October 25, 2019

SEC ALDP Begins with Workshop at Vanderbilt University

Fellows and Liaisons at the SEC ALDP Workshop welcome reception hosted by Vanderbilt University.

By: SEC Staff
SECU (Twitter: @TheSECU)

The 12th SEC Academic Leadership Development Program (SEC ALDP) cohort recently completed its first workshop of 2019-2020 — at Vanderbilt University.

The goal of this longstanding SEC effort is to identify, prepare and advance academic leaders for roles within SEC institutions and beyond. It has three components: a university-level development program designed by each institution for its own participants (i.e., fellows); two SEC-wide workshops held on specified campuses for all program participants; and a competitive fellowship designed to provide administrative growth opportunities for former fellows.

Fellows, 56 faculty and early career administrators from each SEC university, and one program liaison from each campus were hosted at Vanderbilt by Associate Provost for Education Development and Technologies, Dr. John Sloop. Over the course of three days, participants were able to interact and learn with senior Vanderbilt administrators like Dr. Vanessa Beasley, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Dr. William H. Robinson, Interim Vice President for Strategic Initiatives.

“The SEC ALDP workshop has been a great opportunity to meet a variety of people in disciplines across the conference,” said Dr. Robin Harris, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the University of Missouri. “It’s been enlightening to hear how very similar we are in some areas, but also areas where we have to grow; not to mention areas where we really excel. It’s been great to see individuals from all our schools doing amazing things.”

The first day of the workshop began with a morning case study, included lunch at the Nashville Farmers’ Market, and wrapped with a tour of the Musicians Hall of Fame. All of these activities provided fellows and liaisons with the chance to network, explore Nashville and get acclimated to the kinds of critical thinking conversations that would occur later in the workshop.

More formal presentations were comprised of topics like budgeting and revenue, public relations and diversity and inclusion. Everyone was treated to dinner at Vanderbilt’s Dyer Observatory and were able to view the solar system, with the help of a Vanderbilt astronomer.

To complement the recently-completed workshop, this year’s participants will also visit the University of Florida in the spring.

“We’re excited to host these distinguished colleagues next semester for the spring version of the SEC ALDP workshop,” said Dr. Chris Hass, Associate Provost for Academic and Faculty Affairs at Florida. “The conversations we’ve had over the past three days at Vanderbilt have gotten us all energized about our jobs and the ability to impact the faculty and students we work with on a daily basis.”

Click here for a full list of the 2019-2020 SEC ALDP fellows.