GW’s Academic Leadership Academy Graduates its Sixth Cohort

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The tension between the public leadership roles that professors, administrators, doctors and others play and the private selves that act in those roles has been on Suse Anderson's mind. Anderson, head of the Museum Studies Program in the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design within the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences (CCAS), presented a short talk at the recent graduation ceremony of the sixth cohort of the George Washington University's Academic Leadership Academy (GWALA).

She started thinking about this tension, Anderson said, when Forrest Maltzman, professor of political science, mentioned what he thought was a casual conversation. At the time, Maltzman was GW's provost, and he saw that his interlocutor interpreted his comments as having much greater significance than they were intended to carry.

"Being in a leadership position changes the significance of what we say and do," Anderson said. "As leaders, our words are imbued with meaning. The decision to attend an event or speak up for an issue-or not to-has symbolic power. It may suggest to an onlooker what our institutional priorities are."

A simple way that people in leadership roles can help others see them in a more realistic light is by admitting when they've made a mistake, Anderson said.

"Such moments are often critical tools for cracking open the mask of leadership and reasserting ourselves as human," she added.

Created in 2019, the GWALA program helps faculty and staff strengthen their leadership muscles and functions, in part, as a sort of farm team for future administrators. Nominations for the next cohort will be opening in mid-May, with details to be announced. Eligible candidates must be full-time employees who have worked at the university for at least one year. Individuals from all academic units across the university are welcome.

GWALA participants meet throughout the academic year to discuss relevant topics and hear from guest speakers. Apart from the leadership training course, participants say the opportunity to interact with peers across the institution is a welcome and valuable experience. The graduating cohort meets in the spring for a luncheon and graduation ceremony, where several members make short presentations. Others describe their work in posters, which line the walls of the room where the event is held, and in blog posts. This year's event was attended by incoming Provost Edward J. Balleisen as well as several deans.

Emily Hammond, vice provost for faculty affairs and professor of law, made brief remarks of welcome and, later, in conclusion. Several participants fondly cited a phrase they attribute to Hammond: "Feedback is a gift." Jennifer Abbruzzese, assistant provost for administration and operations, served as emcee for the event.

Presenter Rochelle Mills-Garcia, director of Disability Support Services, talked about a new program in her office, the GW Neuro Network. She had been thinking about how to better assist students on the autism spectrum ever since she worked with an academically bright student who asked her basic questions about how to do laundry. She realized then that some students required support apart from housing and dining accommodations and the like.

"A lot of times in our work, we are behind the scenes doing a lot of connections and shepherding our students to the right folks," Mills-Garcia said. "I want to make sure that we're not letting these students fall through that gap. Clean sheets are a godsend, but if there are other important things like finding a job, like graduating, that we are missing, I want to make sure we're supporting our students."

The new program, she said, will help bring in students who may not want to attend here without such a program, and will also have a positive impact on retention. It will also help them prepare for life after graduation.

Presentations were also made by Natalie Houghtby-Haddon, executive director of the Center for Excellence in Public Leadership (CEPL) at GW; Jungho Suh, director of the Korean Management Institute and a teaching assistant professor of management in the School of Business; Lynn Westwater, chair of the Department of Romance, German and Slavic Studies; and Tara Sinclair, professor of economics and international affairs.

Other members of the sixth GWALA cohort include Lorien Abroms, associate dean for Ph.D. and M.S. programs and professor of prevention and community health (GWSPH); Gina Adam, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering in the School of Engineering; Carmia Caesar, associate dean for experiential programs and equality and director of the clinical program (GW Law); Manjari Dimri, co-director and discipline lead, M.D. Program and associate professor of biochemistry and molecular medicine (SMHS); Sean Dolan, assistant programs director, Asian Studies Suite (Elliott School of International Affairs); Cynthia Dowd, department chair and professor of chemistry (CCAS); Heather Hoffman, professor and vice chair of biostatistics and bioinformatics (GWSPH); Feifang Hu, department chair, professor of statistics (CCAS); Benjamin Jacobs, program director, Israel education and research associate professor, Experiential Jewish Education (GSEHD); Nina Kelsey, associate professor of public policy and international affairs and director of the International Science and Technology Policy M.A. Program (Elliott School of International Affairs); Subrata Kundu, professor of statistics and director, Data Science Program (CCAS); Rebecca Morrow, director of student services (School of Nursing); Billy Mullins, interim director of the Accelerated B.S.N. program (School of Nursing); Voni Pamphile, associate professor of strategic management and public policy (GW Business); Jonathan Ragone, executive director, undergraduate studies and student success (GW Engineering); Sean R. Roberts, professor of the practice of international affairs and dean of undergraduate studies (Elliott School of International Affairs); Angela Stanley, associate professor and interim director of the Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Program (School of Nursing); and Andrew Wiss, assistant dean for academic innovation and professorial lecturer (GWSPH).