Give academic leaders the resources and support they need.

80% of a university’s critical decisions are made at the department level, yet most faculty leaders were not trained and receive little support for the critical roles they now assume.

In this video, Jeanne Hey describes the complexity of leading in an academic context:

I thought seesaws were just for playgrounds. How are you applying them to academic leadership?

Jeanne Hey, Ph.D.: The seesaws for me sums up the idea of a balancing act. That academic leadership is not so much hitting a single point of strength, decision making particular trait but instead balancing the interests of the many constituencies you're working for students, faculty, staff, community, administration. Balancing your own leadership styles and priorities. Take a strong approach. Take a more empathetic approach. Be a really good listener. Lay down the law, all of those kinds of things and even balancing your own life between your professional life and your personal life.

For a while I thought about it being a tightrope walker but I thought you know tightrope walkers, they die when they make the wrong decision. So, I'm not going to go with that. A seesaw is a better one because you can fall off, in other words you can make the wrong choice but you get back on. Nothing in our world or very little in our world is life or death which we need to remind deans and chairs of on a frequent basis.

The seesaw just emerged as something that was really helpful in that and knowing that on some days I'm going to be up on one feature but on another day I have to be down.

How can the notion of seesaws help chairs and deans?

The seesaws are especially helpful to department chairs, program directors, and deans because they are the most commonly situated right in the middle of two fairly well known camps: the faculty and the administration. At many universities, unfortunately, there is a sense that it's the faculty vs. the administration and sometimes there's tension between those two groups.

So, they have a very special and important role to communicate the perspective of each camp to the other but they also have to decide on any given day, on any different issue, which of those interests they're going to represent? Which of those interests they're going to support? Which identity they're going to draw-on in addressing a problem and I think we err when we say, “I really need to be a faculty advocate as a dean,” or conversely, “I need to represent the administration in everything I do.”

Rather, you have to be able to move across the seesaw and choose the right approach for the situation at hand so that you're being the most effective for both constituencies.

So, as a dean, especially during these times of crisis really in higher education, I was often in the position of communicating those challenges to the faculty and delivering on addressing those challenges to the administration.

So, when I would walk out of my office, which often felt like my sanctuary, it often felt like I was moving into an environment where I was going to be pushed from above and from below.

From below would be the faculty communicating me their preferences, their priorities, their interests around liberal arts curricula, around faculty ownership of decision making, about advancing faculty salaries, time for research and everything else.

The pressure from above was about fiscal responsibility, increasing student numbers, increasing student retention, and adapting to the new environment where STEM education, professionally oriented education is increasingly more important and in demand from students but in the liberal arts college where I was Dean was often not exactly how the faculty saw themselves.

So, I was the person in the middle, and department chairs often find themselves here, in the middle of these two pressure points. The notion of me being at the fulcrum, I kind of imagine myself at the bottom of a big nail clipper and each side was moving in this direction or that.

But that helped me think more about the see saws and realizing that I was living in that space but that I didn't have to be immobilized in that space that I could move in each direction on any given day or any situation to address the priorities and needs of both constituencies.

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SHORT LESSONS & QUIZZES

Navigating Challenges of Academic Leadership

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Our virtual conferences go far beyond just replicating PowerPoint presentations; these new programs are intentionally designed to give you the kind of robust and dynamic learning experience you’ve come to expect from Academic Impressions. As higher education strives to adapt rapidly to the shifting crisis, connecting with your peers who are experiencing similar challenges can be the best use of your professional development time:

VIRTUAL CONFERENCE

Leading and Growing Interdisciplinary Research

June 9 - 11, 2020

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STEM Institute for Student Success and Retention

June 10 - 12, 2020

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Continuing Education: Leading Innovation and Change

June 15 - 16, 2020

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- Desiree Ford, Digital Communications Manager, Binghamton University

“The virtual conference has been amazing. The presenters have all been great and the information they’ve provided is going to help us better use our social media. Even though this conference had to be virtualized due to COVID-19, the online format has been set up in a way that we can all collaborate and share ideas. I’m very eager to take what I’ve learned back to campus and start implementing new ideas.”

- Chris Forde, Coordinator of Marketing & Public Information, Lincoln Trail College

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An Online Space for Support, Community, and Accountability

Amidst the competing demands of teaching and service, academics are always under pressure to find time for their scholarship. During these uncertain times, with daily routines disrupted, the challenge of maintaining scholarship work is even more critical. Many academics are struggling with the competing priorities of remote learning, student and university needs, and their own isolation and break from writing and research routines—all while managing changes to their own daily lives.

As an Academic Impressions member, you have the opportunity to join us in the Virtual Writing Café, an online space that provides support, community, and accountability. This is your chance to get support in structuring your time and dedicating focused hours each day to your writing tasks that require self-motivation.

Writing groups and resources like this have been used for years to help faculty get in the right frame of mind for more productive research and writing. The Virtual Writing Café is especially helpful when faculty form a writing cohort with others who are at a similar stage in their careers. We can help you establish cohorts for early career, pre-tenure, post tenure/mid-career, and legacy stages of faculty careers.

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Subscribe to the most comprehensive library of academic leadership resources available today. The library is packed with hundreds of resources (articles and whitepapers, research reports, webinars, videos, job aids, etc.) and has been designed to:

Meet leaders where they are

Every leader has different needs; their areas of strength and experience in the role vary. Rather than relying on “one-size-fits-all,” our library offers a range of topics and a range of approaches.

Provide “just in time” support

Access resources when you need them: Have to give someone tough feedback? Have to address a conflict where the stakes are high? Have a high profile meeting that needs to go well? These resources are available anywhere and at any time to ensure you have the information when you need it most.

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Our resources span articles, whitepapers, research reports, videos, job aids and webinars. Go in-depth for an hour on a topic, watch a 20-minute video, or download a simple guide. The content is designed to be flexible to meet a diverse range of learning styles.

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Leading in a higher-ed context, especially on the academic side, is different than leading anywhere else. Our resources have been designed by higher-ed leaders for higher-ed leaders, and our experts are carefully vetted from across the country.

Focus on practical strategies and tangible skills

Academic leaders are busy; you need information you can use right away. That’s why all of our resources—whether it’s a 3-page article or a 60-minute webinar—are packed full of practical, actionable advice based on real examples and scenarios to help you build your leadership skillset.

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A complete training package specifically designed for academic leaders:

Focused learning plans for rapid skill development
Hundreds of hours of in-depth webcasts featuring best practices and supplemental resources on issues critical to faculty success at all levels—research, teaching, service and through various leadership roles
Free 2-3 day virtual conferences providing in-depth instruction and valuable networking opportunities (limited member seats available)
Access to our Virtual Writing Café: an online space for support, community, and accountability, designed to help academics with research and writing
Engaging and instructional videos
Research-based reports exploring critical issues facing academia
Articles and whitepapers with tips, how-to's, and case studies
Tools, templates, and other resources that can help you develop as a leader
Proactive mentoring and support

Use these resources to:

Host virtual Lunch & Learns with your colleagues
Keep each other accountable, engaged, and focused on your professional development
Integrate and support existing professional development efforts
Get PD in the hands of often-overlooked individuals, who can access these unique trainings on their own

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We have served more than 3000 institutions including every AAU, R1 and R2 institution

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"The level of support I get from Academic Impressions is great. Account managers at other organizations are certainly helpful when I call or contact them about a concern with the product, but Academic Impressions is the only one who reaches out on a regular basis to check in with us. We know of one other service that schedules check-in meetings—but not with the frequency of Academic Impressions.

Elizabeth, our account manager with Academic Impressions, checks in every couple of months to see what we’re working on and what resources we need. She then sends me lists of papers or webinars that could assist us. She has provided us with seven different curated “playlists” to meet the specific issues and concerns we are addressing on campus. For example, she sent us one on campus safety and well-being, and another on support for first-generation students. When there is something we’re addressing on campus that Academic Impressions doesn’t currently have training for (e.g., fraternity issues), she makes a note of it and takes that information back to her colleagues. She also sends usage data for our review—how many of our users are taking advantage of the resources and what trainings they’ve chosen.

It’s also very easy to get someone on the phone from Academic Impressions. I’ve had individuals (including Amit, Academic Impressions’ president) reach out to me for both feedback and information on what is happening on campus. I appreciate the fact that their people have close relationships with their clients and that they take the time to get to know what a campus needs."

- Anne Newman, Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Dean of Students, Rutgers University-New Brunswick

“At Anoka-Ramsey, training and development is not my only job on campus, so time is always a challenge. If I got to focus 100% on T&D, that would be wonderful! But it isn’t the reality. Elizabeth Hubbell, my account manager at Academic Impressions, creates and sends me “playlists” periodically, directing me to the specific training resources I need. Academic Impressions has a vast catalog of trainings, and having the trainings I need curated, selected, and organized into a playlist has been immensely helpful. If I had to go out and create these myself, I don’t think it would get done—so I really appreciate that.

Our account manager also does the “heavy lifting.” We held a faculty development day in August. Elizabeth provided me with a signup sheet so that we could get more faculty registered for the training. Once I returned that sheet to her, Academic Impressions took care of the rest, enrolling each faculty member and sending them a welcome email and instructions for participating. That was extremely helpful for me and also for the faculty who signed up. ”

I have never experienced a delayed response when I have had to reach anyone at Academic Impressions. Someone always gets back to me in a timely manner. I also feel that everyone I have worked with so far has been extremely helpful and is always willing to go the distance to ensure we have what we need. Thank you!”

- Darla Paradise, recently Talent Management Coordinator at Anoka-Ramsey Community College

“The webinars included in our membership have been incredibly valuable and topical to our team. The webinars are created specifically for the higher education context, and this makes the information in them relevant and enjoyable to watch. A lot of the examples we have heard about are things that we experience in our own institution.

To take full advantage of these webinars, we schedule “watch parties.” Early in the year, I scheduled a lunch ‘n learn session for my team so we could view the webinars together over a lunch break. It was a great way for us to connect and learn together. In the coming months, I plan to incorporate these webinars into our monthly Knowledge Sharing sessions so we can continue to learn together as a team. I have also attended a few live webinars that I found to be very interactive and engaging. I even made a few connections with folks from other institutions through those webinars.”

- Olga Carew, Manager, Student Systems, York University

Develop the Next Generation of Leaders at Your Institution

Develop the Next Generation of Leaders at Your Institution

Give Academic Leaders the Resources and Support They Need

Give academic leaders the resources and support they need.

80% of a university’s critical decisions are made at the department level, yet most faculty leaders were not trained and receive little support for the critical roles they now assume.

In this video, Jeanne Hey describes the complexity of leading in an academic context:

We Can Help

Included in Your Membership

Managing Change as a Department Chair: 5 Traps to Avoid

Department Chairs: Maximize Your Productivity By Cultivating Your Academic Staff

Leading Through a Crisis

Influencing Without Authority

Recruiting for Diversity: A Training for Academic Search Committees

Increasing Emotional Intelligence by Identifying Your Triggers

Find Your Position of Power When Addressing Toxic Leadership

3 Ways to Improve Your Decision-Making

Shift Your Mindset to Build Resilience

Four Leadership Practices for New or Aspiring Deans

Leveraging Your Strengths as a Leader

Time Management: A Disciplined Approach to Priority-Setting

Facilitating Culturally Inclusive Meetings

Managing Difficult Colleagues

Best Practices in Designing Mentoring Programs for Early Career Faculty

Navigating Challenges of Academic Leadership

Virtual Conferences

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