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Appalachian College Association
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2024 TLI Schedule: Leadership Track: Home

2024 Teaching & Leadership Institute

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT TRACK

Higher Education in the ACA Context

Monday, June 3, 2024

1:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Clayton Center Grand Corridor

Participant Check-in

4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Anderson Hall 210

Opening Session: Introductions, Ground Rules, & Goals for the Week

5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Clayton Center Foyer

Opening Dinner & Welcome

Tuesday, June 4, 2024

7:30 a.m. – 8:15 a.m.

Dining Hall, Pearsons Hall

Breakfast

8:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.

Fayerweather Hall

Keynote Joint Plenary Session: Leading with Curiosity and Openness: How Can Intercultural Competence Teach Us How to Lead?

Prof. Lillian Nave, Center for Excellence in teaching and Learning for Student Success Coordinator & Senior Lecturer in First-Year Seminar (Art), Appalachian State University, and host of the ThinkUDL podcast

We often think of the knowledge and skills that we need to teach and those that our students must demonstrate in our courses, but what about attitudinal goals? The AACU's Value Rubric on Intercultural Competence includes the attitudes of Openness and Curiosity as key components to learning about others. What happens when we apply these attitudes to our teaching and course design?

This workshop will discuss learner variability and how we might be able to reach all our learners through inclusive course design. We will discuss how to teach across cultural strengths, from individuated to integrated teaching paradigms, and open ourselves up to new pathways to include others in the learning process. Through incorporating Universal Design for Learning and intercultural competence, we will lead ourselves, our colleagues, and our students with openness and curiosity.

10:00 a.m. –10:15 a.m.

Anderson Hall 140

Break (Drinks and Snacks)

10:15 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Anderson Hall 210

Session I: Self Identity Context (confirmed)

What Kind of Leader Am I?

Dr. Amanda Slone, Assistant Provost & Associate Professor of English, University of Pikeville

Mr. Corey Gannon, Executive Director of Admissions, University of Pikeville

Have you ever wondered what your behavior says about your personal leadership style? One assessment tool that can help you find out is the DiSC. Participants within Track II will take the DiSC prior to attending the Teaching and Leadership institute. DiSC is a behavior assessment tool based on the DiSC theory of psychologist William Moulton Marston, which centers on four different behavioral traits: dominance, inducement, submission, and compliance. Understanding your primary behavioral traits will help you identify qualities to leading within your institution. In addition, it will help you gain a personal understanding of working and collaborating with colleagues. The ability to motivate, inspire, and engage your community within a vision will be explored.

12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Dining Hall, Pearsons Hall

Lunch

1:15 p.m. – 3:15 p.m.

Anderson Hall 210

Session I: Self Identity Context (continued)

Dr. Slone and Mr. Gannon

3:15 p.m. – 3:45 p.m.

Anderson Hall 140

Break (Drinks and Snacks)

3:45 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Anderson Hall 140

Session II: Self-Identity Context

Roles, Relationships, and Responsibilities: Your Identity as a Campus Leader 

Dr. Tracy Parkinson, Executive Vice President and Provost, Mars Hill University

Taking on leadership roles in higher education can change your relationships with your colleagues and with your institution.  You will be informed by the perspective of your prior experience while taking on new perspectives and responsibilities. You will still be you, with the same strengths and dispositions, yet you may find yourself leveraging them differently.  You will find yourself often interacting with multiple types of stakeholders in any given day and week. In this session, we will discuss your (new) identity as a campus leader and how that may inform your work and your working relationships.

5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Dining Hall, Pearsons Hall

Dinner

                          

6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

(Voluntary) Social Activity

Wednesday, June 5, 2024

7:30 a.m. – 8:15 a.m.

Dining Hall, Pearsons Hall

Breakfast

8:15 a.m. –9:45 a.m. &

10:00-10:45 a.m.

Anderson Hall 210

Session III: The Environmental Context

The Higher Education Landscape in the ACA Context: Leadership in a Time of Disruption

Dr. Larry Hall, Vice President for Academic Programs, Appalachian College Association

Effective leadership relies on a never-ending interplay between one's own personal style and characteristics and the environment in which s/he leads. Even prior to the pandemic, higher education currently faced levels of disruption greater than perhaps any previous period in our history. The impact it is having on small, private, tuition-driven institutions is especially challenging. To be an effective leader requires one to possess a rich understanding of the landscape that shapes our present context--both specific to our own campuses and our roles and, generally, related to the pressing challenges and opportunities before us. This presentation highlights many of these issues, and it provides context for the opportunities and challenges facing ACA institutions. The second portion of the session will furnish opportunity for small group discussions focusing on forecasts of what opportunities and challenges our future may hold at ACA institutions.

9:45 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.

Anderson Hall 140

Break (Drinks and Snacks)

10:45 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Anderson Hall 210

Session IV: Theory & Practice Context

Know, Grow, and Empower: Leadership and Team Building

Dr. Katie Fisher, Dean of Student Life (Retired) and Adjunct Professor of Leadership, Lenoir-Rhyne University

In this presentation, you will learn about key concepts and skills of effective leadership and team building. You will also participate in interactive activities that will help you identify and apply best practices to your own context and discover your strengths and areas for improvement as a team leader and a team member. By the end of this presentation, you will be able to:

  • Identify team building techniques and explain their importance in different settings;
  • Apply the principles and practices of communication, motivation, feedback, and conflict resolution to enhance your leadership and team building performance; and
  • Reflect on your own leadership and team building experiences and identify your goals and action plans for further development.

12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Dining Hall, Pearsons Hall

Lunch

 

1:00 p.m. –2:15 p.m.

Anderson Hall 210

NOTE: Replacement presentation after assigned Instructor had to withdraw.

Session V: Theory & Practice Context

Entrepreneurial Leaders/Intrapreneurial Cultures

Dr. Larry Hall, Vice President for Academic Programs, Appalachian College Association

In Higher Education today, entrepreneurial disposition and action have never been more essential. In the times of greatest organizational turmoil, even at a time when “going it slow,” or even retrenchment and retreat, may seem the intuitively best strategy, an “entrepreneurial mind” is critical.

This presentation examines the traits of the entrepreneurial leader, explores ways of cultivating an intrapreneurial temperament within your team and/or organization, and investigates how these approaches optimally interact with traditional “corporate culture.”

Whether it is outward facing entrepreneurship or inwardly oriented intrapreneurship, integrating these dispositions into our actions in our leadership and our strategy is a crucial component in the success of our institutions – a mindset that should be an ideal fit for small, private, liberal arts colleges and universities.

2:30 p.m. –3:30 p.m.

Anderson Hall 210

Session VI: The Environmental Context

Leading with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Strategies in Appalachia

Dr. Kevin Ung, PI/Director of the TRIO McNair Scholars Program and Director of Undergraduate Research & Scholarship; Affiliate Consultant, Credo Higher Education Consulting; Adjunct Education Faculty, Lee University

This session will explore a broad overview of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategies within the higher education landscape. Discussions will include cultivating a safe, compassionate, and equitable work culture to collectively invigorate student success and retention practices. In essence, we will define the “why” behind the importance of DEI work and focus specifically on challenges faced by ACA-member institutions.

3:30 p.m. – 3:45 p.m.

Anderson Hall 140

Break (Drinks and Snacks)

3:45 p.m. –4:45 p.m.

Anderson Hall 210

Session VI (continued)

Participants will engage in active conversation with fellow ACA colleagues to hear the DEI successes, pain points, and aspirations on their respective campuses. We will collectively identify campus resources, environmental challenges, and cultural complexities that will impact our efforts. Lastly, participants will walk away with actionable steps to identify and implement strategic DEI goals to pursue over the next several months for the purpose of sustained success.

5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Dining Hall, Pearsons Hall

Dinner

6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

(Voluntary) Social Activity

Thursday, June 6, 2024

7:30 a.m. – 8:15 a.m.

Dining Hall, Pearsons Hall

Breakfast

 

8:15 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.

Anderson Hall 210

Session VII: Theory & Practice Context

Navigating Permanent Whitewater: Anticipating What's Around the Next Bend

Dr. Jason Pierce, Provost, Young Harris College

Management and organizational behavior scholar Peter Vaill developed the term "permanent white water" as a model for the ever-changing, unpredictable messiness of complex human systems. It is an apt metaphor for ACA institutions, both because our industry is in a state of constant disruption and because our mountains give rise to some of the most breathtaking whitewater rivers in the country. Anyone who has braved the Nantahala, the Ocoee, the Gauley, the Chattooga, the Nolichucky, or any of a host of others in our region has learned to respect the capricious power of the river. Higher education is just such a river, one with its own currents and eddies and hidden rocks but rarely with much slack water. Effective college leaders, like rafting guides, understand the underlying topography, anticipate challenges, and set their institutions up for continuing success. Session participants will explore Vaill's metaphor and consider its application to their own institutions.

9:30 a.m. – 9:45 a.m.

Anderson Hall 140

Break (Drinks and Snacks)

9:45 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.

Anderson Hall 210

Session VIII: Theory & Practice Context

Servant Leadership in a Time of Change and Adaptation

Dr. Matt Roberts, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, King University

The value of a four-year liberal arts education has never been more questioned in recent times. Institutions within the ACA are confronted with enrollment pressures and sustainability decisions amid wildly changing shifts in student populations and new instructional methods (i.e., online and hybrid remote models). Coupled with current inflation and staffing issues also affecting higher education sectors, how does an academic leader paddle (not stir) through the quagmire? What does a servant leadership model require of academic leadership in response? This presentation complements other session’s focus on the larger changing educational landscape by concentrating on the inter- and intrapersonal “so-what” for academic leaders.

11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Anderson Hall 210 (and nearby rooms)

Session IX: Application Context

Exploring Cases and Problems I (Organized Breakout Sessions)

Drs. Pierce, Roberts, & Hall, facilitators

Participants explore some particularly thorny case problems in small breakout groups designed to build upon the various issues and contexts examined in earlier sessions. Bring your “brain gloves” – these are thorny issues!

12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Dining Hall, Pearsons Hall

Lunch

 

1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Anderson Hall 210 (and nearby rooms)

Session X: Application Context

Exploring Cases and Problems II (Organized Breakout Sessions)

Drs. Pierce, Roberts, & Hall, facilitators

Participants explore some particularly thorny case problems in small breakout groups designed to build upon the various issues and contexts examined in earlier sessions. Bring your “brain gloves” – these are thorny issues!

2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Anderson Hall 210

“Big Picture” Takeaways and Remaining Inquiries: Group Discussion

Drs. Pierce, Roberts, & Hall, facilitators

3:00-3:30 pm

Bartlett Hall Steps

TLI Group Photographs

3:30-4:00 pm

Fayerweather Hall

Plenary Closing Ceremony of TLI: Presentation of Certificates

Following the ceremony, attendees may depart for home. However, participants who request Thursday night lodging in their registrations may remain and enjoy dinner and breakfast before departure.

4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Lloyd Hall

Check-out: return keys & linens for those departing on Thursday

Safe Travels!

5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Dining Hall, Pearsons Hall

Dinner (for those remaining overnight)

Friday, June 7, 2024

7:30 a.m. – 8:15 a.m.

Dining Hall, Pearsons Hall

Breakfast (for those remaining overnight)

7:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.

Lloyd Hall

Check-out: return keys & linens for those departing on Friday

Safe Travels!