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Crafting and Maintaining Your Career Vision: A Workshop for Early-Career Faculty

Whether you are on a traditional promotion and tenure journey or have other aspirations, you will walk away from this training with a career map you can return to and revise time and time again. Overview Early career faculty are pulled in numerous, often competing directions during their first years on the job. Consequently, many end up surrendering their long-term goals and aspirations at the expense of short-term demands. Whether volunteering for numerous committees, taking on more student mentees, and/or trying to jumpstart research, it can be easy to lose sight of bigger goals and how they align to a career plan. Establishing a career vision early on, that early career faculty can return to again and again, is crucial in making strategic decisions. Join us online for an interactive workshop where you will develop an intentional and strategic career plan to help you focus on the big picture and seize opportunities that align with your goals. In this workshop, we will provide you with a wealth of useful examples from different types of academic paths and institutions. Whether you are on a traditional promotion and tenure journey or have other aspirations, you will walk away from this training with […]

Leading as a Native American Leader in Higher Education

Explore your social identity as a Native American and how it influences your leadership approach. Overview “Native Americans are too often imagined rather than understood.” This statement sums up the experience that many Native Americans have at their respective colleges and universities. While Native Americans are acknowledged in concept, they are not often discussed in concrete, specific terms, especially as it relates to leadership. But there are a growing number of Native Americans who occupy leadership roles in higher education, and the unique perspectives they bring—which influence and shape the way they approach their leadership—deserve to be more specifically recognized and celebrated. Join us online for an open discussion about the interplay between Native American heritage and leadership in higher education. You’ll be given intentional space to share your own experiences and self-perceptions with others who also identify as Native American leaders, and will come away with specific strategies for how traditional Native American values and beliefs can serve you in modern-day leadership opportunities.   Who Should Attend This training is designed for current and aspiring Native American leaders in higher education. Other higher ed leaders wanting to better understand the experiences of their Native American colleagues will also benefit. […]

Effective Leadership: An Introduction to Key Academic Leadership Skills & Competencies for Faculty

Pullquote Overview As a health and wellness professional, you are currently planning for how to keep students healthy and safe in the fall in light of COVID-19. The front-end details are dizzying. You’re considering how to fund, staff, and implement testing. You’re examining technology and privacy considerations around contact tracing. In addition, you’re thinking through how to quarantine students showing COVID-19 symptoms. Have you taken the time to pause and discuss these ideas with peers as you move into the implementation phase of your plan? Join us online for an in-depth, two-hour brainstorming and discussion session with your peers to share strategies and provide space to benchmark and ask questions. With engagement and connection as primary goals, you’ll participate actively in large and small group discussions framed around the following aspects of student health and safety for the fall: Viral testing Contact tracing Guidelines and protocols for when students get sick   Who Should Attend Health and wellness professionals working in higher education who would like to benchmark their thinking, as well as share and gain ideas for operationalizing testing and contact tracing at their institutions in the fall, should participate in this discussion. Institutional leaders or members of task […]

Strategic Stewardship to Improve Donor Retention

Meaningfully connect with key donor populations to improve donor retention efforts. Overview In light of an industry-wide decline in both overall giving as well as in changing donor expectations, it is more important than ever that advancement shops of all sizes take a strategic donor stewardship approach. Employing tactics like segmentation and personalized recognition and engagement touchpoints, and demonstrating impact by tying gifts to ongoing institutional priorities can help to ensure that your donors continue to give, and that you retain them over time. Join us for a live session that will help you to tie your donor retention efforts more directly to the fundraising bottom line. Our expert instructor Sarah Sims, Executive Director of Donor Engagement at the University of Houston, will share strategies like the following that lead to improved donor retention rates: Adjusting your approach by donor population Segmentation and messaging best practices How to shift organizational culture to a donor-centered retention mindset   Who Should Attend New and seasoned professionals who work in annual giving stewardship or donor relations will benefit from attending this event. AGENDA March 9, 2022 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. Eastern   Our expert instructor will cover:   Identifying Priority Donor Populations for […]

Use Indigenous Storytelling Techniques to Help Facilitate Conversations on Racial Equity

Encourage racial equity and inclusion conversations using indigenous storytelling techniques. Overview In traditional indigenous storytelling, it is common for a group of people to come together, sit in a circle, and share personal stories around a specific theme or topic. These story circles serve to build community and celebrate culture through information transmission. They also allow for equanimity and provide a way to see the similar in the diverse. In this way, story circles can be used as an equalizer and a way to find common ground around critical and sensitive topics like race. Join us at this live online event to learn more about how you can use indigenous storytelling methods on your campus to facilitate courageous conversations. You’ll learn how storytelling can: Encourage creative questions Act as a catalyst for reflection Ensure all voices are heard Provide valuable practice in reacting and responding to difficult conversations You will come away better equipped to help others share their own stories while also learning from the stories of others.   Who Should Attend Any higher education professional charged with facilitating conversations about racial equity on their campuses will benefit from this event. Individuals who wish to learn more about indigenous […]

Anticipating and Overcoming Objections in Frontline Fundraising

Learn to confidently respond to donor objections by anticipating and meaningfully acknowledging their concerns.  Overview The fear of objections in frontline fundraising can get in the way of productive conversations with prospects. However, objections can be the first step to receiving a donor gift if we are prepared to listen closely and share a response that encourages new discussion and conversation.   Join us for this online training to learn how to anticipate objections throughout the donor cycle, and how to utilize each response as an opportunity to learn and deepen the relationship.  Through the technique of probing questions, our expert Kathy Drucquer Duff will demonstrate how to address common objections as well as how to extrapolate objections unique to your institution or initiative. This session will provide you with specific language you can share and practice with your team.    Who Should Attend This training is for advancement professionals, particularly frontline fundraisers and donor relations staff who want to learn how to respond to objections in meaningful ways that move conversations forward. If you manage frontline fundraisers, invite your team to this training. Leadership annual giving directors, officers, and advancement services and support staff will also benefit by attending this training.  AGENDA February 24, 2022 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. Eastern   This webcast will prepare you to overcome objections in the two most common stages of the fundraising cycle:     Qualification and Discovery  As you build a […]