While higher ed is facing waning enrollments and funding paired with increasing expenses and demands, deans must lead the charge in making their colleges, schools, or units more financially viable while remaining relevant in a rapidly evolving landscape. Deans who are best prepared to meet these demands are creating a culture of creative problem-solving, efficiency, and innovation, and we have partnered with three of them to provide a collaborative space where deans can come together and strategize around their toughest challenges. Join your peers in this four-hour summit to: Think creatively about sources of funding Align programs to market demand and workforce changes Better leverage your existing resources and stakeholders Find innovative opportunities for growth Create the conditions for a more sustainable future You will hear from leading experts and explore new approaches to the crises your school or unit is facing. Infused with small group sessions and solutions-focused brainstorming throughout, you will leave this virtual training with short term strategies to survive and long-term strategies to thrive.
Determining if your fundraising professionals are meeting their dollar goals is relatively easy. However, your prospect research and management positions are fundamentally different, requiring an evaluative approach that balances front-line needs with production timeframe realities. Join us online to learn how to develop prospect research and management staff metrics for your shop. Our expert instructor, Marianne M. Pelletier, Senior Consultant, Cornell University, will share three evaluation models for both prospect researchers and managers, and you will leave knowing which model will work best for your shop. We will also discuss: Setting realistic expectations around performance metrics Specific metrics for both prospect researchers and managers Effectively tracking your solution and graphing results Building buy-in for your solution
I. Introduction The Great Resignation, the Great Attrition, the Great Disengagement, and the Big Quit are a few of the names for the phenomenon occurring throughout different industries, including higher education.1 Higher education is not immune from this great exodus and is at a turning point as retention of faculty, administrators, and staff is more important than ever.2 What’s joy got to do with it?3 Can it drive those who work in higher education to stay, leave, or return?4 Money is not enough by itself to retain workers.5 Over the last two years, higher education, like other industries, is facing a fundamental shift in how people view their work, their employer, and their life.6 Perhaps this is an opportunity for the Great Joy: to (re)discover joy in your work; reevaluate what you want from work, be open minded, and possibly reinvent how you work, where you work, who you work with, and what you work on. This article explores the challenges higher education faces as the pandemic continues to alter attitudes on work. It then offers some strategies to (re)discover joy in work. Finally, it discusses ways to maximize joy in work. II. The Struggle Exhausted, isolated, disconnected, burnt out, […]
Many educational institutions benefit from large matching or challenge gifts (not to be confused with corporate matching gift programs). A donor makes a gift or pledge with the expectation that the advancement shop will raise the same amount of funds from other donors. For example, a donor may pledge $50M to a new building project if the development staff can raise an additional $50M from other donors. These are exciting opportunities because they show your biggest donors that you care about growing the impact of their giving, but you also know they require a lot of hard work and careful management, often on a tight timeline. You probably have more questions than answers on how to manage these campaigns. Join us online to learn how to show your biggest donors that you care about growing the impact of their giving. You will hear from two experts who can answer your questions and provide best practices on how to successfully approach match and challenge gift campaigns. In this training, you’ll learn how to: Secure and cultivate donors who wish to provide a challenge gift as well as matching gifts. Structure a matching gift campaign that meets the development goals for both […]
The 2020 Title IX federal regulations require live hearings to include a cross-examination of both parties by the other party’s Advisor. This revised process brings certain challenges. First, cross-examination can feel overwhelming, and even traumatizing to survivors of sexual assault who must recount and relive their trauma in front of others. Second, the process can feel debilitating to both parties, as their credibility and character appear under attack. Third, cross-examination can produce anxiety in the Advisor, who may struggle to navigate such emotionally charged conversations. Mismanaging cross-examination and witness preparation or lacking the tools to assist participants through the revised process can compound an already stressful situation. Join us for this webcast to learn how you, as an Advisor or Hearing Panelist, can have a more positive impact on the cross-examination by preparing both parties to endure the process. During this training, you’ll acquire a toolkit of simple yet profound grounding and communication strategies that you can use to engage your witnesses and make them feel as safe and comfortable as possible throughout the process. No two witnesses are the same and as such, your approach to cross-examination cannot be one-size-fits-all. Our expert will give you the toolkit you need […]
Dr. Michelle Payne serves as Vice Provost for Academic Leadership and Faculty Affairs at Boise State University. As Vice Provost she is responsible for coordinating programs and services in Academic Affairs that support the career development of faculty and the growth of effective academic leaders. She works with partners across Boise State and Idaho to provide leadership development programs for Academic Affairs; support faculty shared governance processes and policies; facilitate healthy department cultures; manage faculty personnel processes; and contribute to Boise State’s strategic goal to foster thriving communities. Dr. Payne facilitates Boise State’s biweekly New Academic Leaders Program, manages programming for regular meetings of the Academic Leadership Council (department chairs, deans, and associate deans), and is a member of the planning team for the inaugural Idaho Academic Leadership Academy, which is funded by the Idaho State Board of Education. Dr. Payne is a Professor of Writing Studies and has a Ph.D. in English, Composition, and Literature from the University of New Hampshire, an M.A. in Composition and Rhetoric from Florida State University, and a B.A. in English Literature, with a minor in Creative Writing, from Miami University in Ohio. Prior to serving as Vice Provost, Dr. Payne served as chair […]
Funding for higher education ebbs and flows based on government support and tuition revenue. When the dollars flow, we have the tendency to spread our wings. New capital infrastructure adds valuable square feet that are filled quickly, whether they are needed or not. These periods of space affluence are generally short but they favor a high degree of space and timetabling flexibility for faculty. In some cases, this flexibility lends value to teaching and learning but in many others, it is simply a case of hoarding, serving wants more than needs. So, what is space flexibility? Space flexibility is more than just adding square feet to a school’s footprint. Flexibility can include scheduling two spaces at once to be able to move fluidly between two types of lessons (such as lab and lecture). It can include a space that is designed for both classroom lecture and student project work. It can also involve flexibility in faculty schedules, such as not teaching before 10:30 am or not teaching on Friday afternoons. Any behavior that contributes to lower room or seat utilization rate can be attributed to space flexibility. Space flexibility can provide value but it comes at a cost that few […]
External partners like local businesses or corporate sponsors can make a significant impact on your college or department’s financial management strategy and long-term sustainability. Partnerships can help you to create new revenue streams, promote cost savings, and/or provide resources and unique experiences for your students and faculty that your department or college may be lacking. But how do you as an academic leader identify the right partnership that meets both institutions’ needs, and—more importantly—how do you communicate your vision for the partnership in a way that reflects mutual benefit? Join us for an online workshop that will help you to strategize ways to effectively cultivate and communicate the value of external partnerships for your college or department. You’ll be introduced to a variety of successful external partnerships as inspiration for what’s possible, and will practice strategizing, crafting and communicating a compelling value proposition for various types of partnerships.
Philanthropy is critical to helping institutions meet their academic missions, and at its core, it is all about building and maintaining relationships. Although fundraising is just one of the myriad responsibilities overseen by an academic dean, the development officer is a key partner in assisting the dean in achieving those fundraising goals. To find success in academic fundraising, the relationship between an academic dean and a development officer must be one built on mutual respect, trust, and clear communication. Successful fundraising teams develop complementary skills that, when combined, are more effective than the skills of one individual. Through this three-hour virtual training, you will be able to better prioritize fundraising goals as a dean and development officer team. You will learn how to build trust and set expectations with mutual fundraising goals in mind, establish a process to effectively move donors through your pipeline, and practice essential skills such as making an ask.
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.
