Mapping Your Career Path in Higher Education

Many within higher ed struggle with mapping out possible career paths. This happens if you don’t know what is available to you, how to get to where you want to go, and/or you don’t always feel like you have the appropriate guidance from others. Join us online to learn how to embrace your career ambitions and map out a plan for how to make them happen. In this working session, our expert instructor will introduce you to a rubric that helps you examine your career goals, consider obstacles and tradeoffs along the way, and define realistic ways to achieve your goals. You’ll also work in small groups with your peers to apply the rubric to your own context and discuss the impact it can have on your career development. If any of these questions apply to you, you will find this program beneficial: Do you want to plan for your career future? Have you thought about when you will retire and what you want to do between now and then? If you are faculty, do you wonder if academic administration is the right fit for you? Have you examined your competing professional and personal priorities in a systematic way to […]

Addressing Conflicts Related to Bias, Privilege, and Identity in the STEM Classroom

Faculty in the STEM disciplines can often feel unprepared to address identity-based conflict in the classroom because the themes are not embedded in the course content. Even those who want to have tough conversations regarding identity, bias, and privilege can feel inadequately equipped to facilitate a conversation when a conflict arises. You may be asking yourself: What if I say something wrong? What if I make things worse? No matter the discipline, these crucial conversations are coming up in every learning space across higher ed and avoiding them is not an option. Every instructor can prepare to notice identity-based conflict and intervene to reduce harm. Join us for a highly interactive virtual workshop that provides a supportive space to learn about the types of conflict that can arise, and how to facilitate microinterventions to confront bias and create more equitable learning environments.

Navigating Politics: A Virtual Training for Women in Higher Ed

Do you find yourself puzzled by how to generate change in a complex organization? Do you encounter structural and social barriers to launching new initiatives and having an impact? Women in higher education must often apply an extra level of nuance and strategy in navigating politics, building buy-in, and leveraging soft power. Join us for this virtual training to better define and diagnose the challenges higher-ed women leaders face, and build new tools and tactics for promoting and advancing positive change.

Removing Barriers to Student Learning: Inclusive Syllabi and Assignments

Despite our best intentions to create an inclusive classroom, many barriers to learning exist in the course materials themselves. Syllabi and assignments can perpetuate broader societal biases and oppressive practices, from the subtext of the syllabus to the methods of measuring student progress. Creating a more purposeful, intentional curriculum that addresses equity and inclusion across disciplines—without compromising content—requires a close examination of your own materials and a set of new teaching strategies. Join us for an interactive virtual workshop in which you will examine your course materials and explore answers to these questions: What are the unwritten implicit rules, norms, messages, and hidden biases about students that I communicate through the subtext of a syllabus? What are the principles to keep in mind when constructing inclusive assignments for assessing student progress? How should students be asked to demonstrate their learning through formative and summative assessment? You will walk away with practical worksheets you can use to review your course materials. Please bring a syllabus and assignment to the workshop so you can apply the concepts and strategies to your own classroom context, make changes in the moment, and receive feedback.

Develop a Questioning Plan for Your Title IX Investigations

Title IX Investigators play a critical role in gathering as many relevant facts as they can through witness testimony and evidence. However, this process can be hindered when investigators neglect to understand that a knowledge and understanding of their institution’s sexual harassment policy should always drive the investigation and their line of questioning. Further, many investigators may only be asking surface-level questions because they unintentionally created a questioning plan that is not based upon their institution’s policy. Join us online to learn how to create a questioning plan before the interview begins that will ensure you are conducting a well-informed and policy-driven investigation. We will: Discuss how your institution’s sexual harassment policy definitions impact factual requirements and how you should approach gathering information that is relevant to the case. Demonstrate a technique you can use during your investigations to ensure you’re asking the right witness the right questions at the right time. Practice this technique during our session and have the opportunity to receive feedback. After attending this workshop, you’ll walk away with the tools you need during a Title IX investigation to help you stay on task and maintain control of the information you gather from witnesses.

Three Coaching Skills for Leaders and Mentors in Academic Medicine

Overview Many formal mentors and leaders in academic medical settings are asked to take on significant mentoring responsibilities in addition to their clinical work, teaching, research, and scholarship. To be a successful mentor requires you to create an empowering dynamic with your mentees and focus them on developing their careers and solving challenges. But those tasked with mentoring do not often receive any training on how to do so effectively. By incorporating coaching skills into your mentoring role, you can transform the relationship, create a safe environment for your mentees, and empower them to reflect and address their own barriers and obstacles. The best way to learn about coaching is to do it. In this workshop, you will use a guiding worksheet to practice three core coaching skills in pairs and have ample opportunities to ask questions and receive feedback. You will leave with a new mindset on mentoring and a powerful set of tools for: Asking powerful questions and listening actively Exploring a mentee’s barriers and obstacles Developing next steps and creating accountability Coaching has many applications in academic medicine in teaching and leadership. You will learn to recognize situations when coaching skills can be applied with powerful results.

Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable: Engaging in Dialogue About Race and Bias

Feelings of defensiveness and discomfort are common when engaging in conversations around race and bias. Even those who have done extensive reading on these emotionally-charged topics can find themselves fumbling if they haven’t yet reflected on how their own identities and biases impact the way they show up in the world—and in these difficult conversations. To get more comfortable engaging in these dialogues, we must first lean into the discomfort of individual reflection and actions that prepare us to enter them in an open and effective way. Join us for a two-hour virtual training where we will explore four key concepts and how they come into play during conversations around race and bias: You will be given a workbook of activities, tools, and resources to help you move beyond simply understanding the definitions of these key concepts and begin the hard work of making meaning of how they play out in your life and in any conversation you enter. With the aid of the workbook, you will leave with a plan to continue to strengthen your ability to effectively engage in conversations around race and bias.

Inclusive Communication: A Training for Higher Ed Leaders, Personal Development & Skill Building

Leaders have a powerful role to play in setting the tone for the organizational culture. They must therefore be very conscious of how they communicate: leadership comes with visibility, so a failure to communicate in ways that make others feel safe and understood will be noticed by their teams and peers alike, and will negatively impact the group’s sense of engagement and belonging.    Join us for an online workshop that will help you as a higher ed leader make your everyday communication with others more inclusive. Through a blend of presentation, group discussion, and scenario-based working time, we will explore the following questions:   Who is your audience and what are their needs?   What is your role as a leader vis-à-vis the specific person or people you are addressing?   How can you put your audience at ease and make them feel heard and seen in the way you are communicating?   How can you communicate in ways that ensure that personhood and authenticity—for both yourself and those you are addressing—stay top of mind?   You will leave the workshop better equipped to make your communication—both day-to-day and formal —more audience-centered, more inclusive, and more effective for the people you lead. 

Showing Vulnerability as a Leader

We’ve all heard as leaders that practicing vulnerability can enhance connection and enable trust-building with the people we most need to influence and engage. But the act of making yourself vulnerable—and knowing exactly when and how to do so—can be difficult and scary, and it’s easier said than done. Join us online for an interactive workshop that will help you practice vulnerability on a day-to-day basis, often in small and meaningful ways, as a leader. Through a mix of reflection, presentation, and group discussion, we’ll explore the following questions: WHAT: What is vulnerability and what is its role in leadership practice? WHEN: In what kinds of situations is vulnerability most beneficial and appropriate to share and when is it appropriate to set boundaries? HOW: What are some easy-to-implement practical strategies I can use to help me overcome my barriers with vulnerability? You will leave equipped with specific verbal and non-verbal strategies you can use to model and encourage vulnerability in your daily leadership practice.

Planning for a Successful Interim Leadership Role

s higher education faces immense change brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and its subsequent impact on enrollment, budgets, and hiring, an increase in interim leadership positions is becoming the norm. How might taking on an interim leadership role impact your career? If you do decide to accept an interim position, how can you ensure your tenure is successful—for both the institution and for yourself? Join us for a two-hour virtual training where we will navigate these questions and provide you with a framework to use to plan for success during and after an interim opportunity. Through the lens of the framework, we will: Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of taking on a specific interim opportunity—and how to determine if it is the right move in your career Provide you with a way to assess the institutional context and considerations of interim positions Learn key elements to consider—and things to know—before you say “yes” to taking on the role Lay out a clear plan to use once you are in the position to ensure success