Deans have one of the most difficult jobs in higher education: they must find ways to balance a variety of internal and external priorities while also setting the vision and strategy needed to keep their College competitive and relevant into an ever-changing future. Fulfilling such a complex role successfully requires strong leadership and entrepreneurial skills, many of which they have never been taught thus far in their careers.
Build the foundational leadership skills you need to create strong teams, plan and execute effectively, and position your College for success into the future.
Flagship Programs
These programs will help you:
- Motivate staff to think differently and move beyond the status quo.
- Set and execute a strategy that moves your college forward.
- Position your college competitively and in a sustainable way.
You can expect the experience to include:
- Intimate, workshop-style events with personalized attention.
- Needs-driven and thoughtfully planned programs with practical outcomes.
- Action plans and next steps to use upon returning to campus.
- Carefully-vetted instructors that are also practitioners in the field.
- A learner-centric focus designed for interaction and collaboration.
- The small-scale opportunity to truly connect with colleagues in the same position at other institutions.
IN-PERSON CONFERENCE
Essential Leadership Skills for Deans
April 3 - 4, 2023 | Washington, D.C.
Hone the leadership skills you need in order to address the complex challenges facing higher ed today.
ONLINE BOOTCAMP
Leading as An Assistant/Associate Dean: An Online Bootcamp
May 15, 2023 – June 26, 2023
Learn how to confidently lead in a way that is comfortable for you, while also building trust, collaboration, and relationships with others across your college.
ONLINE BOOTCAMP
Designing a New Faculty Mentor Program: A Bootcamp for Faculty Leaders
June 8 – July 6, 2023
Identify a clear and compelling value proposition for your new faculty mentoring program.
IN-PERSON CONFERENCE
Fundraising for Deans
June 22 - 23, 2023 | New Orleans, LA
Learn how to create a sustainable fundraising enterprise in your role as Dean.
Coaching
Deans must lead like a CEO but often without a seat at the table, nor with the skills that the job requires. The unique culture of higher education requires deans to have strong interpersonal and inclusive leadership skills, an entrepreneurial outlook, and the ability to see past daily management tasks to motivate, strategize, and lead.
Coaching for individuals and team coaching both help leaders to navigate some of their most complex challenges, including:
- Cultivating greater self-awareness for more impactful and inclusive conversations.
- Developing strategic planning skills.
- Motivating faculty and staff to move past the way “we’ve always done things.”
- Enabling faculty and staff to work across silos and partner with others on campus.
- Helping others to use conflict as a resource.
- Mitigating burnout.
Individual leadership coaching meets leaders where they are by matching them with the right coach, while team coaching can help deans across units navigate complex challenges together.
Case Study
The Situation
We were approached by the provost at an R1 institution who was looking for greater team cohesion and collaboration across multiple departments and units.
The Solution
We designed a comprehensive engagement that started with 1:1 leadership coaching to establish trust, confidence, and individual development plans.
Through team coaching paired with the individual one-on-one coaching, we helped a group of Deans develop strong interpersonal and inclusive leadership skills, an entrepreneurial outlook, and the ability to see past daily management tasks to motivate, strategize, and lead.
With greater safety and support established, we used our 5 Paths to Leadership self-assessment to develop a team profile. This profile helped the Deans to have a greater understanding of how the group made (or avoided) making decisions, and together we created a shared vision.
Results
Because of the individual and team coaching, the provost reported that there was a greater understanding of each other’s diverse work and conflict styles, strengths, and challenges. The Deans had also had developed strategies for building greater trust in each other.
As a result of the team coaching, the executives now work with each other to make more decisions (rather than their previous behavior, which had been to always turn to the senior leader), asking challenging questions of each other and as a result, achieving greater collaborations. Previously, so many decisions had been left to the senior leader to decide, but now, due to greater collaboration across units, the senior leader’s continual input is no longer necessary.
Take the next step in your role as a Chair and book a call with our Director of Coaching today!
Short-Form Trainings Covering Specific Challenges Deans Face
Defining Your Leadership Approach as Dean
Building High-Performing Teams
WEBCAST RECORDING
Retaining and Advancing Faculty from Historically Marginalized Groups: A Discussion for Faculty Affairs and Academic Leaders
Leading Your Unit Into the Future
WEBCAST
Strategic Planning as a Dean: Enhance Your Unit’s Success from Start to Finish
April 10, 2023
VIRTUAL TRAINING RECORDING
Deans Summit: Maintaining Strategic Focus Through Financial Challenges
WEBCAST RECORDING
What’s Keeping Deans Up at Night: A Free Webcast for Academic Leaders
VIRTUAL TRAINING RECORDING
Growing and Shaping Your Academic Program Portfolio in a Post-COVID Era
VIRTUAL TRAINING RECORDING
Identifying and Communicating the ROI of External Partnerships
Get These Trainings and More with Membership
Fiscal Year Promotion:
Save Up to $1,500 on Membership
What is Membership with Academic Impressions?
Membership with Academic Impressions is the most comprehensive online professional development subscription specifically designed for staff and faculty in higher education. Our resources support leaders, staff, and faculty at all levels with trainings on leadership development, personal development, and job-specific skills.
Join hundreds of member institutions and use this year to make professional development a regular occurrence instead of a once-a-year annual meeting.
What Does Membership Include?
Access to a continuously expanding library of live online trainings, designed to be practical, discussion-based, and highly experiential
Unlimited anytime, anywhere access to on-demand trainings and resources that you can engage with on your own time from the convenience of your workspace
New trainings every week, designed to respond to the latest needs of the higher ed community
$250 discount on multi-week cohort-based bootcamps and in-person conferences
Questions?
Meghan Paladino
Director of Institutional Partnerships,
Academic Impressions