Professional Development Programs
Leadership Academy
Leadership Academy program overview
The Leadership Academy is a professional development program for staff and faculty with an emphasis on developing the leader from within. This six-month program consists of half-day sessions of learning modules, discussions and practical applications of leadership and personal development principles with an emphasis on self-awareness. In addition, this program requires vulnerability, hard work, dedication and commitment and includes a group project and individual commencement speeches at graduation. This program is coordinated by the People Development team in HRIC.
Program Outcomes
By participating in this program, you will gain a renewed self-awareness and skillset to:
- Improvise and embrace change
- Collaborate with others
- Function effectively within a group
- Lead with emotional intelligence
- Handle challenges under pressure
- Reflect and learn from your experiences
- Overcome self-created barriers, and
- Reconnect with your authentic self
You may apply if:
- You are a benefitted employee with a minimum of one (1) year of employment at the university, and
- You are currently in a leadership/management position or actively working towards one, and
- Your supervisor/manager sees value in your participation in this program and is willing to give you the necessary time off.
* Please note that should we get inundated with applications, we may have to limit the selection to only one member per department.
Time Commitment
- The Leadership Academy is a six-month commitment (January-June), which includes a group project.
- This program begins with a two-day (overnight) orientation retreat (Thursday through Friday).
- Coursework consists of half-day morning sessions (every three-weeks) plus some additional hours of outside work (i.e. group projects, accountability team time reading, etc.).
Effective leadership is more than doing: it is also about being – the expression of the essence of the whole individual, including one's mind, heart, body, and spirit. In other words, to be successful at 'doing', leaders must have a profound sense of who they are at the core of their being. Thus, there is an interdependency between personal growth and leadership effectiveness. - Marcia Ruben & Lori Silverman
Requirements
In order to successfully graduate from the Leadership Academy, each participant must:
- Attend all six class sessions, including the orientation overnight in January
- Actively engage in all class sessions
- Meet between sessions with your accountability team
- Complete all assignments, readings, and assessments
- Complete the Personal Compass workbook by graduation
- Be actively involved in the group project
- Present a graduation speech on your experience
Group Projects
In addition to the coursework, the group will be responsible to develop, plan and implement a group project that gives back to DU. In the past, the cohorts have coordinated (each with their own spin), a storytelling event for students, faculty and staff. It will be up to Cohort-5 to decide what their project will be. The project gives
participants an opportunity to apply their insights and learning from the program while contributing to DU's strategic plan.
Curriculum Topics:
- Orientation Overnight
- The Collaborative Way
- Emotional Intelligence
- Leading Change
- Team Building
- Improv(e) to Innovate
- Authentic Leadership
- Leading at DU
- Completion Ceremony / Individual Presentations
CONGRATULATIONS TO MEMBERS OF THE 2020 LEADERSHIP ACADEMY!
Leadership Academy Brochure - INTRODUCING COHORT-5
Anne Amati
Laura Dean
Michelle Fryer
Phuong Phan
Erin Toothaker
Alexis McClain
Katie Schroeder
Jill Pasion
Alex Martinez
Amy Downing
Victoria Veres
Amy Roberts
Ashley Davis
Dan Fischer
Waltrina DeFrantz-Dufor