The Sullivan University System

Quality Enhancement Center (QEC)

Leadership Institute Plan

 

Sullivan University Leadership Institute (SULI):

Purpose:

The primary purpose of the Leadership Institute is to develop the next generation of leaders within the various business units of The Sullivan University. The specific SU deliverables include: (1) a leadership succession and development plan that accommodates each level of functional leadership within the University, (2) collaborative workforce training for all members of the University staff, faculty, and administration, and (3) annual-directed training to ensure all University employees understand targeted workplace behavioral expectations set forth in University policy. Eventually, the SULI services will be expanded to incorporate the leadership succession and development needs of all Sullivan University System business units, including executive leadership development.

Description:

The project plan uses the sports metaphor of creating “bench-strength” to communicate the basic leadership development approach to be used in the SULI. The leader (or coach) starts with the development of individual and team fundamental skills ensuring that everyone on the team is capable of being an effective team participant. The coach knowing that not everyone on the team is willing and/or able to exhibit expert competency for every skill level will focus their development efforts on those who are willing and able. The project plan follows a similar design approach, using a similar language to communicate the SULI leadership development process.


Creating Leadership Bench-Strength:

The SULI project plan focuses on the development of three levels of leadership “bench-strengths:” (1) individual, (2) team, and (3) leader/manager.

  • Individual-Focused Skills (Level I): The individual-level bench-strength (referred to as "Annual-Directed") concentrates on expanding a foundational awareness of the impact an individual’s behavior on others within the workplace (e.g., sexual harassment awareness training).

  • Team Focused Skills (Level II): The team-level bench-strength (referred to as "Collaborative Workforce") focuses on the skills/competencies necessary to increase collaboration and team interaction. An important goal of team/collaborative-level skill development is to create a more integrative, collaborative work environment for administrators, employees and our customers (i.e., students).

  • Leader/Manager Skills (Level III): The leader/manager-level bench-strength (referred to as "Leadership Succession & Development) gives attention to succession planning and development of candidate-leaders with the necessary leader and manager skills to effectively and efficiently operate their respective assigned functional area within the University (e.g., Admissions, Student Services, etc.).

Level I: Annual-Directed

Series of online training courses available through the University's Angel LMS. Training focuses on increasing awareness of University policy and expected behavior.

Level II: Collaborative Workforce

Series of web-assisted training courses focusing on interpersonal skills, team-building, and conflict management.

Level III: Leadership Succession and Development

  1. “Wide” (or “Lateral” Development) Leader/Manager Training: The “Wide” leadership training targets development of the “big picture” of University operations. Each FAL will develop and conduct a presentation covering their respective functional area.

  2. “Deep” (or “Vertical” Development) Leader/Manager Training: The “Deep” leadership training will focus on the development of “general” "hard" and "soft" leader/manager skills.

Project Evaluation:


An important design consideration was to use existing measures for assessment of the SULI project plan (i.e., versus adding more instruments). SULI effectiveness will be assessed using three data sets: (1) employee perceptual data (i.e., annual “Administrative Perception Survey”), (2) student perceptual data (obtained from the Noel-Levitz survey), and key retention data (extracted from CampusVue, including student starts, drops, withdrawals, non-returns, and continuing students). The QEC will work collaboratively with the Planning Evaluation Coordinating Committee (PECC) to obtain, analyze, and report program effectiveness measurement.


On an annual basis the Leadership Development Advisory Council (LDAC) will review the SULI assessment data for determination of project effectiveness. Following the LDAC’s annual analysis, the council will develop a report to the QEC on the SULI’s overall effectiveness and specific contributions made to improved student retention, including recommendations for improvement.
 

Leadership Development Resources/Links:

Here are some leadership development resources:

Leadership Newsletters...
Revised: 11/27/07
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