Since starting my role as director of the Office of Faculty Professional Development at my institution three years ago, I’ve had the pleasure of attending the opening session for our faculty Emerging Leaders Program (ELP) each year. Led by a former campus dean, ELP is designed as a collaboration between the Office of the Provost, the Office of the Executive Vice President for Research, the Institute for Leadership and Social Impact, and the Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty. Over the course of eight months, faculty participants take part in half-day workshops, leadership journey conversations with current campus leaders, small-group work, and coaching to contribute to their development as self-aware future leaders. In its ninth year, the program is open to both academic and research faculty with the goal of providing leadership development at mid-career.
Connections Are Everything: Putting Relationships at the Heart of Higher Ed
As academic leaders, we are under so much pressure to deliver—enrollment targets, strategic plans, graduation rates, AI policies, and on and on—that we can lose sight of what our students