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Developing the Leadership Skills of Women in Higher Education

The following list details opportunities for leadership development in higher education that aim to enhance the skills and knowledge necessary to move into mid- and senior-level positions.

ACE-Sponsored

• The ACE Fellows Program  is a year-long higher education leadership development program. It identifies and prepares senior faculty and administrators seeking to strengthen higher education through leadership. Interested persons may inquire by e-mail to: fellows@ace.nche.edu.
   
• ACE (OWHE) National and Regional Leadership Forums play an important role in identifying and promoting women for senior-level positions. Forums are invitational and held twice each year. The National Forums help women to assume presidencies, vice presidencies, and major deanships, while the Regional Forums serve women aspiring to deanships, associate deanships, and associate academic officer positions. To nominate a Forum participant, please e-mail your nomination with complete contact information (including name, title, institution, address, phone, fax, and e-mail) to: owhe@ace.nche.edu. To learn more about the Forums, download a sample Forum agenda (64KB; PDF).

• ACE State Network Leadership Development Programs are implemented by the individual state networks for mid- and senior-level women administrators as a part of ACE’s Office of Women in Higher Education.

• Chairing the Academic Department, a program within ACE’s Center for Institutional and International Initiatives (CIII), is designed for division and department chairs and deans and focuses on departmental leadership. These workshops support the development of the chair as an academic leader within the department and within the institution as a whole.
  
• The Center for Advancement of Racial and Ethnic Equity (CAREE)  of the American Council on Education (formerly ACE’s Office of Minorities in Higher Education) is a major national source of information on the educational status of minorities, exemplary programs aimed at improving the campus climate for persons of color, and addressing the challenges faced by academe in its efforts to increase participation rates and degree attainment by U.S. ethnic minorities.

Non-ACE-Sponsored

• The Center for Creative Leadership offers a variety of leadership programs, including one designed for women, held in several locations throughout the country.

• The Executive Leadership Institute prepares professionals to move into a community college presidency and to succeed in this dynamic sector of higher education. This highly successful program is delivered by recognized national leaders in community college administration and has a particularly strong tradition of advancing women and minority candidates.

• The Gannon Center for Women and Leadership (Loyola University of Chicago) promotes women’s studies programs and provides archives documenting women in leadership and education. It contributes to the development of women as scholars and leaders by providing outstanding role models and mentors, and by offering resources and research data enabling women to expand their contributions to the workplace, academia, and the community.

• Higher Education Resource Services (HERS) and Bryn Mawr Summer Institute for Women in Higher Education offers women faculty and administrators intensive training in education administration pertinent to the management and governance of colleges and universities. The institute is designed to improve the status of women in middle and executive levels of higher education administration.

• The Management Development Program (MDP) of Harvard University is designed for deans, directors, and other administrators who are good at leading their units but want to improve. Participants gain useful ideas about critical management issues, including budgeting, human resource development, planning, and effective leadership.

• The Institute for Management and Leadership in Education is a two-week institute offered by the Harvard School of Graduate Education for skilled, experienced administrators, including deans, directors, provosts, and vice presidents, who will help their institutions adapt to a changing future. Information on other institutes is available on this site as well.

• The National Hispana Leadership Institute is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization committed to the education and leadership development of Hispanic women.