Course Category: Free for All-Inclusive Members

Leading a Successful Esports Program in Higher Education

To be a successful esports coach, you must extend your traditional leadership skills into a new competitive space. The games and personalities are different, but you must manage young people and their frustrations, recruit talent, and ensure everyone graduates and contributes to the university – all within traditional and digital spaces. Join us for a one-hour webcast with the National Esports Coach of the Year, Chris “Doc” Haskell, to learn how to create a culture of success in your esports program. Our speaker will teach you the keys to leading across the esports landscape, recruiting players, and assuring student success in your role as coach. You’ll leave with a competitive vision that assures that winning is only one indicator of your program’s success.

Authentic Fundraising in a Virtual World (Virtual Workshop)

As a frontline fundraiser, you have likely honed your “fundraising voice” over time. You have learned to embody crucial tenets such as integrity, listening, and humility in ways that feel authentic and purposeful. As you continue adapting to a virtual workflow, have you considered whether your fundraising voice is deeply rooted in handshakes or face-to-face meetings? Have you felt less “yourself” while fundraising virtually? Join us online for an in-depth virtual training where our experts will help you adapt your fundraising practices to the online environment and become more successful. Our panel will help you determine key tenets of your own unique voice as a frontline fundraiser. Through small group roleplays, you will learn how to leverage these characteristics, and you’ll leave the training with clear next steps for fundraising more authentically in a virtual world.

A Process-Oriented Approach to Working with Your Board and President as Chief of Staff

As Chief of Staff, you are often faced with implementing changes and initiatives set by the President, Board, and Executive Cabinet. Your role can be challenging especially when it comes to conflicting or disconnected initiatives. As those around you express concerns and ask questions regarding changes, it is your job to address them while also advancing the mission of the University and the goals of the Board and President. Join us for this hour-long virtual session to learn practical negotiation and communication strategies you can utilize to help implement the initiatives of your Board and President. You will leave this training feeling more confident to successfully collaborate with and support them.

Managing Presidential Transitions as Chief of Staff

As Chief of Staff, you will often be looked to for providing calm consistency during presidential transitions. The incoming President will likely rely on you as they acclimate to a new environment while your colleagues will count on you to convey the new President’s priorities. Join us for this webcast to learn how you can best serve in your role during these times of change. In this session, our expert will discuss the following considerations: Understanding your role during the transition Planning for the outgoing President Learning the incoming President’s plan Your to-do list

Starting Courageous Conversations to Foster Diversity and Difference

Perhaps you’re working to ensure your staff reflects the diversity of your institution – or maybe you’re witnessing unfair treatment of a colleague because of race, age, or gender. No matter the situation, conversations about these issues can feel tough. With so much to be mindful of and so much at stake, you may not always feel as comfortable as you could when leading this dialogue around difference. Join us online to gain confidence in leading your next courageous conversation – dialogue that promotes inclusion and understanding of people’s differences. You will learn how to overcome obstacles to these conversations so that you can build relationships and engage more effectively with diverse groups inside and outside your institution.

Your First Semester as External Chair: A Roadmap for Success

As an external chair, you have a steep learning curve ahead of you. You must build a trusted advisory network, run an effective mentorship program, clarify expectations for faculty and staff evaluations, start overseeing tenure and promotion, and synthesize enrollment trends and targets. As an external appointee, you have to move fast. No one will wait for you to catch up. Join us for a one-hour webcast that will provide you with the roadmap to success for your first semester as an external chair. Our expert has served as a chair for three departments and will help you proceed with purpose and intention through the tasks that you need to accomplish as soon as possible, by early fall, and by the end of the fall semester.

Peer to Manager: Navigating Your Transition into Leadership

A promotion to a new position, especially when the promotion is internal, is often cause for celebration and proof that your hard work is paying off. However, promotions also come with a unique set of challenges, from building credibility in your new role to managing friendships. Join us for this one-hour webcast, where you will learn strategies for navigating personal and professional challenges that come with internal promotions. Our expert, Christopher Romano will discuss several practical considerations within three key themes. You will hear how to: Increase trust, earn respect, and establish credibility with your team members Access new insights and information essential to success in your new role Set healthy boundaries, both professionally and personally You will leave this online training feeling more confident to prepare for or begin a new leadership role.

Manage Your Emotional Labor in the Workplace

Emotional labor is the process of regulating your emotions and putting others’ needs before your own during interactions with students, colleagues, and superiors in order to deliver high quality work. It can be difficult to detect – and even more challenging to manage – especially in environments that prioritize human connection, which includes most jobs in higher education. Expending high-level emotional labor over extended periods of time can lead to burn out, permanent exhaustion, and, at times, turnover. Join us for a 2.5-hour virtual training where you can start building a toolkit for scaling down your emotional labor and using it on your own terms. You will first explore how emotional labor manifests for you and what challenges you have managing it. Next, Dr. Gardner will offer four strategies to help you overcome those challenges so that you can start making emotional labor work FOR you, not against you. Lastly, you will brainstorm ways you can reduce your emotional effort so that you can leave this training feeling empowered to be your unapologetic self.

Cultivating a Professional and Engaging Persona on Your Video Calls (Virtual Workshop)

As a result of COVID-19, almost all the interactions you have with your students, alumni, colleagues, and donors are now through webcam in virtual meetings. Environmental factors such as poor lighting and background movement can become distractions and have implications on the level of engagement and potential for relationship building. Your body language and eye contact play an important role too as they can either facilitate meaningful communication or hinder it. Join us online for an interactive training where you will learn best practices for creating a professional and engaging persona during a video call. Our expert instructor will demonstrate simple tips and strategies for improving the quality of your physical surroundings and your presentation style during video calls. We will discuss how to: Place your laptop in the right position to maximize your lighting and appropriately frame yourself on screen Choose a background that does not offend or disturb others Reduce unnecessary movement to minimize distractions Maintain appropriate eye contact and body language that resonates with others online We have deliberately designed this training to go beyond the stock tips and strategies you’ll find online. You will have the opportunity to turn on your camera so that you can […]

Navigating Senior Leadership Transitions in Higher Education

Some senior leaders starting a new position may still imagine they will be granted an informal “honeymoon” period with the time and space to acclimate to their new responsibilities, conduct a “listening tour” before making any big decisions, and build relationships. The reality, however, is starkly different. In today’s world of higher education, senior leaders need to assess their new situation with speed and precision and immediately respond to acute challenges requiring quick and decisive attention. When transitioning to a new senior leadership position, it is all too easy to overlook key considerations related to both people and the process. Join us online for a unique two-part webcast series designed to help senior leaders address the demands of their new position. Our expert speakers will help you uncover crucial considerations in two important domains: people and processes. You will leave these webcasts feeling more confident to embark on your transition with intention and make quick, mindful, and sound decisions.

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