Institute Curriculum

Overview

Taking a holistic approach to leadership development, the HERS Leadership Institute asks participants to learn and expand their strategic change management skills, and to develop more self-awareness around who they are as leaders. During this immersive leadership development program, women leaders join to explore their leadership practices in three areas of core knowledge: institutional awareness, networking, and self-knowledge. The HERS Leadership Institute is a leadership lab with individuals from many facets of the institutional context represented in the selected participants, building a diverse cohort of women in staff and faculty roles across higher education institutions.

At HERS, “leadership” is a combination of development as leaders and institutional knowledge—leadership does not mean administration or management. Leadership gives options; it requires thinking about one’s cares, passions, and drivers; about how these shape leadership; about how context affects leaders; about uncovering curiosity; and about authentically developing a best personal and professional self. Taking part in a HERS Leadership Institute means committing to taking ownership of what has been a transformational experience aimed at creating and sustaining a diverse community of women to serve as leaders in higher education for almost 50 years.

Throughout the Leadership Institute, participants apply knowledge to a self-designed Capstone & Signature Work: Leadership Project, a personal case study that pursues organizational change on campus, potentially impacting a range of areas. Thinking about the Capstone & Signature Work begins on the application and continues throughout a participant’s residency.

One of the distinguishing features of HERS program facilitators is that they are practitioners and scholars. Most are, or were, chief officers and have the ability to both share research and scholarship on the topic, and also to bring in real-life situations or cases for the class to dissect and discuss. We also select Leadership Institute facilitators based upon their national presence or involvement in national organizations. The program focuses on individuals operating within an institutional context, and our facilitators can provide both evidence-based and practical approaches.