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With a focus on leadership development among faculty at member institutions, the Academic Consortium of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) formed the Academic Leaders Network (ALN). The goal: to facilitate cross-institutional collaboration among academic leaders while building leadership capacity at individual universities.

This semester, five Syracuse University faculty members will participate in the inaugural ACC Academic Leaders Network, gathering at Virginia Tech on Sept. 20 for the first of three three-day conferences that will build leadership competencies and broaden awareness of best practices in higher education policy and practice.

The five SU faculty members were nominated last spring by senior associate deans and ultimately selected by Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs LaVonda N. Reed, in consultation with Vice Chancellor and Provost Michele Wheatly. They are:

• Elisa Dekaney, professor of music education and associate dean of research, graduate studies and internationalization in the College of Visual and Performing Arts
• Dawn Johnson, associate professor and chair of the Department of Higher Education in the School of Education
• Jae Oh, the David G. Edelstein Professor for Broadening Participation and chair of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in the College of Engineering and Computer Science
• Jamie Winders, professor and chair of the Department of Geography in the Maxwell School
• Ralph Zito, professor and chair of the Department of Drama in the College of Visual and Performing Arts

According to Wheatly, the ACC ALN is a valuable tool for cultivating academic leaders, exposing them to best practices and innovations taking place in higher education. “Giving our own faculty members the chance to learn, broaden their horizons, and bring back to us innovative ideas that are working elsewhere is a winning formula for strengthening our commitment to faculty development and the University as a whole,” she says. “It is our goal for all faculty members to feel connected to, supported by and empowered by Syracuse University to achieve their professional goals and succeed in leadership roles. We strive to diversify and build the University’s internal leadership capacity by investing in our faculty.”

The yearlong networking program also includes conferences at Georgia Tech (February 2019) and the University of Notre Dame (May 2019). These conferences will help participants gain access to resources, information and specialists not readily available at a single university, while studying best practices and benchmarking across a diverse range of institutions.