Centering equity and leading change in higher education
The Forum on Transformational Leadership is designed to prepare leaders in higher education with the knowledge, tools, and courage to meet complex challenges and create change at their institutions. Presenters will draw from theory to reframe leadership as a set of skills that can be taught and applied to practice. The sessions will provide a model for what leadership development centered on leading for equity can look like, especially considering issues related to equity, diversity, and inclusion should always be a central consideration for leaders, in various roles.
Participants will discuss the following questions:
- How does one engage in equity-centered leadership, in collaboration and connection with others?
- How can leaders model courage, nurture it in those around them, and spread it through their organization?
- How does one transition from a grassroots approach to campus efforts to part of the formal decision-making system on campus?
Transformational institutional leaders do not always hold formal positions of power. There are many change agents who mobilize at the margins of colleges and universities, leading transformative projects, shepherding innovation at the departmental level, and working in grassroots spaces. Change agents at all levels have an interest in changing institutional culture, the power to make decisions, the skill to organize social movements, and the expertise that applies to leadership at multiple levels of colleges and universities. Therefore, this forum is for leaders with a variety of titles and roles in higher education—anyone who seeks to center social justice and equity in their current and future leadership roles.
The forum will be held at the same site and time as the 2024 AAC&U Conference on General Education, Pedagogy, and Assessment. Participants in the forum will have the opportunity to attend relevant sessions at the conference to further expand their knowledge of transformational leadership development, equity-centered practices, and courageous leadership.
Higher education needs you! Don’t miss this opportunity to prepare intentionally for your next leadership role, alongside a network committed to changing higher education for the better.