader

Change is the one constant in higher education. And now — in the face of a global pandemic, massive budget cuts, enrollment declines, and hiring freezes — change is more prevalent than ever before. As colleges and universities respond to unprecedented levels of uncertainty and top talent for leadership positions are in high demand across the country, the need to fill positions internally with interim leaders is on the rise. But conceiving of and properly supporting interim positions is not as straightforward as one might imagine. In order to truly set your incoming interim up for success, you must be intentional in how you craft the position, the staffing decisions you make around it, and the way the transition is planned.  Join us for a two-hour virtual training where we will explore how to effectively navigate interim leadership opportunities from an organizational perspective. Through a combination of lecture, discussion, and group activities, we will:   Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using interim positions as opposed to immediately opening a search or pursuing another avenue to fill a vacancy  Learn key considerations to keep in mind and challenges to expect throughout an interim appointment  Demonstrate how you can better ensure successful transition at the organizational level and for interim leaders 

Emotional Intelligence for Academic Teams: A 5-Day Course

Academic leaders and faculty members often cite the importance of interpersonal skills when leading an academic unit, managing a research team, or functioning as a productive member of any team or unit in academia. However, emotional intelligence and self-awareness are less commonly mentioned as predictors of success among academic teams. In this video course, department chairs and faculty will discover the connection between emotional intelligence and individual, team, and department results. Through Daniel Goleman’s four pillars of emotional intelligence, you will get ideas for how to: You will learn Daniel Goleman’s four pillars of emotional intelligence and informally assess your skill in each of these pillars. Once you have a greater awareness of how you “show up” for yourself and others, we’ll offer simple suggestions for how you can manage yourself and your relationships more productively.

Intentional and Strategic Management of Alumni Volunteers

Intentional and Strategic Management of Alumni Volunteers February 9 – 10, 2021 Better steward volunteers through their lifecycle to foster more engaged and dedicated alumni. Welcome to your course page for your virtual conference! We’ll be adding links to meeting rooms, schedules, social media, and course materials as they become available. Make sure to check back as it gets closer to your conference! DAY 1 DAY 2 ENSURE YOUR TECHNOLOGY IS READY This workshop is intentionally designed to allow for maximum learning, connections, and engagement. We advise the following in order to participate fully:

Charting Your Course as a Woman Chair

As a woman chair, you are navigating a complex landscape. You’re working within a system that still skews overwhelmingly white and male. You’re trying to support faculty who are often crumbling under the strain of new online teaching demands and other uncertainties. Not to mention, you’re likely shouldering increased responsibilities at home and managing additional personal stressors. If you poured yourself into addressing all these areas fully, you’d quickly burn out. As you approach the spring semester, which of these problem areas should receive your attention, and why? Join us online for this two-hour online workshop to explore how your work as a female chair is influenced by personal, departmental, and larger systemic demands. We will build awareness around the areas that are energizing and challenging you, and you’ll leave with an individual action plan that will include strategies to help move your leadership forward in a sustainable way.

A Model for Infusing Essential Career Skills into Co-Curricular Student Experiences

Educators who work with students outside the classroom know that co-curricular programs like student government or service learning can help students develop the skills employers want. While these experiences offer tremendous opportunity, without intentional design and assessment their impact will be limited. So, when there is little time to do so, how do we build more intentionally designed co-curricular experiences to further student skill development and measure learning? Join us for this virtual training for tangible, ready-made solutions to these challenges outlined in the cutting-edge program model our expert speakers have developed, the Co-Curricular Learning Masterplan (CLM). You will identify essential learning outcomes and leave with an assessment tool to build better co-curricular development experiences and demonstrate their value toward student learning.

Leading and Influencing as a Department Chair Online Bootcamp

Leading and Influencing as a Department Chair Online Bootcamp February 23 – April 8, 2021 Important Links Welcome!   This is your “one-stop shop” for all course materials and instructions you will need to guide you through the bootcamp. A couple important notes to get you started: All course materials can be found in the “Access Course Materials” tab to the left.  Any course materials you will need to prepare for the live sessions, including copies of slides, assignments and assessments, will be made available at the beginning of the week.  Additional materials generated during the live sessions will be added by the end of the week. Your Course Syllabus will be updated and posted weekly as you progress through the program.  The Syllabus will contain specific instructions for what needs to be completed before, during or after each session.  Please review the syllabus at the beginning and end of every week to ensure you are completing all required work at the right time.  You can find your syllabus under “Access Course Materials.” If you need any further guidance to ensure your success in this program, please contact Lisa Lafflam. This workshop is intentionally designed to allow for maximum learning, connections, and […]

Young Alumni: Establishing Lifelong Relationships

Young Alumni: Establishing Lifelong Relationships January 27 – 29, 2021 Prepare students for a lifelong connection with your institution. Welcome to your course page for your virtual conference! We’ll be adding links to meeting rooms, schedules, social media, and course materials as they become available. Make sure to check back as it gets closer to your conference! DAY 1 DAY 2 DAY 3 ENSURE YOUR TECHNOLOGY IS READY This workshop is intentionally designed to allow for maximum learning, connections, and engagement. We advise the following in order to participate fully:

Comprehensive Student Retention Strategies for Men of Color

Comprehensive Student Retention Strategies for Men of Color January 27 – 28, 2021 Learn practical student retention strategies to better support men of color on your campus. Welcome to your course page for your virtual conference! We’ll be adding links to meeting rooms, schedules, social media, and course materials as they become available. Make sure to check back as it gets closer to your conference! PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOP MAIN CONFERENCE DAY 1 Please note the main conference sessions are held in a different Zoom room than the pre-conference workshop. Please join the main conference using the link below.  MAIN CONFERENCE DAY 2 ENSURE YOUR TECHNOLOGY IS READY This workshop is intentionally designed to allow for maximum learning, connections, and engagement. We advise the following in order to participate fully:

Grounded in Research: Strategies to Support the Physical and Mental Health of Black Men

Daphne Watkins, Professor at the University of Michigan, has focused her research on understanding the social determinants of health that explain generational differences among Black men, developing evidence-based strategies to improve the physical and mental health of Black men, and increasing knowledge about the intersection of culture, ethnicity, age, and gender. She is also the Founder of the Young Black Men (YBMen) Project, an educational and social support network for young Black men. This workshop is designed to ground your support of Black collegiate men in data and research. You will better understand the diverse physical and mental health concerns and needs of Black men during their collegiate experience. Dr. Watkins will provide an overview of her research and offer scalable strategies to incorporate initiatives, services, and practices that can enhance and support the overall development of Black men on your campus. You will have the opportunity to identify new resources and discover underutilized resources on your own campus.

Foster Inclusion in the Classroom Through Formative Assessment

Today’s classrooms are more diverse and complex than ever. As faculty, you know you need to prepare a diverse student population – with varying perspectives and backgrounds. But how do you know if you’re making learning inclusive for all? In what ways can you get feedback from your students to ensure that your instruction resonates with them? If you’re waiting until the end of the semester to evaluate their performance, you’re missing out on so many critical opportunities to engage with your students and include them in observations of their own learning. Join us online and learn about the power of formative assessment as an inclusive practice that builds reflection, engagement, and self-awareness in the classroom. Our expert speaker will introduce you to a variety of formative assessment tools that you can implement right away, online or in person, including knowledge surveys, exam wrappers, and post-mortem reviews. To help you understand what formative assessment looks and feels like, you will be placed into the role of the student so that you can experience formative assessment directly. You will discover ways you can adjust your teaching practice to become more inclusive as we discuss, reflect on, and dissect what student-centered assessment […]

Declined Grant Proposals: Analyze Reviews and Create a Plan for Resubmission

On average, it takes three submissions before a faculty member will get their proposal for funding accepted by a grant agency. To complicate matters, the reviews that accompany the rejection are often complex and contradictory, so it can be difficult to know how to move forward – especially when many faculty get little help interpreting reviews. As such, many faculty members, especially junior faculty, simply give up on the proposal too soon and do not put effort into revising and resubmitting it. When this happens, important research may be left undone, the institution cannot meet its strategic goal of growing research, and faculty find it difficult to publish in top journals and stay on track for promotion and tenure.  Join our expert instructor to learn how to review and analyze your declined grant proposals with a fresh perspective – one that will give you confidence in how to best move forward with your declined proposal, as well as all future proposals. Our expert will guide you through the process that will teach you how to:  Objectively assess your individual reviews   Identify patterns and uncover the most critical feedback  Anticipate hidden weaknesses   Identify both the root causes and underlying conditions preventing an award  Develop a plan for resubmission   If you’re looking to better understand the proposal review process and put yourself in reviewers’ shoes, this webcast is for you!