Three years ago, a taskforce of academic and administrative leaders convened to assess leadership programming on campus and to recommend the conceptual, strategic and operational design for a new program.
What resulted was the President’s Leadership Academy. The inaugural cohort, made up of 25 faculty and staff members, ran from January 2017 to December 2018.
Jes Therkelsen, associate professor in the Media, Communication and Journalism Department, was among the first cohort. He was confident in his ability to lead his classroom to help students, but said he wanted to learn different ways to lead in bigger ways — to help lead a department, a college and the University.
“I wanted to meet others across disciplines. I wanted to have a deeper dive across different programs and different corners of the University that I might not necessarily have access to on a day-to-day basis, and I also wanted to develop my own set of skills to help students with a little bit more,” Therkelsen said.
He got that and much more.
“There’s really quite a bit that I learned, not only about leadership and individual leadership, but also about what makes this University tick — what ways this University has changed these last few years and maybe where it can go,” he said.
Applications are now being accepted for the 2019-20 cohort. The program is open to faculty, staff and administrators who have served the University for a minimum of one year. The deadline to apply is 5 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 26.
The leadership academy was created to engage campus leaders and emerging leaders in an interactive and reflective development experience:
- To strengthen the culture of leadership at Fresno State.
- To create a community of leaders who will help advance Fresno State’s mission to boldly educate and empower students for success.
- To develop bench strength/a pipeline of leaders.
- To enhance the capacity and capabilities of leaders by introducing leadership concepts, competencies and tools.
Participants must be able to commit to the year-long program which begins with a kick off in May and includes an August retreat, several half-day and full-day gatherings during the year and a site visit to the California State University Chancellor’s office in Long Beach to attend a Board of Trustees meeting.
Participants will receive a certificate at the end of the program.
“As leaders, we can sometimes put ourselves on the back burner for growth opportunities in order to encourage our team members to participate in learning opportunities and support them in their roles during their participation,” said Sara Mitchel, director of planning, design and construction in Facilities Management. Mitchel was in the first cohort.
“This experience was so worth the time commitment. I highly recommend it as an investment in ourselves, it bears fruits as an investment in others if we can improve our leadership abilities.”
|
