Online instruction continues to thrive, but instructors and designers struggle to develop effective forms of online assessment. How can an instructor know if students are meeting course objectives or achieving area competencies if tests and quizzes are not primary assessments? How can you ensure academic integrity and curb online cheating? What other forms of assessment are particularly effective in an online environment? Join us online to learn how to design and develop assessment tools in online instructional environments. Our expert instructor will share examples of assessment questions and how to improve them.
You will likely secure your next leadership role through your network, so surrounding yourself with the right people can make or break a career. How can you be more intentional in building your network to fast-track your career within senior leadership? Join us online and learn how a personal board of directors can help fuel your next career transition. A personal board of directors is a group of 5-7 people who offer advice, resources, and support over time to help you navigate challenging situations with confidence. In this webcast, you’ll learn how to create and manage your personal board of directors – including how to invite the right people and how to use your meetings productively – so that you can acquire the right skills and experience at the right time.
Your team may have up to five generations working together, a phenomenon that is unique to our time in history. This generational diversity makes our teams stronger and more ready to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse student population. To leverage the full strength that comes from this generational diversity, however, supervisors must first understand the value of and know how to appreciate the unique styles and preferences of each team member. Join our facilitator and your peers across the country to share best practices and experiences for increasing all of our understanding on successfully supervising multigenerational teams. You will come away from the training with the following:
Faculty evaluations are one of the most challenging aspects of serving as a department chair. Emotions run high, performance rubrics aren’t always clear, and both parties may become defensive and react more than they listen. Still, these conversations don’t have to be difficult, and they don’t have to take a negative tone. They key is to develop an evaluation process that establishes clear goals, uses objective data to assess those goals, and allows you to treat performance-related issues before your annual meeting. Join us online to learn how to make your next faculty evaluation session easier and more productive by implementing four key steps: Goal Setting and Communication Using and Applying Evaluation Data Phrasing Comments Appropriately Delivering Feedback
Enthusiastic partners can help you persuade faculty and staff of the value of philanthropic giving. Merrimack College was able to use giving ambassadors in a targeted campaign to increase their faculty participation rate from 20% to 59% in just one year. By recruiting the right leader to kick start the program, and by onboarding and supporting the right ambassadors, you can grow interest and convey authenticity to your institution’s ask. Join us online to learn how to create a similar movement on your campus that engages your faculty and staff in philanthropy and demonstrates the impact of their gifts. What You Will Get As part of your registration, you will receive a Campaign Ambassador Toolkit from Merrimack College that offers sample emails, meeting agendas, tracking tools, and campaign FAQs.
Designed for institutions who already have an established, full-time Case Manager, this webcast will present the considerations you need in order to refine and improve the focus and services of your current case management model. Our facilitator will help you answer the following questions: What’s the scope of our current case manager’s role, and how do we assess whether we need to refine or expand the scope or size of our current model? What are best practices and strategies for enhancing the role’s reach and impact? How can we increase the visibility of these resources for both students and faculty/staff on campus? Join us for this online training and learn how to apply new strategic direction to the role of Case Manager to better meet the needs of your students.
As a department chair, you’re stretched between teaching, research, meetings, and overflowing inboxes. Especially if you’re newer to the role, you may feel tempted to field this day-to-day without help – because faculty members commonly work on their own. Even if you’re ready to ask your academic staff for assistance, you haven’t been trained to manage them or discuss their performance. Join us online to learn how to build the capacity of your academic staff, which will help you manage your time and workload and focus on your most important leadership responsibilities. In the session, we’ll cover: How to define staff roles and responsibilities with clear purpose and intention How to set boundaries within your own role as chair How to reinforce performance expectations with affirmation and feedback
As of July 2023, the National Science Foundation updated the responsible and ethical conduct of research (RECR) requirement for all faculty and personnel who will be supported by NSF grants. The requirements state that those supported by NSF grants have a responsibility to “generate and disseminate knowledge with rigor and integrity,” and “conduct peer review with the highest ethical standards; diligently protect proprietary information and intellectual property from inappropriate disclosure; and treat students and colleagues fairly and with respect.” This course was designed to meet the new RECR requirement through a focus on peer review, authorship concerns, data management concerns, creating a safe research environment, mentorship, and collaborative research. This course is specifically designed for faculty who will be submitting grant applications through the NSF, but it may also be applicable to postdocs, graduate students, and undergraduate students participating in those research projects—or to those simply looking to better understand research ethics and integrity.
A few years ago, National Louis University in Chicago, which has historically served adult working students, has launched the new Harrison Professional Pathways Program, which provides access to bachelor’s degrees for traditional-aged high school graduates from all socioeconomic and academic backgrounds, but aims in particular to increase college access and success for first-generation, often low-income students. Priced at only $10,000 per year, the program is remarkable both in its outcomes and in the intentionality of its design. The curriculum, student support, and the financial model were all designed deliberately to meet the needs of this student demographic. The program was launched in response to a low (14%) four-year college completion rate for Chicago Public high school freshmen. This caught our attention; here in Denver, CO, where Academic Impressions is based, the four-year college graduation rate for Denver Public Schools graduates is just 9%. These low percentages are red flags, and when colleges can innovate to answer this societal need, that is a clear win. It takes courage on the part of the institution’s leadership to create the space needed for that innovation and to dedicate institutional resources toward it, and it takes intentionality to do so in a way that […]
Difficult colleagues come in many forms: A colleague who hijacks a meeting by dominating the conversation A leader who is overly critical of others’ ideas A project team member who leaves the work for you or takes credit for your work Confronting these difficult colleagues can feel overwhelming. How will they react? Will they hold a grudge? How do you manage authority? Join us online and learn how to communicate with and influence your difficult colleagues. You’ll learn how to target specific strategies to seven unique personality types, and you’ll leave with advice on how to respond in the moment and afterwards.
