Archives: Courses

Supporting Frontline Fundraisers Amidst Uncertainty: Rethinking Activities and Goals

Amidst uncertainty, donor giving is likely to decrease. To keep your fundraisers motivated and ensure the long-term sustainability of your shop, you may need to shift the focus to identifying new prospects and keeping in touch with donors so that relationships are strong when the time is once again right for giving. Join us for this one-hour webcast to learn practices you can implement with your fundraisers in these times to ensure major gift pipeline growth and sustained donor engagement. Our expert instructor will share the activities and goals he’s used during the pandemic to inspire his fundraisers and lay the groundwork for future giving.

Developing Effective Caller-Donor Relationships in Your Phonathon Operation

With the recent increase in contact rates—due to people being at home more than ever—coupled with modern technology that increases the ability to engage donors, phonathons are poised to see an unexpected resurgence this year as an effective communication and solicitation channel. As a result, now is the appropriate time to revisit how you can best take advantage of these circumstances and focus on building more effective relationships with your prospective donors. To capitalize on this time and increase donor acquisition, it is essential to ensure that new prospects, as well as LYBUNTS and SYBUNTS, experience personalized outreach from your call center. You can accomplish this by developing a genuine relationship between your institution and your prospective donor by building upon the initial call and conversation through utilizing text and e-mail, as well as video and direct mail.

An Intersectional Approach to Addressing Food Insecurity

We know that students with marginalized identities are more likely to experience food insecurity. Now data shows the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on the health and financial wellbeing of People of Color, including those from Black and Indigenous communities. These disparities, in conjunction with recent incidents of racial injustice, prompted the University of Oregon to reexamine how they were serving BIPOC students experiencing food insecurity. Knowing these inequities would likely worsen, University of Oregon’s Food Security Task Force adjusted their response to support students beyond baseline health and safety precautions. The task force adapted seven food security initiatives—ranging from a food pantry to a Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) enrollment program—to better serve students in the context of the pandemic and racial injustice. Join us to learn how the University of Oregon is working to decrease stigma and increase access for students of all identities experiencing food insecurity—and the strategies you can adopt on your own campus to do the same.

An Intersectional Approach to Supporting Neurodiverse Learners Online

Neurodiverse students are often disadvantaged in the classroom by deficit thinking, a learned mindset that defines learners by their perceived problems and can limit the success of disabled students. For learners who have other marginalized aspects of their identities, disadvantages in the classroom are compounded, and the implicit biases we hold can unintentionally disempower them and curb their academic progress. Without special care and preparation, these hindrances are further exacerbated in an online learning environment. By approaching neurodiversity from an intersectional lens and implementing strength-based practices, we can begin to promote equity, inclusion, and diversity in the classroom. Join us online and hear from Dr. Gloria Niles, Director of Distance Education at the University of Hawai’i West O’ahu. With a background in neurology and special education, she will provide practices that will help you:

Growing Your Graduate Footprint: A Conversation for Small College Leaders

As demographics shift and higher education faces declining undergraduate enrollments, many schools who have traditionally focused on undergraduate enrollment are pivoting their focus towards strengthening and growing their graduate programs. This shift can be especially challenging for smaller schools who often have fewer resources and less name recognition than their larger counterparts. During this collaborative discussion, Dr. Marcus S. Cox will share the story of how Xavier University of Louisiana was able to increase graduate student enrollment by 30% this fall – despite the COVID-19 pandemic, a limited budget, and a host of other challenges facing the graduate education space. Along the way, you will have the opportunity to: Connect with leaders from other small institutions Brainstorm ideas to grow and strengthen your graduate footprint in a sustainable way Get feedback from your peers about your next steps to move this work forward

Hiring, Developing, and Promoting Women Leaders in Higher Education

When looking at potential candidates for hiring, too often we revert to “comfortable cloning,” or looking for those applicants who followed similar (and often more traditional) paths in their education and careers. We sometimes place too much emphasis on past job titles, leaving women – who are not promoted as often as men – stuck in a cycle that undermines their careers, salaries, and potential. Those who lead others are best positioned to create space for individuals to develop their skills and encourage career progression as they grow. Sometimes, our most talented women wait until they possess nearly every skillset before they consider applying for higher positions, narrowing the pool of potential applicants for a certain role. In this webcast, our expert will help you to look more closely at your interviewing, developing, and hiring practices to ensure that you are providing opportunities for more equitable paths to leadership. We will look at how to overcome blind spots which can often lead us to inadvertently create teams that lack diversity not only in terms of gender and background, but also in perspective, experience, and sensitivity to other marginalized groups.

Digital Alumni Engagement: A Targeted Approach

Digital Alumni Engagement: A Focused Approach October 27 – 28, 2020 Identify the missing piece to your current digital engagement strategy and develop a plan to address it. Welcome to your course page for your virtual conference! We’ll be adding links to meeting rooms, schedules, social media, and course materials as they become available. Make sure to check back as it gets closer to your conference! DAY 1 DAY 2 ENSURE YOUR TECHNOLOGY IS READY This workshop is intentionally designed to allow for maximum learning, connections, and engagement. We advise the following in order to participate fully:

Building Skills to Successfully Mediate Title IX Sexual Harassment Cases

Building Skills to Successfully Mediate Title IX Sexual Harassment Cases November 18 – 19, 2020 Gain confidence in your ability to serve as a mediator in your Title IX informal resolution process.  Welcome to your course page for your virtual conference! We’ll be adding links to meeting rooms, schedules, social media, and course materials as they become available. Make sure to check back as it gets closer to your conference! DAY 1 DAY 2 ENSURE YOUR TECHNOLOGY IS READY This workshop is intentionally designed to allow for maximum learning, connections, and engagement. We advise the following in order to participate fully:

5 Steps to Facilitate Your Title IX Hearing Deliberation Meetings

After the live Title IX hearing, as a hearing panelist, you have the responsibility of determining the outcome of the case. You must analyze the facts, assess the credibility of witness testimony, and maintain razor-sharp focus on your sexual harassment policy definitions—all of which require technical skills and knowledge. However, there’s also an art to these meetings. You must be able to facilitate critical conversations in a high pressure and often emotional environment about how to interpret and manage implicit bias, gut feelings, and differences in attitudes and motives. Join us online for a four-hour virtual training to learn how to balance the science and art of high-pressure deliberations and facilitate successful meetings. Our expert instructor will provide you with a five-step framework to ensure you and your decision-making peers are structuring your meetings with efficiency and respect. You will practice the framework by applying the five steps to a mock case and immersing yourself in the role of the deliberation committee. You will also walk away with tips for how to prepare the determination letter.

Design Faculty of Color Affinity Spaces to Improve Retention

Building affinity spaces for your faculty of color is one way you can improve retention efforts. These spaces not only connect underrepresented faculty to each other, they increase faculty productivity and institutional loyalty. However, it’s not enough to simply offer these affinity spaces – you must also organize them with clear structure and intention, so that faculty of color know their voices and concerns will be heard and responded to by upper administration. Join us online and learn how to create a structure for your affinity spaces that engages both faculty of color and administration. Our expert instructor will guide you through an 8-step process for formalizing the design, budgeting, policies, and procedures of your affinity spaces so that collaboration between faculty of color and upper administration is made easy and your faculty of color feel supported.

Develop a Race-Based Education Program for Your White Students

Despite being outnumbered at predominantly white institutions (PWIs), students, staff, and faculty of color feel burdened by the responsibility of having to educate their white peers regarding racism and racial justice. When conversations about racial injustice arise at PWIs, cultural centers, ethnic studies departments, and student ethnic identity groups are often tasked with offering solutions and taking care of those harmed by racism. Unfortunately, at PWIs, rarely do race-based programs directly invite the majority racial group to engage in racial justice work and address the exclusionary racial climate. Join us online and learn how Loyola University Chicago flipped the script and created a space to have courageous conversations about white privilege. Through their Ramblers Analyzing Whiteness (R.A.W.) program, self-identified white or multiracial students engaged in dialogue and action regarding their own racial identity, and they have performed the critical self-work required to understand racism and to understand how they can meaningfully engage in racial justice work. In this webcast, you will learn how Loyola: Overcame initial opposition to the program, including negative media coverage Inspired and recruited students to participate Developed and managed the day-to-day logistics of the program, including the workshop curriculum

Revitalizing Your Donor Relations Program

Revitalizing Your Donor Relations Program  November 17 – 19, 2020 | Eastern Time Improve the effectiveness of your stewardship efforts. Welcome to your course page for your virtual conference! We’ll be adding links to meeting rooms, schedules, social media, and course materials as they become available. Make sure to check back as it gets closer to your conference! DAY 1 DAY 2 DAY 3 ENSURE YOUR TECHNOLOGY IS READY This workshop is intentionally designed to allow for maximum learning, connections, and engagement. We advise the following in order to participate fully:

Cultivating Creativity by Building Trust Within Your Team

Innovation and creativity are what higher ed needs right now to push past the challenges of 2020. Creativity requires your team to share ideas, challenge each other’s ideas, admit mistakes, and move past them. It requires risk-taking and an entrepreneurial spirit to try new things. To support a culture of creativity, you, as their leader, must create a secure and psychologically safe environment where your team feels empowered to be vulnerable. Join us online and learn how to create a culture of trust within your team that encourages them to be their most creative selves in order to solve problems. During this webcast, you will learn how to create the necessary conditions to foster a safe environment for your team to be creative. Get tips on how to: Encourage curiosity and vulnerability Normalize failure Assign credit when and where credit is due Back up your team when things go awry

Designing Creative Solutions for Your Toughest Challenges

In the current landscape of higher education, there are complex challenges that need to be solved – whether it be curriculum revisions, overcoming the enrollment cliff, or finding new ways of fundraising. In order to respond successfully to these challenges, you will need to dream what has not yet been imagined. However, this cannot be done alone. How do you ensure you have the right people and processes in place to elicit the required creativity? Join us online and learn how to effectively build and manage problem-solving groups that will allow you to harness creative ideas at a time when they are most needed. Our expert instructor will introduce you to a 3-step process that provides an effective structure for releasing and actualizing creativity. You will walk away with tips and strategies for how to: Identify the problems and issues that should be addressed through the problem-solving groups Invite the right people to participate at the right time in the process Establish a culture of respect and trust that cultivates creativity Navigate the tensions that emerge from differences in risk tolerance, supporting diverse strengths within the team, and selective implementation of ideas

Navigating Your Relationship With Your Dean: A Training for Department Chairs

As a Department Chair, one of the most important relationships you have to forge is the one with your Dean. Ideally, this relationship is built on mutual trust, healthy communication, and a shared understanding of what the department—and by extension, the College—is trying to achieve. But such a relationship takes work, and the onus is on you as the Chair to understand how to best manage up and work with your Dean to accomplish these goals. Join us for a webcast where our speaker will teach you how to effectively set up a positive relationship with your Dean. Our expert, who has served as a Department Chair for over a decade under four different Deans, will review the three key building blocks of an effective Dean-Chair working relationship and offer example-based strategies from his own experience to help you get there.

Implementing Shared Services at Your Institution

As higher education faces tighter budgets and declining enrollments, many institutions are exploring a shared services model to lower costs, make services more efficient, and reduce redundancies across campus. By making operations like finance, HR, IT, and pre- and post-award services leaner, institutions can free up resources and invest in what will distinguish their institution—academic programs and research. Despite these benefits, not everyone welcomes giving up control over their school, unit, or department, so implementation can be tricky to navigate through pushback. Join us to learn what to expect in the process of transitioning to a centralized shared services model. Ronn Kobalsh, Associate Vice President of Shared Services at University of Chicago, will steer you through the five phases of implementation and share tips on the most challenging aspects, such as: Gathering data to build your case to leadership Anticipating pushback and gaining buy-in across campus Making key decisions that will best serve your unique culture and circumstances

Building a Culture of Inclusion in Your Advancement Shop

We know that many advancement shops are looking to better engage underrepresented alumni populations, but it can be difficult to know what initial steps you should take toward incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts into your strategy. Join us to learn the best approaches to collecting qualitative information and measuring quantitative data from your alumni in order to more effectively make cultural inclusion a part of your shop’s identity. Our expert instructor will ensure that you leave the session knowing small, immediate steps you can take to impact diverse alumni engagement in your operation.

Transformational Gifts: Attaining the Gift of a Lifetime

Transformational Gifts: Attaining the Gift of a Lifetime November 12 – 13, 2020 Navigating a transformational gift can be one of the most important and impactful events for your institution. How are you engaging your top donors? Welcome to your course page for your virtual conference! We’ll be adding links to meeting rooms, schedules, social media, and course materials as they become available. Make sure to check back as it gets closer to your conference! DAY 1 DAY 2 ENSURE YOUR TECHNOLOGY IS READY This workshop is intentionally designed to allow for maximum learning, connections, and engagement. We advise the following in order to participate fully:

Fostering Student Belonging to Support Retention Despite the Global Pandemic

We know that a sense of belonging is a crucial factor when it comes to student success and retention—but what does that look like during a global pandemic? Join us for this virtual training to hear how our expert speaker is: Integrating lessons learned from his time working on retention at St. Cloud State University Using these lessons to inform the collaborative approach Bowling Green State University is taking to build a sense of community for students by focusing on flexibility, communication, and belonging in a socially distanced world Be part of this interactive conversation to share and brainstorm creative ways you can support student belonging through connections with faculty, staff, and other students.

Gender and Confidence: Why Higher Education Needs More Women to Advocate for Themselves and Each Other

Despite making great strides in terms of gender equity in the workplace, research indicates that women are less confident than men and are more likely to receive negative feedback when they do assert themselves. While men who are outspoken, ambitious, or decisive are viewed as good leaders, women who demonstrate these same traits are labeled brash, bossy, or lacking poise. Double standards and outdated gender norms create unique challenges for women who wish to rise. Join us for this training to learn why this happens, what you can do about it, and how you can manage gender-biased feedback from others. You will leave this training with tools that will enable you to own your confidence as a woman leader.