ASU, Georgetown launch Higher Education Leadership Academy

Two dozen senior leaders from 21 universities have been selected as fellows in the new Academy for Innovative Higher Education Leadership, co-hosted by Arizona State University and Georgetown University.

The eight-month program, which begins Nov. 13 and takes place at Georgetown and ASU, focuses on preparing the fellows to lead organizational change at colleges and universities.

“Unlike many higher education leadership programs, the academy’s focus will be on applying new solutions to the most pressing challenges facing our universities and scaling successful innovations to address those challenges,” said ASU President Michael M. Crow.

“The work of this academy,” said John J. DeGioia, president of Georgetown, “provides an opportunity for university leaders to engage the questions facing higher education, to experiment with creative solutions to meet new needs, and to ever more deeply understand the guiding principles that protect the core mission and ethos of the university.”

The founding director of the new academy is Jeffrey J. Selingo, a higher education author, former editor of The Chronicle of Higher Education, and senior adviser and professor of practice at ASU.

Fellows include representatives from universities across the country, including the University of Pennsylvania, Ohio State University, Washington University in St. Louis and Clemson University.

During four intensive sessions in the District of Columbia and Tempe, Arizona, fellows at the academy will be introduced to the latest thinking and research about change leadership, teaching and learning in a digital age, external challenges facing higher education and the financial sustainability of institutions.

Participants also will apply the principles of “design thinking” to re-imagine the future of higher education, and will focus on a real-world project during the program. A mix of seminars, hands-on workshops, design sessions and fireside chats with leading thinkers from various industries will help the fellows prepare for leading innovation at their own institutions.

Academy faculty members represent a cross-section of higher education scholars and leaders from other sectors, such as health care and the military, that are facing similar challenges.

These include Cathy Trower, co-founder of the Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education; Dawan Stanford and Kathleen deLaski of Education Design Lab; Arthur Dong of Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business; Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Ben Freakley of the McCain Institute for International Leadership at ASU; and Eugene S. Sunshine, former senior vice president for business and finance at Northwestern University.

For more information, visit georgetown.asu.edu.

The 24 fellows in the initial cohort are:

Jane Aiken, associate dean for experiential education, Georgetown University Law Center, Georgetown University

John Ballato, vice president for economic development, Clemson University

Beth A. Boehm, vice provost for graduate affairs, University of Louisville

Michael J. Boehm, vice provost for academic and strategic planning, Ohio State University

Gary Bracken, vice president for enrollment management, Point Park University

Tim Caboni, vice chancellor for public affairs, University of Kansas

Jeanne Casares, chief information officer, Rochester Institute of Technology

Laura Cavender, executive director, strategic communications, University of Pennsylvania

Deborah Clarke, associate dean, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, Arizona State University

Adrienne Davis, vice provost/William M. Van Cleve Professor in the Law School, Washington University in St. Louis

Toni Doolen, dean, honors college, and professor of engineering, Oregon State University

Mark Freeman, vice provost for institutional research, assessment and effectiveness, Drexel University

Juan Gilberto García, university registrar, Texas A&M International University

Peter N. Gilbert, chief operating officer and senior vice president, University of Maryland, Baltimore

Carolyn A. Haynes, associate provost, Miami University (Ohio)

Jennifer Hightower, deputy vice president, student services, Arizona State University

J. Wesley Hines, Postelle Professor and dean of nuclear engineering, University of Tennesse at Knoxville

Veronnie F. Jones, assistant vice president for health affairs, University of Louisville

Adriana Kugler, vice provost for faculty and professor of public policy, Georgetown University

Cynthia Larive, divisional dean, University of California, Riverside

Cady Short-Thompson, dean, Blue Ash College, University of Cincinnati

Mary Beth Walker, dean, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University

Yohuru Williams, associate vice president for academic affairs, Fairfield University

Cynthia Young, associate dean, College of Sciences, University of Central Florida