Advanced Supervision Certificate – October Cohort

Welcome to the October 2026 cohort of the Advanced Supervision Certificate. Our goal is to help you to develop your supervisor toolkit and grow in your confidence and ability to positively and effectively develop team members who can contribute to your institution’s goals and mission. Our offerings are based on the premise that the most important elements in a supervisor’s leadership and organizational development include understanding the best practices, taking space to practice and reflect, and taking part in a community to enhance and broaden your perspective.   As such, our supervision offerings combine written and video content, live practice sessions, a cohort experience, and a community of practice.    If you haven’t taken any supervisor training previously, we recommend that you start with the Supervision Certificate as a pre-requisite for this program. Learn more and register for the Supervision Certificate Program. 

Leading as a Department Chair

Department Chairs hold a unique and pivotal position in any academic institution, sitting at the intersection of faculty and administration. They are not just managers; they’re expected to be academic leaders who can navigate a complex and ever-changing higher ed landscape. However, many Chairs step into this role without formal leadership training, leaving them unprepared for the challenges of balancing competing interests, managing resources, and navigating the tension between being faculty and being a leader.   This self-directed program provides you as Chairs with a way to focus on your role as a leader. Whether you are new to your role, aspiring or tapped to become a Chair, or you’ve been a Chair for many years, this program will help you to develop a deeper sense of who you are as a leader, deliver and receive feedback in a professional way, manage conflict effectively, delegate with the intention to build the leadership capacity of faculty and staff in your department, and create intentionally designed meetings to improve the quality of the overall experience.

Leading as a Department Chair

Department Chairs hold a unique and pivotal position in any academic institution, sitting at the intersection of faculty and administration. They are not just managers; they’re expected to be academic leaders who can navigate a complex and ever-changing higher ed landscape. However, many Chairs step into this role without formal leadership training, leaving them unprepared for the challenges of balancing competing interests, managing resources, and navigating the tension between being faculty and being a leader.   This self-directed program provides you as Chairs with a way to focus on your role as a leader. Whether you are new to your role, aspiring or tapped to become a Chair, or you’ve been a Chair for many years, this program will help you to develop a deeper sense of who you are as a leader, deliver and receive feedback in a professional way, manage conflict effectively, delegate with the intention to build the leadership capacity of faculty and staff in your department, and create intentionally designed meetings to improve the quality of the overall experience.

Supervision Certificate Program – July 6 Cohort

Often in higher education, individuals move into a supervisory role without the necessary tools and skills to be successful. Particularly in today’s challenging environments, effective supervision is key to building an effective culture where each individual can contribute to team success. Join us online for a four-week cohort based program leveraging both asynchronous and synchronous learning specifically designed for higher education supervisors who are new to their roles, looking to deepen their skills, or for those who aspire to supervisor roles. Once you have completed the asynchronous modules of the course, you’ll receive your digital badge and certification. For the most comprehensive experience, we recommend you also attend the live sessions or watch recordings of them to learn some additional tips and skills in feedback and career growth.

Supervision in Advancement: Focused Strategies for Effective Leadership

Advancement supervisors are more critical than ever for building high-performing, collaborative teams that drive robust donor and constituent relationships. Join us for this workshop, where you’ll learn to adapt your leadership style using the Five Paths to Leadership® framework, empowering you to navigate both every day and high-pressure supervisory situations with greater clarity and purpose. We’ll emphasize the critical role of intentional supervision in shaping internal culture and enhancing external impact. Through advancement-specific scenarios and practical tools, you’ll explore how to lead effective meetings, conduct purposeful one-on-ones, and provide meaningful feedback that fosters team growth. Overall, you’ll leave with a deep understanding of a relationship-centered approach to supervision that strengthens both team dynamics and advancement outcomes.

Leading from the Middle: Essential Skills to Drive Success

Leading from the middle is a complex task. You must understand, communicate, and operationalize strategy while also being staying attuned to the needs and expectations of your supervisor, your team, and other partners with whom you collaborate.     Join other experienced middle and senior managers to explore such critical topics as leveraging your scope of influence, deepening your self-awareness, building effective relationships, and the intersection of agency and followership. We’ll use our leadership framework to guide you from personal mastery to interpersonal and team mastery, helping you to:   

Five Paths to Leadership® Results Debrief Session

Now included in membership! Academic Impressions’ Five Paths to Leadership Assessment has been leveraged in our leadership programs for years. Thousands of leaders in higher ed have benefited from this dynamic model that explores and reveals how one’s leadership styles manifest under normal circumstances—and how they change under stress.  Having a deeper understanding of your own leadership styles in varying situations increases your self-awareness, enhances your emotional quotient, and allows you to more effectively plan, communicate, strategize, and, ultimately, lead.   Join us to learn what your own leadership styles are, how they might change under stress, and how this can apply to your team. Take the assessment prior to attending, and bring your results.   During the workshop, we’ll walk through: 

From Vision to Action: Strategic Planning for a Lasting Impact

This 2-day strategic planning workshop equips higher ed leaders with the tools to create actionable, sustainable strategies aligned with institutional goals. Using design thinking and collaboration, participants will turn broad visions into practical steps for lasting success. You’ll learn to build strategies that inspire buy-in, ensure alignment, and anticipate future challenges.    By the end of the workshop, participants will be equipped to translate their institutional visions into clear, actionable strategies that position them for lasting success.  To preserve an intimate and productive environment, this workshop is limited to 30 people.

Effective Meeting Design Using the Five Paths to Leadership®

Take this opportunity to rethink how your meetings are designed by exploring the hidden expectations and preferences people bring to the table. Using the Five Paths to Leadership® model as a framework, you’ll reflect on your current meeting practices, collaborate in small groups to design your “ideal meeting,” and share insights that highlight different leadership strengths and needs. Together, we’ll surface practical ways to make your meetings more inclusive, engaging, and productive.

The Five Paths and the Sage

The Sage path in The Five Paths to Leadership® is fundamentally about integration and balance—it’s the practice that helps you to access all the other paths with intention and wisdom. This session will expand upon your knowledge of how the Sage helps with self-awareness, reflection, and adaptive leadership, transforming the shadow into wisdom and leading under pressure.