Course Category: Free for All-Inclusive Members

The New Department Chair’s Dilemma: Learning to Manage Commitments To Yourself and Others

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.

Building a Sustainable Culture of Service Excellence

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. 

What a Wonderful World: Developing Students as Global Leaders Through Faculty-Led Study Abroad Programs

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:  

Today’s Higher Ed Leadership Challenges: A Conversation with Executive Coaches

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:  

Engaging Mid-Career Faculty: A Faculty Development Discussion

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: 

Alumni Relations Discussion Series: Responding to Evolving Alumni Behavior

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. 

Strengthening Your Relationship with Your Dean

You can’t support your dean in effectively managing their relationships with others if you don’t have a solid relationship with them yourself. In this session, you’ll have the opportunity to identify the strengths and opportunities for improvement within your relationship with your dean, including how you work together to approach donor visits.

Navigating the New Reality of Mergers, Acquisitions, and Closures in Higher Education

Mergers, acquisitions, and closures are a reality for a large number of colleges and universities as the landscape of higher education continues to change. Colleges are seeking to be more competitive than ever. However, successful mergers/acquisitions cannot be only about survival or fixing bad economics; the resulting institution must be stronger as a result. Otherwise, when mergers and acquisitions fail to provide the perceived financial reward, closure is often the only option.   Unfortunately, the benefits of scale and competitiveness do not come easily or without risk. Key facts and information must be understood when evaluating, negotiating, and implementing a strategic merger. Further, it’s already too late to prepare once a merger or alliance is actively being pursued. Leaders need to be proactive and understand the landscape so that they can be either opportunistic or strategically positioned to create the best possible outcome for their institution. In this session, we will explore the following topics:  

Preparing for Difficult Conversations as Faculty 

Whether through conflicts in research groups, having to negotiate boundaries around service, or dealing with academic dishonesty in students, faculty can often be confronted with the need for difficult conversations. But even knowing there is a need, it is all too easy to avoid the hard conversations due to overwhelming emotions, discomfort with conflict, or fear of the situation escalating. Preparing for difficult conversations beforehand can therefore help faculty feel more of a sense of control over the situation as well as helping to manage their internal narrative.   Join us for a one-hour training on how to prepare for difficult conversations as faculty. Drawing from Anita Kite’s work in Managing Difficult Conversations as Faculty, we will walk through the four precautions in preparation, including:   You will have the chance to reflect on how you would respond to some specific scenarios, and to plan for any difficult conversations you may need to have using helpful tips and strategies.

A Values-Based Approach to Leading Through Shared Governance: A Discussion for Department Chairs

Your personal core values guide the decisions you make, the way you communicate, and how you lead and inspire others. Given this, it’s wise to examine how your values may support or hinder shared governance, so that you understand how your leadership can inspire faculty and staff to engage in the process.  Join us for a one-hour discussion where we will explore how your values influence the way you lead within shared governance. Although the conversation will be responsive to the questions asked by the attendees, we anticipate discussing some of the following themes:  In what ways do you demonstrate your values within shared governance?  When and how do your values help or hinder your leadership within shared governance?  Come prepared to engage in dialogue, ask questions, and share insights that can help you and other department chairs confidently navigate shared governance.