EDUCAUSE Institute: New IT Managers Program

The EDUCAUSE Institute New IT Managers Program focuses on providing participants with the basic skills critical for the management and supervision of projects, units, and people. The program will provide a high-level view of the role of manager, as well as specific skills development in several key management areas including interpersonal communication, prioritization, finance and budgeting, project management, managing up, and performance management. The program offers an invaluable opportunity to share information and experiences with peers and experienced IT practitioners in a highly interactive series of sessions both face-to-face and online.

Register for the Chicago event.

This program was developed in conjunction with NERCOMP, An Association Partner of EDUCAUSE. See www.nercomp.org for events in the Northeast.

Who Should Attend?

The EDUCAUSE Institute New IT Managers Program is specifically designed for early-stage IT professionals in higher education who are taking on supervisory and management roles for the very first time, or aspire to do so. All sessions are carefully designed to be accessible for those just beginning to manage in a professional setting while allowing flexibility to extend learning for those with some previous experience in one or two of the program elements.

About the New IT Managers Program

The program is offered twice in 2012, co-located with the Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference in January and the Midwest Regional Conference in March. The program's faculty members are experienced IT leaders with significant experience in higher education IT management and leadership roles, as well as in facilitating highly interactive and engaging learning experiences.

The program is designed for participants to engage in new learning and to share their experiences while building a community of local colleagues. Each program is limited to a cohort of 40 participants in order to assure maximum development of professional networking. Within each program cohort, participants will have the opportunity to learn both the theory and the practical techniques of management through individual and team-based exercises. Opportunities for engagement include the use of journaling for reflection and activities to include "pair and share," table discussion and report-outs, small affinity group discussion (and breakouts) and large group discussion.

The program includes five modules of intensive face-to-face sessions, followed by a sixth module offered as a three-hour online session. The five on-site sessions will be interwoven with the regional conference schedule. While program participants are not required to attend the regional conference, doing so may provide extended opportunities to gather practical takeaways from IT professionals across the region and further extend professional networks.

This six module intensive program offers a valuable opportunity to:

• review the terms, roles, and basic dynamics of interpersonal communication
• gain an overview and practical skills for personnel supervision and performance management
• understand and develop techniques for managing up and across an organization
• learn the basics of finance and budgeting
• develop understanding and skills for time management, prioritization and decision making
• discover best practices for project management
• consider options for professional development and advancing one's career

Sunday, March 25

12:30–6:30 p.m.

• Introductions and Program Overview
• Interpersonal Communication
  • Communication style
  • Seeing from the perspective of others
  • Context and adaptability
  • Channels
• Project Management
  • Definition
  • Components
  • Life cycle
  • Tools
  • Lessons learned

6:30–7:30 p.m. Reception

Monday, March 26

8:30 a.m.–11:30 a.m.

• Finance and Budgeting
  • Review common terms used in college and university budgeting /accounting
  • Discuss key financial statements and concepts
  • Create a budget; calculate and track revenues and expenses
  • Assess external "market" factors and evaluate potential relevance to your school; your IT budget
  • Present financial information to tell a compelling "story"

Tuesday, March 27

3:30–6:30 p.m.

• Performance Management
  • Resources: Strengths finder, 360s
  • Management students
  • Conflict management
  • Giving feedback
  • Situational management: Adapting to subordinates

Wednesday, March 28

1:00-3:30 p.m.

• Managing Up and Moving Up
  • Do you really want to be a leader?
  • How does understanding roles help you manage up?
  • How can you effectively communicate up?
  • What is the boss/subordinate compact?
  • How does understanding roles help you manage up?
  • What are the traits of subordinate styles?
  • What is your style?
  • How can managing up help you earn opportunities for advancement?

Online (within four weeks of face-to-face sessions)

• Prioritization, Time Management, and the Fine Art of Delegation
  • Prioritization: What needs to be done?
  • Time management: When can it be done?
  • Delegation: Who needs to do it?
  • Management: Tools of the trade

New IT Managers Program Faculty

Cynthia Golden
Cynthia Golden currently serves as director of the Center for Instructional Development and Distance Education at the University of Pittsburgh, joining the University in August 2009. This Center supports the teaching and learning mission of the university through instructional technology, learning design, faculty development, online learning, classroom technology and media services.

Prior to joining Pitt, she was Vice President of EDUCAUSE, the professional association whose mission it is to advance higher education by promoting the intelligent use of information technology. At EDUCAUSE she led professional development activities as well as the association's content and knowledge management initiatives. Her portfolio included program and curricula development for management and leadership institutes, web-based seminars and other programs that serve higher education. She was also responsible for creating relevant and compelling learning experiences for members through the annual EDUCAUSE conference program, as well as the regional and special-topic conferences. Cynthia had general oversight for EDUCAUSE services and operations, and coordinated efforts with affiliate organizations. Before coming to EDUCAUSE in 2001, she served as Executive Director of Computing and Technology Services at Duquesne University, where she had been the CIO since 1998. Before coming to Duquesne, Golden was manager of business applications in the Information Systems division at MIT, where she also coordinated administrative computing architecture. She was Associate Director of Administrative Systems at Carnegie Mellon University before joining the staff at MIT.

Golden has been a consistent contributor to professional development, as editor of the book "Cultivating Careers: Professional Development for Campus IT;" scores of articles, and even more conference presentations. She served on the Boards of Directors of the IMS Global Learning Consortium, the Seminars of Academic Computing and CAUSE; participated on two national program committees for EDUCAUSE; and served as a member of many professional association committees over a twenty-year period. She is a frequent speaker at campus and professional events.

Joanne Kossuth
As vice president for operations and CIO at the Olin College of Engineering, Joanne Kossuth has primary responsibility for the operational and technology areas. These include campus services, conference services, dining services, facilities, human resources, information technology, planning and project management, public safety, and purchasing. In addition to her operations duties, she is responsible for fostering nonacademic relationships with neighboring institutions, including Babson, Wellesley, and Brandeis. As Olin's CIO, Joanne had a unique opportunity to design fully converged, leading-edge technology facilities from scratch as well as to implement practices from a "clean slate." One of the founding principles of the college is continuous change and technological excellence. This design and implementation experience, with a focus on Olin's identity yet in close collaboration with Babson College, provides a fairly large number of "shareable experiences" related to collaboration and technological innovation.

Dennis A. Trinkle
Dennis A. Trinkle serves as the Provost and Chief Academic Officer for Harrison College. Prior to joining Harrison, Trinkle served as the Executive Director of the Indiana Higher Education Telecommunication System. He has served both leading public and private colleges and universities as a faculty member and senior administrator, including DePauw University, the University of Cincinnati, the University of Indianapolis, and Valparaiso University. He has also led information technology, marketing, and venture capital enterprises in Indiana and Ohio. Trinkle is the former Executive Director of the American Association for History and Computing. He has been a Fellow of the Frye Leadership Institute and International Center for Computer-Enhanced Learning at Wake Forest University. He has served on numerous corporate and non-profit Boards, including Tri-State University, College Mentors for Kids, Opelin Corporation, eLrn, Askahistorian.com, Student Advantage, and the Gale Group. He co-chairs the Educause Constituent Group on Change Leadership, and he publishes and speaks widely on technology, teaching and learning, and IT planning and management. The author or editor of more than a dozen books, his recent works include: The Elements of e-Style: A Multimedia Style Guide; The History Highway: A Guide to Internet Resources; Writing, Teaching, and Researching History in the Electronic Age; and History.Edu: Essays on Teaching with Technology. Trinkle received his B.A. from DePauw University; his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Cincinnati; and his M.B.A. in Marketing and Technology Management from the University of Phoenix.

Wendy Woodward
As the Director of Technology Support Services, Wendy Woodward is responsible for developing and advocating positive customer service interactions between NUIT and the University community. The Technology Support Services (TSS) group encourages faculty, staff, and student use of technology by providing multi-channel NUIT communications; responding to requests for assistance through the Unified Service Desk and other points of contact; providing telecommunications and networking consultation and coordination; providing and coordinating second tier faculty and staff desktop support resources; identifying site licensed software distribution opportunities; and maintaining Web-based applications that enable the teamâ??s function.

Wendy is actively involved in the CIC (Consortium for Institutional Cooperation), EDUCAUSE, and ACUTA (the Association for Communications Technology Professionals in Higher Education). She has served on technology company advisory boards and currently contributes as an active member of Google's Higher Education Collaboration Advisory Board. Wendy's previous experience includes executive management responsibility in customer focused, technologically enhanced operations. She has an M.S. in Communication, emphasis on systems, strategy, and management, from Northwestern University and a B.A. in Organizational Management from North Park University in Chicago.

Catherine Yang
Catherine Yang is senior director at EDUCAUSE, where her responsibilities include oversight of publishing and content strategy. Previously, she was director of client services at Bentley College and held a number of positions at Brown University. Yang holds a bachelor's in biology from Brown University.