In the last few weeks, every aspect of higher education—from educational delivery to research to student support—has changed profoundly. Leaders have had to make difficult decisions with incomplete information in hand and against a backdrop of fear and confusion, knowing that their decisions will drastically alter both campus operations and the experiences of the many students, faculty, and staff they serve. Watch this webcast recording where our experts and your peers discuss the nuances of how to effectively lead through a crisis. Our panelists shared honest and authentic perspectives on how to:
The COVID-19 crisis has put a great deal of strain on faculty members as they juggle already taxing schedules with a rapid transition to remote instruction. Managing a new style of teaching, disruptions to research and writing practices, and the realities of working from home have proved to be a herculean task for many. Watch this webcast recording where we facilitate a conversation with Anita Kite, PhD, and Carina Vocisano, PhD, psychologists and faculty coaches for Academic Impressions. In this open discussion space with our coaches we shared strategies and practices on topics such as:
Institutions are now several weeks into their COVID-19 responses, but there are still many emerging decisions that need to be communicated to students, families, faculty, staff, alumni, and the local community. It’s critically important that these communications are cohesive and true to your institution’s brand, while also being transparent and resonant with the intended audiences. Watch this webcast recording where we discuss the execution of a coordinated, institution-wide communication standard to present COVID-19 and response-related updates. You’ll hear our expert Brittany Williams-Goldstein, Chief of Staff & Board Liaison at Ramapo College, as well as from your fellow attendees, around questions such as:
With no national standards available, it is difficult to make decisions around academic policies during the current COVID-19 crisis. In tandem with faculty senate, academic leaders are needing to revisit academic policies around things like the tenure clock, shared governance, graduation requirements, and repeating coursework that impact both students and faculty. As decision-makers push forward, many are wondering what other institutions are doing. Watch this webcast recording where we facilitate a conversation around these questions with Corey Cook, Vice Provost for Academic Programs and Planning at St. Mary’s College of California. We will discuss: Regarding Faculty Regarding Students
For many reasons, it can feel challenging to hold faculty accountable for their performance—especially when they’re struggling. The truth is, not holding faculty to expected standards often seeds long-term problems, creates resentment amongst faculty colleagues, and is a disservice to the institution’s students. But how do we do this work in a way that brings out the best in our faculty? Join us online to discuss ways to inspire faculty to pursue higher levels of performance. You’ll hear from a panel of three academic leaders at various career levels—Department Chair, Dean, and Assistant Provost. Together, they’ll share their experience, tips, and strategies for how to hold faculty at all stages of their career accountable in ways that are supportive and mission-aligned ways. We invite you to come prepared to share your own insights, tips, or questions for the group, so that we can grow our collective wisdom, as well.
Faculty bring a range of academic and professional talents to their departments. Because of this, many faculty carry heavy workloads, which can lead to high levels of burnout. Chairs are in the unique position to manage faculty workloads, and consequently, the long-term growth and development of faculty, as well. However, many chairs do not have training or background in talent management. Join us online for a one-hour discussion in which we’ll talk about how you can develop an intentional talent management strategy for your department. Although the conversation will be responsive to the questions asked by the attendees, the discussion will focus on sharing systematic and evidence-based talent management strategies that will help you to balance the workload for your faculty. Come prepared to engage in dialogue, ask questions, and share insights with other department chairs from across the country.
Balancing the responsibilities of being a faculty member with responding to increasing student needs and life outside the university has only gotten more challenging post-pandemic. Faculty, for instance, are experiencing burnout at higher levels than ever before. But faculty who learn how to set boundaries with their work and maintain a healthy integration are far more likely to continue to enjoy that work and maintain their sense of professional well-being. In this course, Jackie Leibsohn will walk you through how to identify what’s being added to your plate, how and when to say “No” empathetically to additional work, and what may be standing in your way as you set boundaries. This course will speak to faculty at all levels who want to better learn how to set boundaries kindly with colleagues. For those who are not faculty but who may want to learn more about setting and maintaining boundaries, this course will be useful as well.
In Courageous Gardening: Equity-Minded Leadership in Higher Education, authors Susan C. Turell and Maria Thompson invite you to become a master gardener of your campus or departmental landscape—and provide a practical workbook for doing so. There are no easy tips and tricks here; instead, this workbook guides you to building and sharpening the tools you will need in any situation: an equity mindset. Using the book as a backdrop for this guided conversation, panelists will engage the authors in deconstructing their metaphor of the campus as a garden to develop more equity-minded teams. Whether you’ve read the book or not, this conversation will offer wonderful insights into meaningful approaches to increased cohesion and professional development. Using the metaphor of the campus as a garden, authors and readers will discuss ways to break down the challenging task of dismantling inequities to create more inclusive teams. By sharing their experiences, Drs Altheia Richardson and Katie Lampley will engage the authors in a more detailed discussion on effective ways to both weed and nurture your workplace garden in order to maximize team outputs through intentional engagement and development.
As a leader in professional development for higher education leaders across the world, Academic Impressions prides itself on delivering quality content that is data informed and rooted in practical application. Over the past year we have had a number of conversations with member institutions who have been seeking out inclusive leadership training for their team but have found that very few workshops speak directly to a faculty audience. In response to requests from our members we have embarked on the development of a training program that will speak directly to our faculty audience, but rather than build it in a vacuum, we have worked with campus leaders from across the country to identify key topics and develop a program structure. This next phase is our attempt to determine if what we built truly does achieve our intended outcomes.
Episode #1: Navigating the Mid-Career with Niyati Parekh In our inaugural episode, Jenna interviews Niyati Parekh, Associate Vice Provost of Faculty Initiatives at New York University, about navigating the mid-career stage. Niyati shares how she fell into leadership, and how she now tries to support faculty in their own career journeys. Episode #2: Inflection Points with Bill Clements In this episode, Jenna interviews William “Bill” Clements, former Vice President and Dean of the College of Graduate and Continuing Studies at Norwich University. After a long career as a full-time administrator, Bill reflects on his career as a faculty leader as he returns to a full-time faculty role. Bill muses upon “inflection points,” where he had to make a choice between continuing his work as a scholar or focusing solely on his administrative duties, as well as discussing the importance of strategically choosing the opportunities that best align with your strengths and passions. Episode #3: Leading as a Social Worker with Katharine Hill In this episode, Jenna interviews Katharine Hill, Associate Vice Provost for Faculty Advancement and Research and Professor of Social Work at the University of St. Thomas. Katharine shares how her training as a social worker prepared her for […]
In order for faculty and staff to fully engage in shared governance, they must first understand their roles, responsibilities, and impact on the process. They also need to possess certain skills and knowledge to collaborate effectively across the institution. As a department chair, you are uniquely positioned to provide the necessary information, training, and support that faculty and staff may need to fully engage in the process. Join us online for a one-hour discussion to get tips and strategies for how to effectively train faculty and staff to prepare them for their participation in shared governance. Although the conversation will be responsive to the questions asked by the attendees, we anticipate discussing some of 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 shared governance.
Shared governance allows faculty and staff to contribute their opinions, insights, and best ideas for the benefit of the campus community. Shared governance also demands that faculty and staff collaborate in a way that is respectful to others, appreciates diversity of thought, and builds consensus. This requires you, as department chair, to create an environment that encourages a safe space for all participants. Join us online for a one-hour discussion to better understand how you can create an environment that encourages faculty and staff to contribute meaningfully to the shared governance process. Although the conversation will be responsive to the questions asked by the attendees, we anticipate discussing some of the following key questions: Come prepared to engage in dialogue, ask questions, and share insights that can help you and other department chairs to confidently navigate shared governance.
Leading from the middle of an institution is a tough role. Managing both up and down while completing student-centered work requires self-reflection, empathy, and intention. Yet it can be accomplished in a transformative way that both honors the individual identities of your team and advances the goals and mission of your institution. Join us for a discussion with Dr. Jenn Duffield as she reflects on how she navigated her role as Assistant Dean of Students & Title IX Coordinator leading a team of eight. Jenn will share how her role evolved over time, as well as the challenges and successes she experienced leading a team. She’ll also highlight the personal work she accomplished that informed her approach to inclusive supervision. We invite you to participate in conversation and share how you are working to develop your own sense of self as a leader and supervisor. We’ll discuss such aspects of leadership as: You’ll walk away from this discussion with an opportunity to reflect upon how you can lead more inclusively, as well as with resources to help you to do so.
As you navigate more complex leadership roles, you will also navigate more contentious issues and conflicts. This makes the relationships you form with your colleagues not only “nice to have,” but essential: there is very little that cannot be accomplished when relationships are strong and built on a foundation of trust and mutual respect. During this discussion, you’ll learn how a President and a CFO built a relationship that propelled the success of their teams, the institution, and helped them both to thrive individually. Carmen Twillie Ambar, President of Oberlin College, and Audra Hoffman Kahr, Executive Vice President of Finance & Administration at Lafayette College, will share how they met, how their relationship evolved, and a few lessons they’ve learned along the way as women leaders in higher education.
The increasingly competitive landscape within higher ed requires department chairs to be dynamic, not passive, in how they respond to challenges and opportunities. This requires you to make important decisions that may impact your department for years to come. As a new department chair, this can feel scary since you’re still learning how to do the job, and you’re likely missing important information to make an informed decision in many scenarios. Join us online for a one-hour discussion in which you’ll get tips for how to assess your department’s history, trends, and strategic position within the college/university. More importantly, we’ll discuss why this information is essential as a new chair. If you’re interested in learning how to fill your knowledge gaps and feel more confident about your decision-making, this discussion is for you. Topics for discussion will likely include the following:
As you look to move into the workplace, it is more important than ever to expand your leadership abilities in order to be successful. Although you will have learned key content and practiced skills like creativity and collaboration in your classes, employers often report that graduates do not possess the level of preparedness in leadership skills needed to be successful in their careers. This course is designed to reinforce and help you to demonstrate your ability to work in increasingly global and collaborative work environments. This course covers the following topics: This course consists of five modules encompassing leadership skills that will benefit you in the workplace. Each module includes several short videos and accompanying workbook prompts and activities, with each designed to take you about 50-75 minutes per module. We recommend pacing them out to one module per week, but you can complete the activities at your own pace!
Fundraising for your academic unit does not happen in a vacuum. You and your dean need to work in concert with campus partners to build a pipeline of prospective donors, identify a case for support, and connect donors’ values and passions to institutional priorities. In this session, we’ll discuss challenges with and ways to improve your dean’s collaborations with central advancement, alumni relations, faculty, and other campus stakeholders.
Time is a limited factor for all. As a department chair, you likely need to delegate tasks or responsibilities to others to ensure that your most important work gets done. However, as workloads have increased over time, you’re also careful not to overwhelm faculty and staff with unnecessary work. You know there’s a way to delegate work so that it promotes the talent development of your team, but it’s not always clear when or how to do it. Join us online for a one-hour discussion where we will explore how to delegate work in a way that prepares faculty and staff for the next step of their careers. Although the conversation will be responsive to the questions asked by the attendees, we anticipate focusing the conversation on how you can delegate in a way that doesn’t feel like it adds to faculty and staff workloads, but that instead helps them to develop their talents for the benefit of the campus community. Come prepared to engage in dialogue, ask questions, and share insights with other department chairs from across the country.
In part three of this discussion series, The Impact of Enhancing Customer Service in Higher Education, learn strategies and techniques that can be used to create a more caring culture on your campus and increase the quality of the student and employee experience.
To successfully cultivate donors, deans need to understand donor psychology and philanthropic propensity. In this session, we’ll discuss how you approach portfolio management and managing prospect information with your dean. You’ll have the opportunity to share best practices and consider new ways to structure your work to achieve the fundraising goals of your academic unit.
