About the Leadership Program

Who Should Attend?

The Leadership Program is designed for individuals who occupy or aspire to senior positions in campus IT organizations. Attendees are generally administrators responsible for institution–wide IT issues and individuals with several years of campus IT management experience.  Attendance at the  EDUCAUSE Management Institute is an excellent way to prepare for the Leadership Institute.

About the Leadership Program

Leadership in higher education is complicated, challenging and every changing. A successful IT leader needs to deploy their strengths and hone their skills sets as they face the many demands, opportunities, and challenges.  The critical success factors for a successful IT leader include understanding of the organizational dynamics that comprise the planning, budgeting, and decision-making processes of higher education institutions.  At the Institute, you will examine the realities of higher education leadership and the characteristics of IT leaders. You will work together with Institute faculty and fellow participants in highly interactive and intensive sessions to develop and expand the skills you need to be a leader in your IT organization.

IT organizations in higher education are expected to provide excellent services, make the best use of institutional resources, support the organizational mission, and enhance the institution's effectiveness.   This challenge can be met through the enlightened efforts of individuals who work in these organizations. The Leadership Program focuses on real–life issues and the skills necessary for IT leaders to flourish.

What makes the Leadership Institute different from other programs? The Institute faculty members are experienced IT professionals and senior administrators who have successfully met the challenges on their own campuses and are dedicated to mentoring others in leadership skill sets.  The Institute's participants share many common experiences, frustrations, and challenges in their work environments. You will have opportunities to work together to share ideas, strategies, and experiences that will enable you to be a more effective leader and to develop leadership skills among other staff in your organization.

You will learn strategies to promote and lead change, to nurture organizational development, to encourage innovation, and much more. And you'll do so in a supportive environment where you'll feel comfortable sharing your concerns and insights with colleagues who face many of the same challenges. In short, you will gain new insights and practical experience among a supportive community of learners.

Session Topics

The Academic Enterprise: The Higher Education Community

This session will identify the similarities and differences between higher education institutions and the private sector, as well as highlight the diversity of structures and cultures within the higher education landscape. A brief history of higher education will trace the development of the academic enterprise in the United States. Current strategic issues facing higher education will be identified, with the goal of understanding how information technology can contribute to a favorable resolution of them.

Career Issues for Senior IT Leaders

Senior IT leadership positions are very demanding and, at the same time, very rewarding. This session will offer participants an opportunity to think about some of the career-related issues they will face as they consider moving into a senior IT leadership position in higher education. This session will explore questions regarding how to prepare for this role and the complexity, expectations, symbolism, opportunities, rewards, and risks of a senior IT leadership position.

Case Study

A culminating event for Institute participants, this is an interactive activity that will focus on the kind of real, complex issues and problems faced by IT leaders in higher education. The Case Study provides an opportunity for participants to work collaboratively in teams, step outside their normal roles, practice the skills of persuasion and presentation, and think about the roles and skills required for successful IT leadership.

Communication, Collaboration and Partnerships

Successful leaders are effective communicators. They must be able to effectively articulate an organization’s vision, mission, and values. One true test of an outstanding communicator is being able to talk with the press effectively and effortlessly. Many IT leaders, however, equate talking with a reporter with a trip to the dentist: it’s something they dread. Developing effective ways to communicate with the press is an important step toward developing a successful communications strategy. By choosing to invest in developing such a strategy, you will also find that, over time, you can clearly and routinely articulate your vision, concerns, opportunities, and accomplishments to other stakeholders like your boss and the larger community.

Current Issues Panel Session

Participants will become familiar with current issues in higher education IT as identified by the EDUCAUSE Current Issues Committee and as identified by Program attendees on the questionnaires they filled out prior to arriving at the Institute. Participants will interact with the panel to develop techniques for dealing with specific issues identified by EDUCAUSE and the Program participants, and will emerge with general insights about processes for dealing with issues of current importance.

Communication, Collaboration and Partnerships

Successful leaders are effective communicators. They must be able to effectively articulate an organization’s vision, mission, and values. One true test of an outstanding communicator is being able to talk with the press effectively and effortlessly. Many IT leaders, however, equate talking with a reporter with a trip to the dentist: it’s something they dread. Developing effective ways to communicate with the press is an important step toward developing a successful communications strategy. By choosing to invest in developing such a strategy, you will also find that, over time, you can clearly and routinely articulate your vision, concerns, opportunities, and accomplishments to other stakeholders like your boss and the larger community.

IT Policy: A Study in Leadership

This session will examine how IT policy, both the process of it and its substance, can be a vehicle for exercising leadership. Policy is a reflection of institutional values within a local and national context. How do IT leaders facilitate the process of policy development? What are the important dimensions to be considered when developing policy? How does the policy development process work best within the particular culture and traditions of our individual institutions? And what do effective partnerships among and between fellow administrators and institutions look and feel like? How do such partnerships help IT professionals define, and exercise, leadership? We will explore these questions and practice the process of developing policy.

Leadership Issues for Financial Management

Because of the rapid changes in information technology and the high cost of hardware, software, and support, funding information technology has been and continues to be a difficult challenge. This session will focus on practical knowledge and skills necessary to be as successful as possible at funding IT in your institution. That knowledge includes understanding thoroughly the organizational and financial structure of your institution and learning about the financial planning process and how to form partnerships to promote success in the funding process. In addition, some of the suggested readings may help with potential new ideas for IT funding in various areas.

Management and Mentoring

This session will examine the importance of mentoring for career development. Participants will have the opportunity to think about their own mentoring needs and to prepare to successfully seek quality mentors. The importance of mentoring within successful organizations will also be discussed. Options for implementing mentoring programs will be explored.

Organizational Development

This session will explore the intersection of leadership and organizational development. A review of the most recent research in the area of how individuals develop within the organizational context will be presented. This information will include the perspective of the individual, the organization, and the profession. A panel of the faculty will share their organizational development experiences.

Strategic Visioning and Planning

Because information technology supports virtually every aspect of life in higher education, IT professionals must understand the importance of conducting strategic planning for IT with much broader participation than simply the members of the IT department. To be effective, strategic planning for IT must not only support the mission and goals of the institution but also involve faculty, staff, and student representatives from across campus. Involving members external to IT in the planning process will help make it more responsive to clients’ needs and will also help support the IT strategic plan over time because they have a stake in it. A high-quality strategic planning process is the first step in guaranteeing the success of IT on campus. This session will focus on the important steps in the strategic planning process and how to organize and conduct the process to ensure success.

Winning the Resource Game

Acquiring the people and financial resources to move the IT organization forward is a key focus for every CIO. Fully understanding the resource allocation and budgeting process is fundamental to knowing when and how to request resources. While colleges and universities follow somewhat different cycles, the basic pattern for planning and budgeting exists and can be generally understood. Knowing this budgetary pattern better prepares the CIO to develop an organizational case that conveys the information and justifies resource allocation. The fundamental elements in the allocation process are alignment with the strategic plan, constituent support for the IT plan, administrative support from service areas, and, most important, a history of trust and fiscal responsibility.

Strategic Planning and Alignment

Organizations work most effectively when following a strategic plan and aligning resources accordingly. Since colleges and universities are highly complex organizations with many different units working toward their own unique missions, the need for a unifying strategic plan to assist in the allocation of resources is vital. Nevertheless, it is not unusual for an institution’s strategic plan to be very informal or even nonexistent. As an IT professional, you must discern your organization’s strategic plan whether written, informal, or nonexistent and prepare an IT strategic plan that is aligned with it. Developing the IT strategic plan also requires participation from across the organization due to the scope and impact of IT activities. The linkage between a request for resources to implement the IT plan and ultimately achieving the organization’s strategic plan should be transparent and supported by constituents outside the IT organization.