Trailblazing a New Pathway: Challenging Assumptions about Community Colleges

2023 Webinars

Recordings

In Conversation: New University in Exile Consortium

March 15, 2023, 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. MTN

The Western Academic Leadership Forum (Forum) and Western Alliance of Community College Academic Leaders (Alliance) welcome you to a conversation with the New University in Exile Consortium (Consortium). The Consortium is an international group of colleges and universities committed to supporting scholars who have been displaced. Each institutional member is committed to hosting at least one threatened scholar every year. The goal is to lessen the profound sense of dislocation which exiled scholars suffer and which adversely impacts their intellectual and personal lives. This conversation with representatives of the Consortium and WICHE region members will highlight the purpose and impact of participating in this organization and attendees will be encouraged to ask questions about getting involved with the Consortium.

Sustaining and Encouraging Growth Through Change Series

February 2023

While setting personal and professional intentions and goals at the top of the (calendar or fiscal) year is common, it is just as common to see those hopes and dreams upended by unexpected events as the year progresses. This series aims to engage leaders in higher education to discuss strategies to generate big ideas, achieve strategic goals, and invest in personal and professional growth for you and your team members, even as your institution or organization and community endure unanticipated changes.

Session #1- Immunity to Change (workshop)

February 7, 2023 3:00-3:45 p.m. MTN

Join us as Vice President, Programs & Services at WICHE. Dr. Ray Burgman Gallegos, former Director of Programs and Research at HERS (Higher Education Resource Services), discusses how a change agent can overcome the uniquely human resistance to change. This is an excellent workshop for you if you enjoy assisting others with enhancing their leadership skills since it focuses on the leader and their team. Burgman Gallegos will use her expertise to demonstrate how big goals are achieved when your team members and organizational history are core to designing and implementing change. Join us to learn why Socrates said, “the secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new,”

Session #2- Three Leaders Changing the Script (panel)

February 14, 2023 3:00-3:45 p.m. MTN

Why does change always seem bad? When is change good? No matter what, change has a story. You’ll have a chance to hear from and ask questions of several panelists at different levels of institutional leadership for their firsthand experiences with navigating change. Change may happen because of internal and external pressure and leadership and policy changes, and sometimes you are the lead change script writer who knows you may have a cliffhanger coming in the end. Thus, there are plot changes and new characters. The panelists will speak to specific tools, techniques, and theories of change they use to update the “narrative” in the places where they lead or have led. We believe there will be something for everyone during this panel, regardless of your work environment or postsecondary education sector. This was a live conversation and was not recorded.

Session #3 – What is Changing for You? (interactive small group)

February 28, 2023 3:00-3:45 p.m. MTN

We conclude our first annual series on leading and thriving during change with an interactive virtual discussion in which you can brainstorm, generate new ideas, turn concerns into opportunities, and grow your peer network. Members of the executive committees of the Western Academic Leadership Forum and the Western Alliance of Community College Academic Leaders will moderate these small group conversations. This was a live conversation and not recorded.

Promoting Healthy Campuses and Student Mental Health

January 31, 2023 12:00-1:00 p.m. MTN

In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak of 2020, institutions are facing an unprecedented wave of burnout, overwhelm, and other health concerns among faculty and students alike. Despite heightened awareness and conversation around the issue, meaningful action has been difficult to assess and evaluate, and very often, institutions are finding that the issues they are facing have pre-pandemic roots. We invite you to a conversation with Director of Education and Training, Behavioral Health Program at WICHE, Todd Helvig Director of Health Promotion & Preventative Services from the University of Arizona, David Salafsky, and Director of Counseling & Psych Services (CAPS) at U of A, Aaron Barnes. U of A is the recipient of the 2020 Active Minds Healthy Campus Award which recognizes and celebrates U.S. colleges and universities that are prioritizing health and making significant progress toward creating a campus that promotes mental health, physical health, and well-being of its students. Panelists will discuss the general landscape of behavioral health in higher ed as well as the new challenges and progress that University of Arizona has made since winning their award. Attendees will be welcomed to ask questions and share the innovative work they are doing on campus to promote behavioral health.