Event Category: Workshop

Building and Leading a Healthy Academic Department Culture

Trust is fragile in academia, and culture is always forming. For academic leaders, the question is not whether a culture exists, but whether it is being shaped with intention.  This workshop equips department Chairs, Deans, and academic leaders with a clear framework for building and sustaining healthy unit cultures rooted in transparency, accountability, and psychological safety. You’ll model a culture-building exercise you can bring back to your departments while exploring the leadership behaviors that most powerfully influence team norms.  By identifying the common enemies of trust—such as inconsistency, avoidance, and perceived favoritism—you’ll also develop practical strategies to strengthen credibility and fairness. The result: Teams that are more resilient, collaborative, and capable of navigating change together.  To preserve an intimate and productive experience, this workshop is capped at 30 attendees.

Optimizing Your Fundraising Strategy: A Summit for Presidents and Advancement Vice Presidents

As a President or Advancement Vice President, you play a critical role in shaping the environment that attracts significant and sustained philanthropic investments. You’re also likely aware of the value of a lifelong donor and the importance of attracting entrepreneurial-minded donors, both of whom want to make a difference to society through your institution.   Join us in Denver for this two-day summit with fellow executive leaders, to learn how a strategic fundraising approach, paired with strong institutional leadership, can cultivate a thriving culture of philanthropy. Specifically, you will:   Bring your Board Chair to create alignment around shared priorities and decision-making! Institutions who register their President and Vice President of Advancement can bring their Board Chair for free. Contact operations@academicimpressions.com to take advantage of this offer.   To preserve an intimate and productive experience, this workshop is capped at 30 attendees.

Leading Into the Future: A Strategy Summit for Provosts

Join us for this summit, which equips Provosts and Chief Academic Officers to lead strategic, culture-shaping change in an increasingly complex higher education landscape. You’ll explore a practical framework for diagnosing barriers to change, deepen your self-awareness of your leadership approach, and learn strategies for aligning senior teams around shared institutional purpose. Through applied tools, peer reflection, and case studies from our partners, you’ll examine how trust, collaboration, and innovation can be intentionally cultivated. The workshop culminates in concrete action planning to help you mobilize your teams and lead proactively toward a more sustainable and future-ready institution.  To preserve an intimate and productive experience, this workshop is capped at 30 attendees. Save by registering your Provost and an aspiring Provost. Registering as a pair is $2000 a seat. To take advantage of this deal, please email operations@academicimpressions.com.

Fundraising for Deans and Academic Leaders in Partnership with Development

As a Dean or other academic leader, you hold numerous responsibilities, and fundraising is likely a critical part of your portfolio. You’re probably also finding the philanthropic landscape more competitive than ever, as donors are becoming more selective with their giving. To be a successful fundraiser, it is therefore more important than ever to understand how to align your interests with those of donors seeking to make significant societal differences.   Academic leaders and their development counterparts will benefit from this workshop as you:    To preserve an intimate and productive experience, this workshop is capped at 30 attendees. Attend as a Dean and development officer pair and save! Register two people to get a special price of $2000 a seat. Please email operations@academicimpressions.com to take advantage of this offer.

Elevate Your Facilitation Skills to Make Your Leadership Development Programs Soar

This two-day facilitation workshop will help you move beyond scripted delivery and step into facilitation that is adaptive, engaging, and deeply learner-centered. You’ll explore what effective facilitation truly entails: preparing participants, managing energy and group dynamics, and creating experiential moments that make leadership concepts memorable. Through hands-on practice, you’ll build the confidence to read the room, pivot when needed, and create an environment where every participant feels connected and supported. By the end, you’ll be equipped to deliver high-impact leadership development sessions using Academic Impressions’ specialized approach and resources as your guide.  To preserve an intimate and productive experience, this workshop is capped at 30 attendees. 

Building an In-House Leadership Development Program in Higher Education

Academic Impressions has helped more institutions to develop in-house leadership programs than any other organization in higher education, and in this flagship two-day event, we’ll share what we’ve learned over 15 years of developing leaders and supporting in-house programs. Whether you are simply dipping your toe into the leadership space for the first time, or you’ve run a successful cohort-based program for years, we’ll share a wealth of resources, methods, and approaches that you can implement right away to develop the next generation of leaders at your institution.  Our Approach  Adaptable: We have intentionally designed our program to explore multiple ways to develop leaders. Whether this is accomplished via one-off programs, cohort programs, or something in between, we’ll show you how our frameworks, models, and content can be adapted to fit your needs.  Human-centered: In addition to sharing proven leadership resources, special attention will be paid to ensuring that your programs center inclusivity and develop innovative and forward-thinking leaders.  Hands-on and Experiential: To help guide you in making critical decisions, we’ll share a workbook we’ve built through 15 years of working with institutions to develop their leadership programs. You’ll also experience firsthand a variety of tools and activities you can […]

From Tension to Teamwork: Cultivating Positive Team Dynamics

Problems in interpersonal interactions, communication patterns, and outcomes can be key indicators of team dysfunction. It’s easy to recognize that a team is dysfunctional when all three of these elements break down completely, but what if only one or two aspects are suffering? Join us in person to learn how to identify dysfunctional team dynamics and to practice strategies to build a more productive and high-performing culture.   At this workshop, you’ll expand your skills in:  

Essential Leadership Skills for Department Chairs

Leading as an academic department chair is a challenging role, requiring the navigation of competing priorities, resource constraints, and an evolving higher education landscape. This two-day, in-person workshop is designed to equip department chairs with practical strategies to lead effectively. On day one, participants will reflect on their leadership approach, focusing on enhancing influence, engagement, and collaboration. Day two will address managing conflict, offering tools and techniques to handle challenging situations with confidence and ease.

Elevate Your Facilitation Skills to Make Your Leadership Development Programs Soar

This two-day facilitation workshop will help you move beyond scripted delivery and step into facilitation that is adaptive, engaging, and deeply learner-centered. You’ll explore what effective facilitation truly entails: preparing participants, managing energy and group dynamics, and creating experiential moments that make leadership concepts memorable. Through hands-on practice, you’ll build the confidence to read the room, pivot when needed, and create an environment where every participant feels connected and supported. By the end, you’ll be equipped to deliver high-impact leadership development sessions using Academic Impressions’ specialized approach and resources as your guide.  To preserve an intimate and productive experience, this workshop is capped at 30 attendees.

Essential Leadership Skills for Deans

The demands placed on Deans in today’s environment only continue to grow. They must find ways to motivate and inspire those above, across from, and below them while simultaneously fostering a positive culture and climate, innovating to keep their academic program offerings competitive and future-ready, navigating near-constant change. All of this requires a strong sense of self and an executive leadership skillset that must evolve over time.     Join us for an in-person workshop to grow your leadership in community with other Deans facing similar challenges across the country. Together, we will participate in hands-on activities and engage in honest, practical discussion around how you can:      

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