The Office of Faculty and Organizational Development and the POD Network are pleased to announce that registrations are now being accepted for the inaugural POD Leadership Development Institute, to be held May 22-24, 2012, in East Lansing, MI.

Increasingly faculty developers are asked to provide leadership development for academic administrators and faculty. While faculty development theory, research and practice provide a strong base from which to move into leadership development, there are new challenges. POD should be in the forefront of offering training and development for these new demands placed on faculty developers. POD should lead the national conversation discussing academic leadership development.

There are several factors that support the relevance and timeliness of this LDI. 1) Demographic studies of higher education predict a tidal wave of retirements among academic baby boomers once the economy recovers sufficiently to sustain them on a retirement income (Wheeler, 2008). 2) Studies indicate that fewer faculty wish to pursue academic leadership than in previous years for varied reasons, including a desire for better work-life balance than administrative careers often allow; the onerous challenges of leading in a time of tight fiscal constraints; and administration is often viewed by faculty as "going to the dark side," away from the intellectual rigor, challenge and meaning of faculty life. (Schuster & Finkelstein, 2006; Wergin, 2007. 3) Faculty indicate that even when they are asked to take on leadership roles, faculty are offered little or no productive leadership development to enable them to succeed (Baldwin et al., 2008). The LDI will address these issues so that faculty developers are able to assist their campuses with developing leadership development for their faculty and academic and academic adminstrators.

The LDI will assist faculty developers to design, implement, and assess high quality programs of leadership development for their institutions. Drawing on theory and research on leadership, leadership development and leadership pipelines from higher education and corporate contexts, this seminar will identify key strategic decisions, program models, and resources to enable participants to match their institutional cultures and needs with productive leadership development practices.

For more information, please view the LDI website: or contact Allyn Shaw, Director of Leadership Development Programs, F&OD, MSU at leaders@msu.edu or 517-355.5761

See you this Spring in East Lansing!