NAGAP Leadership Academy Alumni

NAGAP Leadership Academy Alumni: a look back at the cohort, the program, and what has been applied to their work environments.

By Kittie Pain, MLitt, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania. (Also an alum of the NAGAP Leadership Academy!)

With the advent of the NAGAP Leadership Academy, the organization propelled itself into a new realm. Never before had members had an opportunity to engage with their peers in a smaller setting, led by management professionals, in an intensive effort to grow leadership and management skills. It took many years to develop such an academy, and the cohort members have well received the idea. This piece will look back at how the seven-month program prepared members for their existing work environments, helped some gain confidence in managing others and created an overarching unique network of individuals within GEM.

For perspective, the cohorts begin each September in a face-to-face, three-day workshop hosted by an outside management company with a trained and certified Program Facilitator. The ideas and theories are generalized and applied to the context of higher education as the initial days unfold. Before the inperson workshop, each individual has gone through a 360-degree evaluation with their supervisors and peers. Their assigned coaches share their results and use that assessment as their growth focus. In the following months, cohort members meet monthly, virtually, with the facilitator and strive toward their individualized capstone projects presented at the annual Summit. In conversing with seven colleagues, I discovered that each had their own unique takeaway from their experience. I don’t want to dismiss that, so over the

next two issues, I’ll share the stories of their discoveries and growth. I met with Jennifer Jones (Virginia Tech), Henry Cantu (University of Connecticut), Adam Huang (Cornell Tech), Scott Eubanks (Eastern Washington University), Kristin McAullife (Boston University), Ellen Lloyd (Mount Saint Vincent College), and Trista Wdziekonski (University of Michigan). Jennifer, Henry, and Adam were members of the original cohort and could not present their capstone projects at the Summit due to COVID. Scott, Trista, Ellen, and Kristin were in the second cohort and presented their capstone projects at the Summit in 2022. All were eager to share their experiences.

Each was asked if they found value in kicking off the academy in a face-to-face setting.

Adam Huang (AH): For sure. You can never be in person and not be in the moment. The banter, the connections, it breaks down barriers and makes it easier to connect with others. Jennifer Jones (JJ): Yes. Definitely. I was fairly new to GEM, and this gave me the ability to be in a room with people who were like-minded and looking for the same sort of opportunities that I was looking for. Henry Cantu (HC): I respect and see the value in online interactions, but for me, I feel more of an impact with faceto-face experiences. Trista Wdziekonski (TW): I think it was my favorite part of the whole piece! We got to know the people in our cohort, and we got such great face-to-face time with our coordinator. That was also when examples of higher ed were brought into play along with what we were learning. Ellen Lloyd (EL): It was so valuable to be back in-person to do something together. It was like a refresher for me with my career goals and how I wanted to evolve my position. Scott Eubanks (SE): I’m in many zoom meetings where, if they’re not high-quality, I drift away. In person, I’m forced to focus and forced to engage. I also enjoyed making new friends! Kristin McAuliffe (KM): The size of our cohort was good, it gave us the opportunity to spend more time with each other and get to know each other. We also had smaller break-out groups where we could bounce ideas off one another and begin to value one another. Members of the second cohort spoke about the size of their group and how reasonable it was to get to know one another more. There was a range of titles and years’ experience, yet no stuffiness behind that. Everyone was there for the same reason. They are in a rare industry, and there was a lot to learn from one another.

Was there something that you’ve taken away from the Leadership Academy and since implemented at your university?

SE: A lot of our facilitator’s training on how to manage people has been useful. I hadn’t managed full-time staff

before and I refer to the training in our book often. My team went from, like a 2.3 or 3 on the happiness scale to a 6. They talk more at meetings, look out for one another, and I’ve learned how to manage behaviors better. We’re becoming a happy, functional group and I owe it to the leadership training. AH: Since finishing the program, I’ve moved into a managerial role. I’ve been using my management strategies to work with them and make things more productive. I’ve also learned how to have difficult conversations and approach it from the servant-leadership style. I’ve learned to take a step back, look at the overall picture, and then tackle the situation. JJ: For me, it taught me how to interact. My previous career was in K-12 education, and I had to learn all over again how to interact with people. This gave me the ability to be more comfortable at the table and gave me the confidence to walk into a room with Ph.D.’s and say I know this job and I do it well. KM: My capstone! Because I put it in writing and on paper, it was sort of an internal gauge for me to accomplish what I wanted to with this training. It made something that I knew was important have a tangible value to it. EL: I took and ran with my capstone project too! I co-chair our quality assurance committee and through that I’ve been able to speak up more for our graduate population to iron out bumps along the road that didn’t need to be bumps. For instance, I’ve helped to coordinate virtual sessions with Financial Aid for the graduate students.

How have you applied other aspects of this experience?

KM: Going through this training has empowered me to take the lead on things that I know are important and I want to see all the way through. JJ: I took on the role of CAPGAP Chapter President and have been getting more involved with NAGAP. HC: From working with my coach, who encouraged and taught me to see things through different angles and other lenses, I was able to change my approach with a particular employee. EL: I valued the 360-degree assessment that we had. I learned a lot about my communication style and have implemented changes to help me communicate better with my colleagues. The conversation continues! In the next issue, read what else your colleagues have to say about the NAGAP Leadership Academy. As you read this, consider applying for the next cohort. Find out more at https://www.nagap. org/leadership-academy. n

Kittie Pain serves as the director of graduate admissions at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania. She holds a bachelor’s degree from McDaniel College and a master’s degree from Drew University. She likes good books and a stiff Manhattan.