Balancing the responsibilities of being a faculty member with responding to increasing student needs and life outside the university has only gotten more challenging post-pandemic. Faculty, for instance, are experiencing burnout at higher levels than ever before. But faculty who learn how to set boundaries with their work and maintain a healthy integration are far more likely to continue to enjoy that work and maintain their sense of professional well-being. In this course, Jackie Leibsohn will walk you through how to identify what’s being added to your plate, how and when to say “No” empathetically to additional work, and what may be standing in your way as you set boundaries. This course will speak to faculty at all levels who want to better learn how to set boundaries kindly with colleagues. For those who are not faculty but who may want to learn more about setting and maintaining boundaries, this course will be useful as well.
In Courageous Gardening: Equity-Minded Leadership in Higher Education, authors Susan C. Turell and Maria Thompson invite you to become a master gardener of your campus or departmental landscape—and provide a practical workbook for doing so. There are no easy tips and tricks here; instead, this workbook guides you to building and sharpening the tools you will need in any situation: an equity mindset. Using the book as a backdrop for this guided conversation, panelists will engage the authors in deconstructing their metaphor of the campus as a garden to develop more equity-minded teams. Whether you’ve read the book or not, this conversation will offer wonderful insights into meaningful approaches to increased cohesion and professional development. Using the metaphor of the campus as a garden, authors and readers will discuss ways to break down the challenging task of dismantling inequities to create more inclusive teams. By sharing their experiences, Drs Altheia Richardson and Katie Lampley will engage the authors in a more detailed discussion on effective ways to both weed and nurture your workplace garden in order to maximize team outputs through intentional engagement and development.
As a leader in professional development for higher education leaders across the world, Academic Impressions prides itself on delivering quality content that is data informed and rooted in practical application. Over the past year we have had a number of conversations with member institutions who have been seeking out inclusive leadership training for their team but have found that very few workshops speak directly to a faculty audience. In response to requests from our members we have embarked on the development of a training program that will speak directly to our faculty audience, but rather than build it in a vacuum, we have worked with campus leaders from across the country to identify key topics and develop a program structure. This next phase is our attempt to determine if what we built truly does achieve our intended outcomes.
Episode #1: Navigating the Mid-Career with Niyati Parekh In our inaugural episode, Jenna interviews Niyati Parekh, Associate Vice Provost of Faculty Initiatives at New York University, about navigating the mid-career stage. Niyati shares how she fell into leadership, and how she now tries to support faculty in their own career journeys. Episode #2: Inflection Points with Bill Clements In this episode, Jenna interviews William “Bill” Clements, former Vice President and Dean of the College of Graduate and Continuing Studies at Norwich University. After a long career as a full-time administrator, Bill reflects on his career as a faculty leader as he returns to a full-time faculty role. Bill muses upon “inflection points,” where he had to make a choice between continuing his work as a scholar or focusing solely on his administrative duties, as well as discussing the importance of strategically choosing the opportunities that best align with your strengths and passions. Episode #3: Leading as a Social Worker with Katharine Hill In this episode, Jenna interviews Katharine Hill, Associate Vice Provost for Faculty Advancement and Research and Professor of Social Work at the University of St. Thomas. Katharine shares how her training as a social worker prepared her for […]
In order for faculty and staff to fully engage in shared governance, they must first understand their roles, responsibilities, and impact on the process. They also need to possess certain skills and knowledge to collaborate effectively across the institution. As a department chair, you are uniquely positioned to provide the necessary information, training, and support that faculty and staff may need to fully engage in the process. Join us online for a one-hour discussion to get tips and strategies for how to effectively train faculty and staff to prepare them for their participation in shared governance. Although the conversation will be responsive to the questions asked by the attendees, we anticipate discussing some of the following themes: Come prepared to engage in dialogue, ask questions, and share insights that can help you and other department chairs to confidently navigate shared governance.
Shared governance allows faculty and staff to contribute their opinions, insights, and best ideas for the benefit of the campus community. Shared governance also demands that faculty and staff collaborate in a way that is respectful to others, appreciates diversity of thought, and builds consensus. This requires you, as department chair, to create an environment that encourages a safe space for all participants. Join us online for a one-hour discussion to better understand how you can create an environment that encourages faculty and staff to contribute meaningfully to the shared governance process. Although the conversation will be responsive to the questions asked by the attendees, we anticipate discussing some of the following key questions: Come prepared to engage in dialogue, ask questions, and share insights that can help you and other department chairs to confidently navigate shared governance.
Leading from the middle of an institution is a tough role. Managing both up and down while completing student-centered work requires self-reflection, empathy, and intention. Yet it can be accomplished in a transformative way that both honors the individual identities of your team and advances the goals and mission of your institution. Join us for a discussion with Dr. Jenn Duffield as she reflects on how she navigated her role as Assistant Dean of Students & Title IX Coordinator leading a team of eight. Jenn will share how her role evolved over time, as well as the challenges and successes she experienced leading a team. She’ll also highlight the personal work she accomplished that informed her approach to inclusive supervision. We invite you to participate in conversation and share how you are working to develop your own sense of self as a leader and supervisor. We’ll discuss such aspects of leadership as: You’ll walk away from this discussion with an opportunity to reflect upon how you can lead more inclusively, as well as with resources to help you to do so.
As you navigate more complex leadership roles, you will also navigate more contentious issues and conflicts. This makes the relationships you form with your colleagues not only “nice to have,” but essential: there is very little that cannot be accomplished when relationships are strong and built on a foundation of trust and mutual respect. During this discussion, you’ll learn how a President and a CFO built a relationship that propelled the success of their teams, the institution, and helped them both to thrive individually. Carmen Twillie Ambar, President of Oberlin College, and Audra Hoffman Kahr, Executive Vice President of Finance & Administration at Lafayette College, will share how they met, how their relationship evolved, and a few lessons they’ve learned along the way as women leaders in higher education.
The increasingly competitive landscape within higher ed requires department chairs to be dynamic, not passive, in how they respond to challenges and opportunities. This requires you to make important decisions that may impact your department for years to come. As a new department chair, this can feel scary since you’re still learning how to do the job, and you’re likely missing important information to make an informed decision in many scenarios. Join us online for a one-hour discussion in which you’ll get tips for how to assess your department’s history, trends, and strategic position within the college/university. More importantly, we’ll discuss why this information is essential as a new chair. If you’re interested in learning how to fill your knowledge gaps and feel more confident about your decision-making, this discussion is for you. Topics for discussion will likely include the following:
As you look to move into the workplace, it is more important than ever to expand your leadership abilities in order to be successful. Although you will have learned key content and practiced skills like creativity and collaboration in your classes, employers often report that graduates do not possess the level of preparedness in leadership skills needed to be successful in their careers. This course is designed to reinforce and help you to demonstrate your ability to work in increasingly global and collaborative work environments. This course covers the following topics: This course consists of five modules encompassing leadership skills that will benefit you in the workplace. Each module includes several short videos and accompanying workbook prompts and activities, with each designed to take you about 50-75 minutes per module. We recommend pacing them out to one module per week, but you can complete the activities at your own pace!
Fundraising for your academic unit does not happen in a vacuum. You and your dean need to work in concert with campus partners to build a pipeline of prospective donors, identify a case for support, and connect donors’ values and passions to institutional priorities. In this session, we’ll discuss challenges with and ways to improve your dean’s collaborations with central advancement, alumni relations, faculty, and other campus stakeholders.
Time is a limited factor for all. As a department chair, you likely need to delegate tasks or responsibilities to others to ensure that your most important work gets done. However, as workloads have increased over time, you’re also careful not to overwhelm faculty and staff with unnecessary work. You know there’s a way to delegate work so that it promotes the talent development of your team, but it’s not always clear when or how to do it. Join us online for a one-hour discussion where we will explore how to delegate work in a way that prepares faculty and staff for the next step of their careers. Although the conversation will be responsive to the questions asked by the attendees, we anticipate focusing the conversation on how you can delegate in a way that doesn’t feel like it adds to faculty and staff workloads, but that instead helps them to develop their talents for the benefit of the campus community. Come prepared to engage in dialogue, ask questions, and share insights with other department chairs from across the country.
In part three of this discussion series, The Impact of Enhancing Customer Service in Higher Education, learn strategies and techniques that can be used to create a more caring culture on your campus and increase the quality of the student and employee experience.
To successfully cultivate donors, deans need to understand donor psychology and philanthropic propensity. In this session, we’ll discuss how you approach portfolio management and managing prospect information with your dean. You’ll have the opportunity to share best practices and consider new ways to structure your work to achieve the fundraising goals of your academic unit.
Alumni relations professionals have experienced numerous significant changes in recent years. Faced with challenges such as communicating value to other areas of the shop, managing talent and volunteers in a hybrid work environment, interpreting new sources of data and metrics, and continuously adapting strategy to forge more meaningful connections with alumni, many need a space to step back, reflect, and exchange ideas with peers. Join us for an online series to discuss hot topics facing alumni relations professionals just like you. You’ll have space to share pressing concerns, questions, and current practices with others in the field in anticipation of what’s next for the alumni relations profession. Each session will be facilitated by our expert panel: Collectively, they bring 30+ years of experience to the table as leaders/supervisors of alumni relations professionals.
Shifting your role from faculty to department chair also means shifting your mindset from individual contributor to department convener, collaborator, and champion. You are now responsible for your own success, as well as for facilitating the successes of others, including faculty, staff, and students. Your reach extends beyond your department, as well, as you’re now responsible for engaging with donors, community members, accreditors, and the like. As a new chair, you now have commitments to many, and it can be difficult to know when and how to prioritize them. Join us online for a one-hour discussion, where we will explore how to manage the various commitments and responsibilities you have across your organization. Although the conversation will be responsive to the questions asked by the attendees, we anticipate discussing the following themes: Come prepared to engage in dialogue, ask questions, and share insights that can help you and other department chairs to confidently navigate your transition to department leader.
You’ve introduced the idea of enhancing customer service on your campus, you’ve read the latest trends, and have provided training for your team. And now the hard part begins—moving from the idea stage to the sustainable actions that will lead to change, especially when it comes to retention and the student experience. This webcast will share specific and actionable steps to leading lasting culture change around service excellence at your institution. How can you move from offering a service excellence training, to building a true service excellence culture on your campus? This webcast will help you to keep the momentum going.
Faculty-led programs present the most affordable Study Abroad option for all students, many of whom cannot afford to miss a semester of school or the cost of a semester-long program. Faculty-led programs, both domestic and international, can be transformative—not just for students, but also for faculty leaders and host communities. Specifically, these programs can help students and faculty to broaden their world views, which can lead to more holistic and inclusive personal and leadership practices while also having a positive economic and social impact on the host community. While the benefits are numerous, establishing a new program can be a daunting task. During this webcast, we will discuss this process in detail and provide relevant resources to help you to develop a program on your own campus. Joining us are two experts in the art of crafting faculty-led programs:
As higher education leaders face increasing uncertainty and complexity, more and more are turning to executive coaching to develop new strategies, deepen their leadership skillset, and grow and thrive as leaders. Join us for a free webcast discussion to explore some of the most pressing. Dr. Ali O’Malley, organizational psychologist and ICF-certified executive coach, and Dr. Amanda Moore McBride, professor and Dean Emerita of the Graduate School of Social Work at the University of Denver, will discuss timely issues in higher ed and also introduce some coaching tactics and strategies that you can use to begin to address those challenges. Our panel of expert coaches will discuss such topics as:
Most faculty development focuses on early-career faculty under the misguided assumption that mid-career faculty have “figured it out.” Yet mid-career faculty actually report the highest levels of dissatisfaction and are increasingly leaving higher education. Thus, institutions are noting the need to provide more comprehensive support to mid-career faculty but are unsure of how to engage this group of faculty and their unique needs. Join us for a one-hour discussion focused on essential strategies for supporting mid-career faculty. During this time, we will discuss:
