Pre-Conference Skillbuilding Workshops

The Chair Academy offers each conference participant, an expanded Conference experience. For $125.00, conference participants can attend a full day, pre-conference skillbuilding workshop. These day-long workshops can provide you with essential skills and knowledge, that participants can can bring back to their organizations.

		THE TRICK TO BEING A CHAIR OR ORGANIZATIONAL LEADER Presented by Bill Lamb, Kirkwood Community College The workshop will present a variety of strategies for new front line administrators, including chairs, directors, deans, and other organizational leaders. Activities throughout the day will help participants define their role as leaders and share strategies to develop cohesive teams. Topics will include: • understanding leadership versus management in organizations • understanding yourself and how you work with others • building teams and working with diverse work styles • time management and work best practices • recognizing and managing conflict • adapting to and guiding organizational change. The activities will involve small group interaction and allow time for sharing strategies as well as applying new methods to real work examples. The afternoon session will encourage the sharing of “successful practices" through guided group discussions. Participants will receive a variety of written materials to use as guides and references, and information related to the Academy for Leadership and Development will be shared. About the Presenter: Dr. Bill Lamb, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Kirkwood Community College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa Bill Lamb is the Vice President for Academic Affairs at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Until 2007, Bill was the Dean of Liberal Arts and Distance Learning at Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, KS, where he served in the role of assistant dean, department chair, and writing teacher. He received his PhD in Curriculum and Instruction from Kansas State University in 1984, and his Master of Arts degree in English literature from Pittsburg State University in 1974. His Bachelors degree is from the University of Kansas. Dr. Lamb has received numerous awards including the Paul Elsner International Excellence in Leadership Award in 2011. He is active in his local Rotary club and several community organizations. Additionally, he is a member of the Leadership Editorial Board and a member of the Iowa Alliance for Wind Innovation and Novel Development. He recently joined the IDEA Advisory Board. Dr. Lamb also has a number of publications and is a frequent presenter at international and regional conferences and workshops.
		STRENGTHS EDUCATOR WORKSHOP Presented by Scott Geddis, Phoenix College This dynamic and activity based Strengths Educator workshop is designed to help participants discover and build upon their strengths, create stronger relationships, engage in more effective teams and begin to develop strengths based culture in their organization. Learn how you can begin to do what you do best every day through Strengths. Learn how your talents can help you develop personally and professionally and become more engaged, productive, and successful in your work and your life. Develop your talents to become a top achiever. This workshop will assist you in recognizing, developing and applying your talents in ways that best suit you and allow you to become a top achiever. Improve and deepen your relationships by seeing and appreciating the talents of others. In this workshop you will be offered valuable tools to support students and coworkers in building effective, strength based teams and relationships. After this workshop, participants will be able to: • Define talent, theme, and strength. • Discuss the role that talent and strengths play in the success of top achievers. • Identify and define, in basic terms, their own themes of talent. • Discuss their themes of talent with significant others. • Define, in basic terms, the 34 themes of talent. • Recognize the unique, but different, talents of others. • Describe their themes of talent. • Recognize the role of their themes of talent in their behavior. • Identify how their themes of talent have contributed to past success. • Describe how their themes of talent work together. • Value their themes of talent and the role they play in their lives. • Identify knowledge and skills useful in transforming their talents into strengths. • Identify and demonstrate ways in which their talents can help them achieve success. • Build relationships with others mindful of their own talents and strengths and the talents and strengths of others. • Communicate more effectively with others in light of their own talents and the talents of others. • Work more effectively by partnering with others with complementary themes of talent. About the Presenter: Scott Geddis, Faculty, Health Professions, Fitness, and Wellness, Phoenix College, Phoenix, Arizona Certified Strengths Educator, Gallup Organization As a leader, educator, speaker, mentor and coach Scott inspires others to find the best in themselves and apply that knowledge to inspire others.. Scott is motivating, educational and well versed in a wide range of topics including Strengths Development, Strengths Based Leadership, Employee Engagement, Organizational Change, Appreciative Inquiry, and Interest Based Negotiation, Scott is a Certified Strengths Educator and as such facilitates Strengths workshops around the country and Canada and has assisted organizations developing Strengths based programs and embedding Strengths into curriculums across a variety of disciplines. Scott is currently in his 37 year as a faculty member at Phoenix College, the flagship institution of the Maricopa Community College District in Phoenix, Arizona. Scott also serves as a facilitation team member of The Chair Academy. Scott serves his community by volunteering in the New Pathways for Youth’s Quest Scholars program. And, along with and his rescued dog Maddy, is certified as a Pet Therapy Team and volunteer for both Gabriel’s Angels and Paw2Read organizations. Scott lives with his wife Dianne and Maddy, in Phoenix, Arizona. He is the very proud parent of three adult children, Dustin, Christina and Alex and one grandson, Luke.
		LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT 3.0: THE TIMES THEY ARE A CHANGING Presented by Julie Wechsler, South Mountain Community College Clark Kerr, first chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley indicated that “crisis and change in higher education have always been the rule and not the exception” (1994). This trend continues today as we face increasing budget constraints along with “student success rates that are unacceptably low, employment preparation that is inadequately connected to job market needs and disconnects in transitions between high schools, community colleges, and baccalaureate institutions” (Fain, 2012). The need for effective leadership has never been greater, however “many of our current leaders are retiring and the pipeline of prospective leaders is inadequate, with high turnover among presidents as well as vice presidents and deans” (O’Banion, 2011). Prospective leaders who are in the pipeline are likely to be from Gen X or Gen Y and may have different values, expectations and approaches to learning and leadership than our current leaders. We must ask ourselves, “who will lead our institutions in these changing times, how will they lead our institutions, and how will we prepare them to lead successfully?” In this interactive session, we will explore the changing environment recently described by the Center for Creative Leadership as volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. Participants will consider implications of environmental change on leadership competencies, and how these competencies can be developed using new learning strategies. Finally, participants will explore the impact of all these changes on our wellbeing – both personal and institutional –and develop a roadmap with specific strategies designed to result in higher levels of wellbeing and more successful institutions – even during these changing times. About the Presenter: Dr. Julie Wechsler, Director of Student Success, South Mountain Community College, Phoenix, Arizona Dr. Julie Wechsler has more than 20 years’ experience facilitating positive change with people and organizations in both industry and higher education. Julie’s career began at IBM where she learned the company’s “basic beliefs” ~ respect for the individual, superlative service and the pursuit of excellence. These beliefs have guided Julie’s work since that time - in projects related to organizational change, leadership development and most recently in her work with Strengths and Wellbeing. Julie is a Gallup-certified Strengths Coach and holds advanced certifications from ASTD, the Center for Creative Leadership, and the IBM Advanced Business Institute. Julie currently serves as the Director of Student Success at South Mountain Community College where she is responsible for the college’s Strengths for Students initiative. Julie and her husband Fred have six grown children and live in Phoenix where she enjoys hiking, bicycling, and gardening.
		CREATIVE LEADERSHIP: THINKING, WORKING, AND LEADING WITH VISION Presented by Scott Wakefield, Community College of Aurora In order to produce real and effective change, leaders must harness the inherent power of the creative process. Creativity can be a powerful force and you can use it to transform your life and your institution in positive ways. Having a creative and clear vision puts you in a position of strength and gives you confidence. It will guide your choices every step of the way, because “vision leads the leader.” (John C. Maxwell) You can choose to be creative. It is a choice. Creating results that matter and developing your creative leadership is “not a product of circumstance, it is a matter of choice.” (Robert Fritz) This skill-based workshop will give you tangible and relevant skills that you can use to bring about your creative vision. You will explore and develop the following strategies and skills: Thinking Strategies: • Seek Clarity (Listen, Explore, Question, Research) • See the structures and systems at play (systems thinking) • Separate form and function • Facilitate great ideas with your team (concept development) • Develop an original vision (form it with stories and pictures) Working Skills: • Make vision-based decisions (quickly prioritize based on your vision) • Design and build a culture of collaboration • Remove roadblocks (change the structure) • Leverage Structural Tension (the power of vision) • Translate vision into reality • Develop other creative leaders About the Presenter: Scott Wakefield, Chair of Art and Design, Community College of Aurora, Aurora, Colorado Scott J. Wakefield is the Chair of Art and Design at the Community College of Aurora, in Aurora, Colorado. He teaches foundation level courses in drawing, painting, and creative thinking. Always an engaging teacher, Scott has found ways to teach about design, creativity, and leadership in elementary schools, high schools, and colleges, and to various leadership groups, academic leaders, regional associations, and national conferences. Scott graduated from Art Center College of Design in 2003. Since that time, he has worked as a freelance illustrator, working for national children's magazines and major publishers such as Harper Collins, Scholastic, McGraw Hill, and Sterling Publishing. He completed his Master of Fine Arts degree at Utah State University in 2009 and currently lives with his family in Aurora, Colorado. He and his wife, Kori have 5 children and enjoy family activities such as sidewalk chalk art and rock climbing.
		LEARNING SPACES THAT MEASURE UP: PLANNING AND ASSESSING LEARNING SPACES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY Presented by Roger Yohe, Mesa Community College and Jennifer Strickland, Mesa Community College Join us as we explore how leaders can leverage space as a change agent for a college. In this interactive session participants will use tools to manage the lifecycle of learning spaces, both formal and informal, in higher education. This session will examine: teaching and learning needs, institutional barriers, design principles, engaging stakeholders, optimizing space to increase faculty and student engagement, creating incubator spaces, scaling innovation, and post-occupancy assessment for continued innovation. • Attendees will benefit by exploring the following principles and practices: • Creating a shared vision for learning spaces for your college. • Generating ideas for creating experimental/incubator spaces. • Designing formal and informal spaces that increase engagement. • Assessing effectiveness of learning spaces. • Accessing resources that assist college leaders in designing learning spaces. About the Presenters: Dr. Roger Yohe, Dean of Innovative Learning, Mesa Community College, Mesa, Arizona A native Iowan, Dr. Roger Yohe, has been a faculty member and administrator at the Maricopa Community College District since 1990. He graduated with this B.A. from the University of Northern Iowa and began his educational career by teaching business subjects and coaching at two Iowa high schools, and creating computer programs for each school district. He earned his masters and doctorate degrees from Arizona State University while serving as a graduate teaching and research assistant in the Education Media and Computers and Educational Leadership programs. Dr. Yohe has taught at the middle school, secondary, undergraduate and graduate levels and is an advocate for effective technology use in Arizona's schools. Dr. Yohe was a founding board member of the Arizona Technology in Education Association and the founding Director for the Center for Teaching and Learning at Estrella Mountain Community College. He currently has administrative oversight of the Library, Center for Teaching and Learning, Learning Enhancement Centers and eLearning at Mesa Community College. Dr. Yohe serves on the Advisory Board for the Educause Learning Initiative and Canvas Product Advisory Board. He was recognized by the Maricopa Community Colleges Foundation in 2006 as an exemplary employee, and received exemplary leadership awards from the Chair Academy, the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development, and the Arizona Technology in Education Association _________ Dr. Jennifer Strickland, Director, Center for Teaching and Learning, Mesa Community College, Mesa, Arizona A native New Englander, Dr. Jennifer Strickland, has been a member of the Maricopa Community College District for ten years. Having earned a B.A. from Arizona State University, and M.Ed. from Lesley University, and a Ph.D. from The Ohio State University, Dr. Strickland returned to Arizona and leads the Center for Teaching and Learning at Mesa Community College which serves as the college’s hub or teaching excellence and professional development. The CTL supports the colleges 300+ residential faculty and 1100+ adjunct faculty promoting student success through innovative teaching and learning and ongoing professional development and collaboration. Dr. Strickland oversees the development of programs such as new faculty experience, new adjunct orientation, adjunct convocation, quality matters, learning spaces, iPad program, hybrid design and more. She also coordinates and develops training including learnshops on pedagogy, curriculum design, assessment, student engagement, starting the semester off right, and best practices in teaching and learning and more. The CTL at MCC has two locations, the Southern and Dobson and Red Mountain campus locations supporting both campuses with support for teaching and learning. Jennifer has served on the program committee for Educause, recently become certified by the The Chair Academy, and completed the Leadership Academy through the Maricopa Community College District and serves on her districts technology governance council.