How can leaders create meaningful, lasting change within higher education? This course focuses on cultivating one of the most critical skills for driving meaningful and lasting change: personal agency – a sense of confidence and knowledge regarding how to get things done. While leadership is a key aspect of this process, true effectiveness goes beyond leading oneself and others; it requires informed leadership grounded in an understanding of the broader systems, contexts, and stakeholders involved in change efforts. Specifically when it comes to sustainability, generally well-meaning stakeholders (students, staff, faculty, administrators) run the risk of bull-dozing their way enthusiastically forward without the depth of understanding necessary for true, meaningful, transformation toward campus sustainability. 

This course equips participants with the tools to develop personal agency, build strategic leadership skills, and navigate institutional systems and stakeholder dynamics. By exploring organizational structures, power dynamics, and social factors, participants gain a comprehensive understanding of what drives or hinders change. Through hands-on projects, they will craft actionable strategies to lead effective and transformative initiatives.

Participants will explore:

• the “pieces and parts” of a university that lead to or prevent change (organizational structures and financial/budget models);
• university “power” dynamics and how informal and formal power operates to influence decisions; and
• the “people” or social dynamics that support or hinder change efforts (stakeholder groups, cultures and mindsets). 

Led by two experienced senior academic leaders in continuing and adult education, this course encourages participants to draw on their own experiences and perspectives. It will help foster a network of informed change agents. By the end of the course, participants will have created a “change map” for a specific project or challenge of interest, developed a strategic stakeholder management plan, understood potential power dynamics at play, and identified key leverage points for driving change. Ultimately, participants will enhance their personal agency and readiness to implement effective and lasting change.

Key Details

Schedule:

The course will meet over 6 bi-weekly sessions on Tuesdays from 3-4:30 p.m. ET: January 21, February 4 and 18, March 4 and 18, April 1. All sessions will be recorded and made available to registered participants.

Registration Fees* 

* To check if your organization is a current AASHE member, please search the AASHE Membership Directory.

A limited number of scholarships are available to individuals who need financial assistance to participate. Please apply two weeks before the program begins to be considered for a scholarship for this workshop.

Registration Policies:

• Registration deadline is.
• Payment is accepted in the form of Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover cards.
  If you need to pay by check or ACH, please contact us at least 5 weeks prior to the event start date. Registration using these forms of payment must be received 4 weeks prior to the event start date and full payment must be received by AASHE within 2 weeks of event start date.
• Cancellation Policy: A 20% processing fee applies to any cancellation processed up to ten days before the program starts. No refunds will be given after that date.
• No substitutions are allowed.
• Registered participants will receive access to the recording after the live event.
• Review all Terms & Conditions.

Register today

Facilitators

Teri Balser, Professor, University of Calgary
Professor Teri Balser is a passionate scholar and senior university leader. Formerly provost and vice-president (Academic) at the University of Calgary, she has also been interim president and provost at Dalhousie University. An internationally known educator, she has received numerous awards and recognition for her work in soil and environmental science. Throughout her career she has sought to connect and empower people across public, academic, and private sectors in working together toward a sustainable future. She brings that lens, coupled with the perspective of university leadership, to bear on how we can contribute toward a response to the climate emergency and move into a new future.

Dianne Tyers, President and CEO Advance Consulting for Education, Inc.
Dr. Dianne Tyers’ experience and expertise includes thirty years in the education sector in multiple countries (Canada, U.S.A., Australia, Japan, South Korea, China, United Arab Emirates). She has held teaching, institutional management, regional management, training, program development, program evaluation and senior administration positions with public and private sector educational organizations. Dianne completed her PhD at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), University, as well as an MBA from the Ivey School of Business, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada, a Master of Arts from the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia and a Bachelor of Physical and Health Education from the University of Toronto. Dianne founded Advance Consulting for Education, Inc. in 2001 to share her expertise and experience with organizations to further impact education leadership, strategy and delivery.

Any questions about the workshop?
Please contact Daita Serghi, education@aashe.org

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