Fostering Effective Academic Leaders

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Five Northwestern University faculty members, representing disciplines from engineering to learning sciences, have been tapped for their interest and aptitude in academic leadership to be fellows in the Academic Leadership Program (ALP), an intensive yearlong program offered by the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC), the academic arm of the Big Ten plus the University of Chicago.

“This is a significant opportunity for faculty at Northwestern, and our current and previous fellows are highly talented,” said Lindsay Chase-Lansdale, associate provost for faculty at Northwestern.

“The program’s strength lies in the intensive conferences that bring together more than 70 fellows from the 15 CIC institutions to participate in discussions around key topics such as diversity and inclusiveness, the university of the 21st century, effective leadership strategies and the like,” she said. “In addition, the engagement that fellows have with each other on campus throughout the year is very productive.”

The Academic Leadership Program -- geared toward addressing the challenges of academic administration at major research universities -- features three two-and-a-half day conferences hosted each year by a different subset of the CIC universities.

The 2014-15 Northwestern ALP fellows are:

• Linda J. Broadbelt, chair and Sarah Rebecca Roland Professor of chemical and biological engineering, McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science
• Edward L. Gibson, chair and professor of political science, Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences
• Emily Kadens, professor of law, Northwestern University School of Law
• Susan E. Phillips, associate professor of English and Alumnae of Northwestern Teaching Professor, Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences
• Miriam G. Sherin, professor of learning sciences and director of undergraduate education, School of Education and Social Policy

Provost Daniel Linzer and Associate Provost Lindsay Chase-Lansdale kicked off the ALP year for the new Northwestern fellows with a welcome dinner and conversation in early October.

The program gives fellows, who often are already serving in leadership roles, the opportunity to expand their networks, perspectives and expertise. Many of the program’s nearly 1,000 fellows have gone on to become university or college presidents, provosts and deans. (The program began in 1989.)

“I have a new appreciation of the broader trends in higher education and how Northwestern fits into that context,” said Ann Bradlow, chair of Northwestern’s department of linguistics and an ALP fellow last year.

“At the seminars, it was extremely interesting to hear from presidents, provosts, vice presidents of research and deans about the challenges and opportunities facing universities today,” Bradlow said. “Also very valuable were the small discussion groups and networking with other fellows, who all had important information to share.”

For the first time, the ALP fellows will come to Northwestern in February for one of the conferences, which will focus on the theme of “Internal and External Relationships.” In addition to conversations with President Morton Schapiro and Provost Daniel Linzer, the fellows will participate in sessions on building collaborative research networks, understanding one’s own leadership style and supporting faculty and administrators through all stages of their academic careers.

The other two conferences during the 2014-15 academic year are: “Issues and Ideas,” hosted by the University of Minnesota in October, and “Money, Management and Strategies,” hosted by The Ohio State University in April.

The five Northwestern fellows also will participate in a series of in-depth discussions and meetings with University leaders at Northwestern throughout the academic year.

This is Northwestern’s fourth year participating in ALP and third year of appointing fellows. Last year’s fellows were Ann Bradlow (Weinberg), Sumitrajit Dhar (School of Communication) and Kevin Lynch (McCormick). Fellows in the 2012-2013 academic year were Jesús Escobar (Weinberg), Viorica Marian (School of Communication), Alan Sahakian (McCormick) and David Tolchinsky (School of Communication).

The ALP is one of many faculty development programs administered by the Office of the Provost. Others include:

• Public Voices Thought Leadership Fellowship Program, which works to increase the scope and influence of underrepresented voices in the media

• Chicago Collaboration for Women in STEM, a joint initiative of Northwestern and the University of Chicago aimed at enhancing the recruitment and advancement of women faculty in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and quantitative social sciences disciplines at the two institutions

More information about the ALP program and the Northwestern fellows is available at http://www.northwestern.edu/provost/faculty-resources/career-development/academic-leadership-program.html.