Association for Collaborative Leadership

The resource for collaboration in higher education.


President's Update October 2018

Tuesday, October 30, 2018 9:00 AM | Deleted user

It was great to see so many of you in Norfolk, Virginia for the ACL Annual Conference and 50th Anniversary Celebration.  I was especially appreciative of the ACL alumni, former board members who made the effort to join us, and the many others who sent in their testimonies as to the important role ACL played in their professional development and support.    In fact, one alum shared thoughts after the event:

When I came to help celebrate ACL’s 50th anniversary I realized something:  I didn’t know how much I missed the organization!   The time in Norfolk brought back many memories of other conferences and work sessions—that were equal fun AND hard work.  How nice to be reminded of my professional life and the importance ACL played in it.”

ACL Emirati Board Members: Larry Dotolo, Fred Baus, Nicola Beltz, Alice Brown, Neal Abraham, Anneke Larrence, Jake Bishop, Susan Palmer, Lorna Peterson

50th Anniversary Dinner Celebration Attendees

The conference itself was a good blend of opportunities to learn about specific techniques and programs that our colleagues are using to serve their members and the big picture issues facing higher education. Bobby Scott, US Representative from Virginia and Peter Blake, Director of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, provide outlooks from the national and state levels respectively, and Robert Kelchen shared research from his recent book on higher education accountability. And we were happy have members from China and Brazil join us again this year. Above all it was a time to check in with colleagues who share an understanding of the unique challenges and opportunities inherent in this work. See more photos from the conference here.

If you attended the conference we are interested in your feedback; it is critical as we start working on plans for next year. If you haven’t already responded, please take a few minutes to share your thoughts with us on the Annual Conference Survey.

ACL Board Meeting

We were excited to welcome new ACL Board members Sarah Stone, Executive Director of the Five Colleges of Ohio, and Keith Marshall, Executive Director of the Big Ten Academic Alliance to our board meeting on October 16 and 17. One of our goals is to involve more ACL members in the committees that help the organization run. To that end we have created a marketing committee and a sponsorship committee. If you are interested in joining these groups or any of the other ACL Committees: Membership, New Member Support, Finance, Conference, Virtual Professional Development or Knowledge Creation – please let us know. We are also launching a Technology Assessment Task Force – to help us assess which technology tools and solutions will best serve the organization.  A quick email response to this newsletter is all it takes to get involved!

Save the Date!

ACL Conference 2019

The Lehigh Valley Association of Independent Colleges will host next year’s conference – October 9 -11, 2019. LVAIC will be celebrating their 50th Anniversary in 2019 and ACL is pleased to play a role  in marking their history. For those of you who are wondering – this is in Pennsylvania! Mark your calendars now.

ACL Summer Institute – Atlanta, Georgia

June 16-19  Hosted by Associated Colleges of the South

Last year we made the decision to offer this program every other year. The three-day curriculum is taught in an interactive workshop format with class size ranges from 12- 20 participants and experienced consortium leaders as faculty. This program consistently receives high marks from participants – which have included college presidents working to start a consortium, new executive directors, senior consortial staff and faculty leading collaborative projects.  Here’s what 2017 participants had to say: 

 “Nothing but praise! Worth every penny and worth my time.” 

 “Thank you so much for all your time and expertise! I learned a lot and look forward to maintaining the relationships I developed and applying the lessons I learned!”

 “Thank you so much for the opportunity! This was an absolutely worthwhile professional development experience and I gained a tremendous amount by attending. “

 “The Institute is a huge labor of love and quite honestly I don't think I've ever felt a part of such a supportive, collaborative effort that was so incredibly helpful and productive at the same time. I think you should add a box for participants to evaluate the networking opportunities, which is a huge part of the take-home from the Institute. I met so many people who helped me with my capstone project (including ALL the faculty who took so much time with each of us). THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING YOU DID TO MAKE IT SO SUCCESSFUL IN TERMS OF PROVIDING SUPPORT, NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES, AND IMPORTANT INFORMATION.” 

“Thanks for developing this Institute and for promoting a collaborative style of leadership. This was one of the best rewarding workshops I've been to.”

Upcoming Webinars: 

  1. Wednesday, November 7 from 12:00-1pm EST, "Shared Legal Services: A Simple and Sensible Solution to Cost Containment.," featuring R. Owen Williams (Associated Colleges of the South) and Jim Newberry (Steptoe & Johnson PLLC). Attendees will learn about how the initiative is helping ACS member campuses share the burden of addressing today’s challenging issues, including campus protests, academic freedom, sensitive data. 
  2. Tuesday, November 13th, 12 noon - 1 pm EST, New Funding Opportunities at The Teagle Foundation., TeagleFoundation Program Director Loni Bordoloi Pazich; Teagle Foundation Program Officer Desiree Vasquez Barlatt; SEPCHE Executive Director Beth Moy and BTAA Operations Coordinator Tim Newcomb 

ACL is now on LinkedIn–please follow us!  This is one more way we can stay in touch and expand our learning opportunities.  If you find an article you think will be of interest to you colleagues, have a new program to promote, or want to help your followers learn more about collaboration – share it here!

While those of you who know me can guess that I had many late nights in the past seven or so days watching a particular baseball team play their game to their best, it felt a little surreal to be celebrating amidst the heinous crimes in Kentucky, pipe bomb mailings across the country and the tragic events at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh.  I feel fortunate to be engaged in the work of higher education and the promotion of collaboration to advance that work.  It gives me continued hope when I sit in on a strategic plan presentation for one of our members and they name Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in their values statement.





Association for Collaborative Leadership is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization

Questions? Email admin@national-acl.org

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