Overview and projects

About the Academic Leadership Academy (ALA)

The ALA was created to offer leadership training to full-time faculty and academic staff, who often do not have the opportunity to engage in leadership development and mentoring prior to taking on informal and formal leadership roles. The aim of the ALA is to offer leadership development and mentoring in a systematic and evidence-based way to grow the leadership capacity of current and emerging academic leaders who can empower others to be successful in their endeavors at WSU, in their disciplines, and in their communities.

Eligibility

To apply, faculty and staff must be represented by one of WSU's unions, regardless of length of service.

Facilitation

The Office of Faculty Affairs and Development facilitates the operation of the Academic Leadership Academy, which is overseen by the ALA Steering Committee.

Steering committee members

• Sara Kacin, Assistant Provost for Faculty Development & Faculty Success, Office of the Provost

• Dawn Aziz, Director, Organization & Employee Development, Human Resources
• Marcus Dickson, Professor, Department of Psychology, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
• Christine Jackson, Department Chair, Department of Management and Information Systems, Mike Ilitch School of Business
• Loraleigh Keashly, Professor, Department of Communication, and Associate Dean, College of Fine & Performing Arts
• Rachel Pawlowski, Academic Advisor IV, Irvin D. Reid Honors College
   
• Assisted by Joanna Poe, Program Coordinator, Office of Faculty Affairs and Development

Selection process timeline

• Mid-January: Program marketing begins
• Mid-April: Deadline to apply
• End of April, beginning of May: Selections made (we will make every attempt to notify applicants before the contract period ends)
• August (after contract year start date): Program begins
• The following August (after contract year start date): Program concludes

Post-program activities

Once a Fellow, always a Fellow. ALA Fellows are often invited to serve as mentors for future cohorts of Fellows and may be invited to future monthly seminars to continue to develop their leadership potential.

Sponsors and mentors

A premise of the ALA is that collaboration and reflective practice (e.g., self-reflection to improve one’s effectiveness) are key ingredients of success. Thus, Sponsors and Mentors facilitate and support the success of ALA Fellows. Although there may be overlap in the functions of Sponsors and Mentors, there are also differences:

Sponsors are people in positions to advance your leadership project goals or your personal growth. They can champion a project by providing informational resources and networking opportunities (and sometimes financial resources) to achieve a shared goal. If you’re not working on a specific project, they may be someone who can provide or help you identify opportunities to grow as a leader. They may or may not be a direct supervisor.

Mentors are personally invested in your development and provide feedback to enhance your professional development. They can also serve as confidential sounding boards. Like sponsors, mentors may or may not be the direct supervisor.

It is recommended that the sponsor and the mentor be different people. One reason is that Sponsors may not always have the time to provide appropriate mentorship; another is that Fellows may not want to reveal the need for assistance to Sponsors who may evaluate project success.

Identifying sponsors and mentors

Having a Sponsor ensures that the proposed project aligns with strategic goals and is feasible. The Sponsor can provide valuable feedback about the scope of your project, and help you identify possible team members to assist you. The Mentor helps you develop your skills so you can be more effective as you work on your leadership project. You may already have people in mind but if not, we can provide some assistance. Please contact Assistant Provost Sara Kacin (skacin@wayne.edu) to consult on appropriate Sponsors and Mentors.

Approaching a potential sponsor or mentor

A brief email to the potential sponsor or mentor explaining your reason for contacting them and asking for an in-person meeting to discuss further is recommended. If you already know the candidates, you may choose to contact them in the typical way you have in the past.

If you approach a potential sponsor or mentor during the application stage, be sure to explain that you are applying for the program and are considering project ideas. It’s important that Sponsors and Mentors understand that your interest does not necessarily mean that you will be admitted to the program and have the time to work on the project. It’s also possible that your ideas may change after initiating the leadership program. Better to be express interest but be tentative.

In addition, if you have a project idea, present it in a manner that invites sponsor feedback and ideas. Presenting a fully formed idea without asking for their input may give the impression that you are not willing to collaborate.

Be prepared to explain why you are interested in participating in the leadership academy. In addition, here are several phrases or questions you can use when meeting with potential candidates:

• “I’m interested in doing a project on XXXXXXX (general topic area) because YYYYYYY (your observations, evidence). I’ve respected your work in XXXXX and think you have some great insights/experience in this area. What do you think is the next right step for a project in this area?”
• “Right now, I’m thinking of doing XXXX, YYYY, and ZZZZ as part of my project. What do you think about that?”
• “How might this idea align with the strategic goals of the university/your unit?”
• “As part of this program, I will be expected to meet with a sponsor at least once per month to ensure that I am making progress on the leadership project. Is this something you would be able to do?”
• “At this point, would you be interested in serving as my sponsor?” (share with them the application, program information, and FAQs)

Leadership projects

Leadership projects are an optional part of the Academic Leadership Academy (ALA) experience. The aim of the leadership project is for fellows to apply their ALA leadership development to concrete actions that are aligned with the mission of the university and improve the lives of campus community members.

While it may not be possible to complete a project in the one-year timeframe of the ALA, the process of working on the project, refining goals, and/or redirecting to a new project offers ALA fellows with many opportunities to achieve the learning outcomes of the ALA. Projects are optional to avoid creating a barrier to entry into the ALA if a candidate is unable to make the time outside their primary role at the institution, but still encouraged because working on a project alongside others enhances the ALA experience, giving fellows a means to practice some of what they are learning hands-on.

Developing a leadership project idea

ALA applicants may already have ideas for projects based on their research, teaching, and service experiences at the university; however, it is recommended that applicants discuss possible ideas with their supervisors or unit heads (e.g., directors, chairs, deans) to ensure they have adequate support from their unit leadership and to investigate other project ideas that might align with their units’ missions. If a project may be relevant to the university at large, it is also recommended that applicants contact the Provost’s Office to connect with staff who may support the goals of the project. For more information, contact the Assistant Provost for Faculty Development and Faculty Success.

Project scope

The answer to this question depends on the extent to which groundwork has already been laid, whether the project fits into a larger pre-existing plan for a unit, professional goals of the Fellow, etc… However, the following considerations may be helpful when proposing a leadership project:

Fellows should be able to make progress on a project in one year (knowing that as the project progresses, significant revisions or changes in course may be required). That could mean breaking a larger project down into phases, and only focusing on discovery or needs assessment during your time with the ALA.

The project should align with unit and/or university mission and strategic plan.

The project should offer the opportunity to apply ALA learnings including networking and collaboration (see ALA Learning Outcomes).

It’s a good idea to avoid projects that include proprietary or confidential information that would make it difficult for you to share your progress with the other ALA Fellows and facilitators, or your sponsor and mentor(s).

If two or more people propose a leadership project to work on together, address how each person will take the lead on different aspects of the project. What will be in place to ensure that each person will be able to work toward their own leadership goals?

Appropriate project examples

Below is a sampling of leadership project ideas. Note that ALA applicants need not restrict themselves to these ideas:

• Collect and analyze data on faculty engagement in international research collaborations to offer recommendations to your unit and the Office of International Programs for supporting these collaborations
• Develop a teaching and learning program with the Office for Teaching and Learning for graduate teaching assistants in your department or discipline
• Create a holistic graduate admissions process in your unit
• Create a collaborative learning community with the Office of Student Success to enhance faculty and academic staff partnerships Develop a program to enhance social media coverage of your unit’s staff (or student, or faculty) accomplishments
• Create a speed networking and mentoring event for women across roles and units
• Create a new undergraduate recruitment program for your department in collaboration with Enrollment Management
• Propose new faculty-student engagement initiatives based on data collected in collaboration with Dean of Students Office Work with professional societies to create a mentoring program for STEM researchers of color at Wayne State University
• Develop a transfer student success program with community colleges in collaboration with Educational Outreach to promote student success in a department
• In collaboration with Enrollment Management, develop informational resources for employers about best practices promoting higher education among their employees
• Develop a financial literacy toolkit for all students, with special attention to first-generation and Pell-eligible students, in collaboration with Financial Aid

Project or focus document format

For submission to the ALA selection committee, we recommend you prepare your responses to the following questions/prompts in a single PDF document using 1-inch margins, single-spacing, and no smaller than 11-point Arial font. Please limit this to no more than three pages.

• Describe your tentative project idea and its mission relevance or describe how the area you've chosen to focus on will impact your unit and the university.
  • When writing this, consider that the selection committee is well-educated but not experienced in your domain.
  • Avoid jargon and abbreviations.
  • Please explain how the project or focus will not only advance the mission of your program or unit but how it may enhance other units or the broader university community.
• If you are focusing on a specific area within your current role: 
  • Discuss why you hope to enhance your leadership skills and the impact that could have within your unit or department.
  • How does your area of focus require working and coordinating with others?
• If you are leading a project: 
  • Discuss how you will build and facilitate a team to move the project forward; as this is a leadership project, the committee anticipates/expects that the project will require working and coordinating with others to achieve.
  • Explain how you might reach out and collaborate with colleagues or another unit with a similar project underway or already completed, if applicable.
  • Detail why you should lead a team to advance this project. (Preference is given to projects that build on your existing skills and knowledge but may be "stretch" or "boundary-spanning" projects that will enable you to develop new skills, knowledge, and networks).  
  • Identify 3-5 learning outcomes that you expect to achieve by working on this project. To help you reflect on your specific outcomes:
    • What are you trying to achieve?
    • What are you hoping to learn by doing this project?
    • How will working on a project like this help you develop as an academic leader?