CONTENTS

Staff Administrators Retreat

Fellow Applications

21-22 Fellowships

Performance Evaluation

Feed Your Mind Fridays 

LinkedIn Learning

R.I.S.E. Project

Professional Development Opportunities

Staff Administrator Retreat

Leading Through Change

Over the past year, the Learning Academy and HR partnered to lead the staff administrators through a series focused on the components of change in higher education and what it looks like to successfully lead a team in our current environment. The academic year concluded with a full day retreat entitled Leading through Change. Administrators were asked to reflect and discuss what their leadership team does well, but also what could use improvement relative to four themes that emerged from research conducted with top performers previously this year:

1. University Purpose
2. Growth Opportunities
3. Competitive Benefits (outside of compensation and medical benefits)
4. Effectiveness of Administration (within each division) 

Based on the themes, we discussed what was within staff administrator control and what areas are in need of support and/or resources from others to be accomplished. A few areas identified as controllable included increased, effective communication to team members, providing trust and autonomy, and creating an atmosphere of value while celebrating others’ accomplishments. Appropriate stakeholders will be contacted relative to the items needing support and resources from others within the university. From there, discussions moved to the idea of building resilience within your team and defining strategies for influencing change when you need the support from others. Chapman & Co. suggests building resilience begins with acknowledging we are all “in the box” when a change is announced, this includes leaders and their teams. A change is announced, you have a response, you let go, look forward and learn. There are two different responses to each of these steps, they are not necessarily positive and negative responses, rather demonstrate leaning in or leaning out to the change. People go through the box at all different rates when a change is announced and depending on the context, we react differently to the same types of changes at different points in our lives. 

Reflect on a change that you have experienced recently and determine how you moved through the box. Did you lean in or away from the change? If you leaned away, perhaps ask yourself a few questions; what is holding you back from embracing the change? Are there different perspectives from which you can look at the situation? How might your outlook be different if you chose to lean into the change? After reflecting, if you are interested in discussing strategies for building resilience and influencing others as you encounter change, contact the learningacademy@lindenwood.edu. 

Employee Development Fellow Applications

Do you have a great idea for an employee fellowship project? The Learning Academy is looking for five new employees to fill the roles of the fellowship themes for the 22-23 academic year; to learn more visit our webpage.

Employee Fellows Cycle 

This cycle is offered for general guidance and may be adjusted as the needs of the program dictate.  

• Applications open: June 15-July 15; Apply in Workday’s Career Worklet 
• Fellows chosen: Mid-August 
• Following Academic Year: Ongoing development and implementation of projects, with engagement of colleagues throughout 

2021-2022 Fellowships

Everyday People, Extraordinary Leadership

With the end of the semester, came the end of my fellowship program. I had a great group of people who participated in this fellowship. Over the course of the fellowship there were 6 group meetings where we discussed leadership best practices that we were reading about in the book Everyday People, Extraordinary Leadership by James Kouzes and Barry Posner. I sent out 29 reflections, one each week on Fridays, and gathered leadership quotes to help inspire us to try new things and reflect on what we were learning. I gathered some LinkedIn Learning videos that matched either the book or fit in with our reflections. Much of this information is now available in the Leadership Hub guide and can be viewed as needed.

This fellowship was meant to be a journey where everyone could have a chance to take what they thought a leader was at the beginning and then reflect throughout the year on how they might be able to take the 5 practices of exemplary leadership and add them into our daily lives. Through the meetings, we were able to go beyond reflection and hear about successes and troublesome spots along our leadership journey. This gave us a group of people that we could be honest with and learn from. The goal was to show that everyone can be a leader, no matter their title.

Nancy Messina, Leadership Fellow

"We don't need a title to lead. We just need people to care. We would rather follow a leader with a heart than a leader with a title." - Craig Groeschel

Service Excellence

For the Q2 Service Excellence fellowship, I am almost finished conducting workshops with different departments across campus where I led student feedback sessions that allowed me to distribute the data findings from the focus groups. So far, I have met with 10 separate groups of faculty and/or staff and during those workshops we have been able to identify over 60 action items we can implement that will help in the 4 areas we measured. The 4 elements we are looking to improve are the following.

• Student Centeredness- Students feeling a sense of belonging on campus
• Service Excellence- Staff are caring and helpful
• Inclusive Community- Creating an overall sense of community for the students so they feel valued by the institution, feel a part of the community
• Academic Engagement & Support- Faculty care about students and show concern for the student as an individual

Of the 60 actions items identified, half of those items are at no cost to the institution. Each department I met with is working to implement these ideas to make an impact in Fall 2022 semester. I am grateful for all the faculty/staff across campus who took the feedback and created action items within their respective departments to help increase the level of satisfaction for students as it relates to student centeredness, service excellence, inclusive community, and academic engagement and support. 

Our students are what matter, and their feedback will be used to make improvements across campus for years to come. I encourage all individuals, no matter what role you play, to find ways to implement our students' feedback to make Lindenwood the best it can be. Thank you to everyone who has made this fellowship possible, and I look forward to seeing all the good Fall 2022 will bring. If you are interested in learning about the student feedback results, please reach out to me at cbillman@lindenwood.edu. 

Cayte Billman, Q2 Service Excellence Fellow

Cap – A.B.L.E. 

Nine faculty and staff members completed the Spring II cohort of the Cap – A.B.L.E. Program. The course challenged faculty and staff to increase their understanding of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), practice fostering and facilitating difficult conversations surrounding DEI, and create an action plan for impacting DEI efforts on campus. Participants completed a pretest and post-test to measure participants learning in the course. The results of the post-test were encouraging (see charts below).

Faculty and staff enjoyed learning and growing together as a small cohort. One participant commented, “I liked the one-on-one partner discussions and the group discussions in the course. The format worked well with reading a module, responding, meeting individually and then with the whole group to share ideas that had been formed through the previous activities.” Another participant had this to say, “I liked the variety of information in the focused content for each week. It helped me see the weekly concepts from multiple angles, and then be able to discuss these concepts with others to get even more points of view during the partner and group sessions. I also liked the ability to contribute in multiple formats according to my comfort level and skillset (written vs. verbal opportunities for contribution).”

All together the faculty and staff members of the Spring II cohort of the Cap – A.B.L.E. Program created great action plans. Some of these include: collaborating with others across campus outside of their department, increasing awareness and working knowledge of DEI initiatives, efforts, and terminology, starting small in my own division and taking it one step at a time, and engaging our students in this important dialogue and work. 

The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Employee Fellowship has been a worthwhile experience for which I am eternally grateful. In a small, yet remarkable fashion, the Cap – A.B.L.E. Program has made Lindenwood a more equitable and inclusive university. I cannot wait to see how both cohorts implement their action plans on the way to making Lindenwood a great place to learn, live, and work!

May you always be encouraged,

Myron

Myron Burr, DEI Fellow

Staff & Staff Administrator Performance Evaluation

The self-evaluation phase is now open for staff, coaches, and staff administrators. If you need a refresher on the process, click here for an overview and contact Brittany Brown with any questions you may have.  

Feed Your Mind Fridays

Led by Dr. Mitch Nasser, Feed Your Mind Fridays are brief discussions on current research and practice in higher education that were hosted this spring and are expected to resume in the fall. The idea for these sessions came from correspondence with alumni in the MA in Higher Education Administration program during the summer of 2021. Many former students were interested in professional development, and given the financial challenges facing universities across the country, these free opportunities matched the need. Several alumni attended at least one session. The inaugural Feed Your Mind Fridays series featured five presentations. They included:

• Dr. Danielle Molina (Mississippi State University): What the COVID Pandemic Tells Us about Emergency Management Procedures
• Dr. Jason Lynch (Appalachian State University): Impacts & Implications of COVID-19 on College Student Well-Being: What We Know & Where We Go
• Anna Girdwood (Lindenwood University): Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) – What Does This Mean for Us
• Dr. Colleen Martinez (Ramapo College in New Jersey): Using principles of relational pedagogy for online course success in higher education.
• Dr. Debbie Bazarsky (Boston University) & Dr. Shaun Travers (University of California San Diego): Core Competencies and Standards of Practice for the LGBTQIA+ Profession: Leading and Supporting Agents of Change on Your Campus.

Interested in checking out these meaningful conversations? Check out the Learning Path in LinkedIn Learning!

Dr. Nasser was impressed with the response to this series and is planning the 2023 series, which will include (pending speaker confirmations)

• A Universal Design for Inclusive Policies
• Meeting the Needs of International Students
• Improving Videos in Online Courses

Employees are invited to share in the experience; be on the look out for details in the Digest and Learning Academy events calendar.

LinkedIn Learning

Develop a High-Performance Mindset

How do you future-proof your career? You may love the job you’re in, but what if, a few years down the road, all the skills and experiences you’ve accrued that lead to your success are no longer relevant? The speed at which technology changes and impacts organisations and roles means you have to stay ahead of the curve and continually develop your skills to remain relevant and in demand. 

The R.I.S.E. Course Design Institute

From May 19 - 24, eight faculty members participated in the R.I.S.E. Course Design Institute (RCDI). The RCDI is one of the main components of the second R.I.S.E. research study which aims to track the results of intensive development experience and course redesign on faculty and student outcomes.

During this 4-day institute, participants experienced an intensive development experience where they reviewed and learned strategies associated with the R.I.S.E. pillars and made significant progress in redesigning their courses around the R.I.S.E. framework.

A big thank you to the following presenters for making this a successful learning experience for all participants: Cayte Billman, Joanna DeYoung, Robyne Elder, Javeria Farooqi, Emilie Johnson, Jeremy Keye, Cindy Lane, Heather Pennington, Ana Schnellmann, and Megan Woltz! 

Professional Development Opportunities

Atomic Habits Summer Book Club

Time: 10 – 11 a.m.

Location: Online

No matter your goals, Atomic Habits offers a proven framework for improving--every day. James Clear, one of the world's leading experts on habit formation, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results. Throughout this six-session summer book club, we will focus on the four laws of behavior change: make it obvious, make it attractive, make it easy, and make it satisfying!

Feel free to join in at any point! 

Faculty Performance Evaluation Training

Do you have questions about the 2022-2023 Faculty Performance Evaluation process? Would you like more information about the ins and outs of the new rubric? If you answered yes to either question, make sure to sign up for your training sessions today!

During this two-day training, which counts toward your professional development hours, you will learn about the performance evaluation journey, review key components and terms used throughout the rubric, and participate in hands-on workshop sessions. Please remember to schedule both sessions for your cohort. Contact Shenika Harris is you have any questions.

Lindenwood Learning Academy

LARC 009

209 S. Kingshighway

St. Charles, MO 63301

636-949-4408