Stepping into a campus leadership role can be simultaneously rewarding and intensely challenging.
Department chairs and program directors are potent drivers of academic community. They can transform climate, boost employee satisfaction, foster faculty development, and create meaningful opportunities for students, faculty and staff. A good leader can make the difference between an ordinary program and extraordinary one.
Yet the path to leadership is also fraught with challenges. Historically, most colleges and universities have thrust new leaders into their roles without adequate training or development. Stellar faculty members, despite rich experiences in teaching and research, often find themselves unprepared for the dynamic demands of their new roles. The landscape of higher education grows more complex by the day, marked by rapid changes and uncertainties that make strong leadership more important than ever.
The New Chair and Director: Community, Support, and Training (C-SAT) program seeks to address these needs by equipping emerging leaders with the tools not only for leaders' own success, but also for the wellbeing of the entire campus. Stressing transparency, trust and community building through effective communication, C-SAT seeks to cultivate the vision, empathy, and leadership skills that catalyze academic excellence and promote and inclusive culture of belonging.