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Developing a Foundation for Sustained Philanthropic Support: A Certificate Program for Deans and Academic Leaders – October Cohort

Alumni participation has steadily declined across institutions of higher education in the United States for several decades. And increasingly, donors are taking their philanthropic inclinations to organizations where they can give to specific purposes with targeted outcomes. The most successful deans and academic leaders are attuned to this reality and work in concert with their advancement colleagues to help alumni and donors see how the institution’s capabilities align with alumni and donor passions to make a significant, sustainable difference in society together. Understanding how to facilitate philanthropic engagement from alumni and donors by providing them with portals of purpose to give through your institution, rather than to it, can restore and sustain your student experience and alumni affinity for years to come.   Join us for a five-week certificate program designed to teach you how leadership, collaboration, and philanthropic vital signs can combine into a larger strategy to strengthen donor engagement with your unit. Specifically, you’ll learn:    As a culminating activity, you will create an action plan for the year ahead focused on improving collaboration and the health of your philanthropic vital signs, and you’ll discuss with your peers how to overcome any barriers you may face to implement it. 

Developing a Foundation for Sustained Philanthropic Support: A Certificate Program for Deans and Academic Leaders – June Cohort

Alumni participation has steadily declined across institutions of higher education in the United States for several decades. And increasingly, donors are taking their philanthropic inclinations to organizations where they can give to specific purposes with targeted outcomes. The most successful deans and academic leaders are attuned to this reality and work in concert with their advancement colleagues to help alumni and donors see how the institution’s capabilities align with alumni and donor passions to make a significant, sustainable difference in society together. Understanding how to facilitate philanthropic engagement from alumni and donors by providing them with portals of purpose to give through your institution, rather than to it, can restore and sustain your student experience and alumni affinity for years to come.   Join us for a five-week certificate program designed to teach you how leadership, collaboration, and philanthropic vital signs can combine into a larger strategy to strengthen donor engagement with your unit. Specifically, you’ll learn:    As a culminating activity, you will create an action plan for the year ahead focused on improving collaboration and the health of your philanthropic vital signs, and you’ll discuss with your peers how to overcome any barriers you may face to implement it. 

Encore and Live Q&A: Transitioning Campaign Success into Evergreen Giving Opportunities

Campaigns are long-term, effort-intensive fundraising cycles that require hard work and commitment from Advancement staff, university and volunteer leaders, and donors. When a campaign comes to a close, the institution must balance the celebration of its accomplishments and gratitude for donors with the ongoing need for philanthropic support, all in the setting of inevitable potential for staff and donor fatigue. The best practice is to couple campaign-close communications with a focused effort that capitalizes on the momentum garnered during the campaign to transition into an evergreen philanthropic marketing and communications effort. This underutilized practice showcases high potential investment opportunities – thus, keeping philanthropy alive well beyond a campaign. Creating giving opportunities beyond the close of a successful campaign does not happen by chance. It requires a coordinated effort with your marketing and communications team to ensure that they are prepared to best position your institutional needs while also celebrating the impact of the campaign and honoring the donors who helped to make it a success. Join us to learn the steps UC San Diego took in their transition to create a post-campaign evergreen giving opportunity—and how you might adapt their approach to your own unique institutional context.

CANCELED: Developing Staff and Shaping Team Culture: A Summit for Advancement Talent Development Leaders

Unlock your team’s leadership potential with the Advancement Talent Development Leader Summit. This hands-on program will equip you with the tools to build effective leadership pathways, enhance team performance, and cultivate future leaders in Advancement.  Key benefits include:  Designed for talent development leaders in Advancement, this summit offers a unique opportunity to connect with peers and develop strategies that drive impactful results.  Limited to 30 participants—secure your spot today! 

Foundations of Title IX Investigations: Training & Certification  

Preparing for and conducting a thorough and impartial Title IX investigation requires a specific and unique toolkit, particularly considering the ever-changing landscape of the Title IX Regulations issued by the Department of Education. During this two-day virtual conference, you will develop the foundational knowledge and skills to conduct a sexual harassment investigation effectively and with confidence.      With the guidance of your expert instructor, you will learn how to:   You will examine a mock investigation—complete with facts, sample testimonials, and policies—to help you understand and appreciate the complexities of a complaint, while you also interpret and apply your learning to your campus’s current investigative practices and policies.

Provost Summit: Leading for Innovation and Growth

In today’s rapidly changing world, innovation has become a critical driver of success for individual leaders and their organizations. However, fostering a culture of innovation is not easy—especially in academia, where traditions and hierarchy often prevail.   This unique event aims to bring Provosts together to connect with peers, develop their own leadership, and learn proven strategies for fostering an innovative mindset and culture at their institutions. Participants will learn about key elements of an innovative culture such as openness, experimentation, collaboration, and risk-taking and hear translatable examples of how other institutions have successfully cultivated them, such as:   This Summit is designed to be interactive and engaging, with plenty of opportunities for discussion, reflection, and practical exercises. You’ll leave with an expanded network of other Provosts across the nation who are equally invested in thinking outside the box to move their institutions forward.   To preserve an intimate and productive experience, this conference is capped at 30 attendees.  Optional Executive Coaching: For those who choose to add on our Executive Coaching package, you will receive 6 sessions of executive coaching and will be paired with a coach who has extensive experience in higher education. With a range of expert coaches, we can […]

The 3 Critical Elements to Include in Department Chair Training 

Chairs occupy an essential position on our campuses, sitting at the intersection point that connects our faculty to institutional strategy, context, and culture. They also make some of the most impactful decisions that shape the university, overseeing decisions related to hiring, promotion, and curriculum. Yet for most institutions, the support and training available to chairs is minimal.   Most of the training provided to chairs is limited to topics like how to work with HR, budgeting, and promotion & tenure. But what truly separates effective chairs from ineffective chairs are their leadership skills, such as:   Academic Impressions has been trusted to effectively train department chairs across the U.S. and Canada for over ten years. In this free webcast, we’ll discuss the keys to our success, what works and what doesn’t, and create a space for others to share their best practices.   If you need to start or enhance chair development at your own institution, we invite you to join us for this program.  

Encore: Recruiting, Training, and Engaging Alumni Volunteers in a Digital Environment

Alumni volunteers are immensely valuable to institutions in both their service and giving power— they tend to give 10 times more than non-volunteers. However, since the pandemic, the script has flipped on how we recruit and engage alumni volunteers through digital channels. In-person volunteer opportunities continue to foster alumni engagement, but with digital opportunities growing increasingly common as well, we must continue to learn best practices from one another to remain successful. In this virtual training, our expert panelists will guide you as you share your own lessons when digitally engaging your alumni volunteers. Together, we will identify emerging best practices regarding volunteer recruitment, training, and engagement that lead to the retention of your most dedicated alumni. You will leave this training with the best current practices to engage your volunteers — during this pandemic, and beyond. In this updated edition, a Q&A with the speakers, Clarybel Peguero and Parks Smith, has been added to the recording. How It Works: If you missed the event when it took place in March of 2023 or you have been meaning to engage with the on-demand training, this is your chance to watch it together with higher ed colleagues from across the country. […]

Essential Leadership Skills for Department Chairs

Leading as an academic department chair is difficult under the best of circumstances. You must balance the competing interests of faculty and administration and stretch limited resources, all while maintaining your own scholarship and teaching loads. Add to this the uncertainty and complexity of leading through an ever-changing higher ed landscape, and it becomes clear that the current environment can test even the most seasoned leaders.  Join us in person for this essential two-day conference designed specifically to help academic department chairs discover or reconnect with the most effective ways to lead in a variety of situations and circumstances. These are the themes for each day of the conference:   Day One: You’ll begin by reflecting on your approach to leadership, where you’ll explore ways to enhance your overall leadership effectiveness. You’ll also examine how your position of influence can support and enable the engagement, collaboration, and, ultimately, the success of your faculty and staff.   Day Two: You will be asked to explore one of the trickiest topics a leader must face—conflict— and you’ll practice tools and strategies that will allow you to navigate that conflict with greater confidence and ease.  We’ve trained thousands of department chairs over the last […]