Three years ago, the Wright State University Human Resources Department started the Wright Leader Academy to train faculty and staff for leadership roles within the university. The program was started to teach faculty and staff about leadership, not just supervision, according to Emily Hamman, a human resources business partner. "There's a difference between supervising people and being ready to be seen as a leader in a field, being really involved with the strategic planning and direction of a field,” she said.
"We wanted to have a cohort-based leadership-development program," Hamman said, "that's more than just your standard supervisor training. It's more focused on leadership training. It involves teaching them the skills they need to be leaders, but [it] also teaches them about the university and higher education in general. It gives the participants a broader education about the institution of higher education itself."
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The selection process is very rigorous. "We wanted the program to be reserved for people who are really ready for leadership," Hamman said. Applicants must provide their CV's and letters of recommendation to be interviewed by a panel including the Chief Human Resources Officer and members of past cohorts.
"Selection is based on the readiness of the applicant and on the diversity of the cohort, paying special attention to the diversity within the university,” Hamman said. “We want a blend of faculty and staff, and blend of different roles around the university so we don't end up with all of one perspective."
The members of this year's cohort are:
* Jennifer Attenweiler, associate director, Residence Life and Housing
* Jennie Buckwalter, senior lecturer and assistant dean, College of Liberal Arts
* Javan Conley, construction administrator, Facilities Management and Services
* Lisa Duke, assistant director and career counselor, Career Services
* Brittany Erwin, assistant director, University Academic Advising
* Mary Jean Henry, director, Foundation and Corporate Relations
* Jeannette Horwitz, senior lecturer and director, Learning English for Academic and Professional Purposes
* Sheryl Kent, director, Brandeberry Career Development Center, College of Engineering and Computer Science
* Tracey Kramer, senior lecturer and director, Office of Partnerships and Field Experience, College of Education and Human Services
* Molly Mellon, clinical instructor and director, Nursing Learning Resource Center
* Todd Pavlack, manager, Distance Learning and Instructional Designer, Center for Teaching and Learning
* Michelle Schultz, associate professor and director, Clinical Training, School of Professional Psychology
* Mike Wiehe, director, Applied Policy Research Institute
* Lindsay Wight, director, Equity and Inclusion
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In the future, participants will need to make strategic decisions about the direction of their fields within the university. The curriculum is geared towards giving participants informed perspectives of the role and function of those fields to better prepare them for the future. For example, Craig Woolley, chief information officer, spoke in the first session about how IT is integral to higher education in general, Hamman said.
The cohort will meet for eight sessions, running from September to April. Each session will be split into two parts. For the first half of each session, external facilitators will lead conversations on topics including emotional intelligence, strength-based leadership, executive presence and effective communication. In the second half of the session, current leaders at the university will discuss leading their fields and what they have learned during their time at the university.
The cohort will then attend a board meeting in May and be formally recognized. "During the program, they really start to bond as a group,” Hamman said. “It gives them a network of people. By the end of the program, they start sharing personal, difficult things and it gives them a group of people to help them through leadership challenges, and since they have the same language from the program, they can better relate and help to one another."
