Forty-one Fellows, including three from EKU, recently completed the Bluegrass Higher Education Consortium's third Bluegrass Academic Leadership Academy.
The EKU Fellows were Mary DeLetter, associate professor and Doctor of Nursing Practice program coordinator; Jeremy Mulholland, director of orchestral studies and assistant professor of music; and Minh Nguyen, professor of philosophy, director of Asian studies and associate director of EKU Honors. President Michael Benson and Centre College President John Roush co-chair the Consortium.
The Academic Leadership Academy is a presidential initiative, led by the 12 presidents represented in the consortium, to build future academic leaders in the Bluegrass Region. More than 130 Fellows have now completed the program in three years. The purpose of the academy is to encourage faculty and staff to consider leadership career paths and to provide guidance in developing the skills that are requisites for effective institutional leadership to ensure a sound and successful future for their institution and the Bluegrass Region. The Bluegrass Higher Education Consortium and the Academic Leadership Academy are managed by Bluegrass Tomorrow.
“The desired outcome,” said Roush, “is to create a cohort of leaders for Central Kentucky’s 12 institutions of higher education that have the proficiencies to work with their colleagues by effectively employing quality leadership skills and being able to have insight into the overall role of the university so as to strategically lead the next generation of learners in the Bluegrass Region.”
The Academic Leadership Academy also addresses one of the goals the presidents set in the signing of the charter agreement for the consortium in 2012: “to design professional development/leadership development opportunities for administration, faculty and staff.”
The Fellows experienced full-day sessions on Feb. 18 at Berea College and April 29 at Spindletop. Presidents addressed one of the key objectives of the curriculum: expanding understanding of the environment in which institutional decisions are made in the 21st century.
On-campus interim projects were also completed with faculty working in teams to work on a project that benefits each participating educational institution.
The Bluegrass Higher Education Consortium was chartered in 2012, under the Bluegrass Tomorrow 501c3 umbrella, with the mission of advancing the region both economically and educationally. The 12 participating regionally accredited four-year institutions are Asbury University, Berea College, Bluegrass Community and Technical College, Centre College, EKU, Georgetown College, Midway College, Morehead State University, Kentucky State University, Sullivan University, Transylvania University and the University of Kentucky. The presidents of each institution constitute the executive committee of the board of directors.