The Chief Academic Officers Innovation Community
The Chief Academic Officers Innovation Community
The Chief Academic Officer (CAO) is uniquely positioned to offer leadership and innovation. However, most chief academic officers are not formally prepared to launch innovations nor do they have a peer group to explore ideas. The continuing challenges of the pandemic, changing demographics, and decreasing enrollments have only exacerbated the need for Chief Academic Officers (CAOs) to drive innovation.
Chief academic officers need and deserve more peer- support, tools, networking, and professional development to help them rise to this task and to fulfill their potential for leadership. This community is an opportunity to transform how your institution responds to challenges and create better opportunities for your academic leadership teams to drive needed innovation.
Expectations:
The Chief Academic Officers Innovation Community will provide:
Virtual year-long engagement
2 opportunities for in-person cohort meetings (in the Asheville, NC area)
An interactive community committed to personal and professional development
Didactic and experiential learning in a small group setting
Field-tested and refined content from two previous cohorts.
Structured opportunities for participants to design and/or refine an innovation that they will lead at their own institution
The Community is designed to help you gain a better understanding of what you encounter as you pursue educational innovation. The work is designed to develop and apply insights to lead transformative academic innovation for your institution.
Gardner Institute Expertise:
The Gardner Institute is a 23-year-old, non-profit leader in advancing academic success, equity, and social justice in higher education. Our approach addresses issues in student success from multiple perspectives including working with faculty, administration, and leadership to utilize existing knowledge and introduce innovative methods and tools. Building deep relationships our work has provided tested results and lasting connections. This community is based on the CAO Innovators Founding Cohort which involved 11 chief academic officers who participated and helped develop the year-long cohort.
Academy Instructors:
For more information please contact: Info@jngi.org
Fees and Application
Application:
Registration for The Chief Academic Officers Innovation Community will be accepted on a rolling basis.
Applications are due by August 15, 2023
Fees:
$6,625 per person (excludes costs for travel and lodging for in-person meetings)
Fees for The CAO Innovation Community may be paid over two fiscal years.
Schedule:
August 2023 to June 2024
Monthly Meetings at 6.30 pm - 8.30 pm ET. (specific dates and times to be confirmed with participants.
Virtual Launch September 12 6:30pm-8:30pm (ET)
In-Person Retreat September 24-26 2023 in person at the Highland Lake Inn & Resort, Flat Rock, NC
Retreat June 2024 (dates to be confirmed) in person in the Asheville, NC area
Community Outcomes:
Participants will identify opportunities for innovation at their institution.
Throughout this process, participants will
test theories
consider scaling of innovation
Focus on continuous improvement
Engage with peers committed to personal and professional development in innovative thinking
In the end, participants should have developed an innovation project from conception through initial implementation.
If you would like to be informed of future community updates please complete this form: