Women in Higher Education Leadership Summit (WHELS ll)

Location

TBD

$1,049 Early Bird Admission

The Women in Higher Education Leadership Summit's (WHELS) purpose is twofold: 1) to provide higher education leaders with the tools and education to meet the challenges that they face in their workplace, 2) to address the issues specific to women and leadership and develop women's individual leadership capacity. 

The Women in Higher Education Leadership Summit ll (WHELS ll) will build upon the work and development of the first WHELS experience. Participants will revisit and continue to build upon their leadership development plan while expanding their capacity for advanced leadership. This year, we will work with the theme "Conscious Decisions in Chaotic Times" and examine the chaos that finds itself in higher education. We will attempt to understand the depth of the issues within higher education, with a willingness to go beyond the quick fixes and generate ideas for how to 'hold steady,' have meaningful conversations, and build tolerance for tension and complexity.

How does the summit prepare women leaders?

Individualized approach

WHELS is not about giving answers to leaders. It's about developing people's capacities to respond to current higher education-related challenges. We help leaders to better understand their values and their personal tendencies when relating to others. The Summit consists of a variety of activities-including value card exercises, paper/pencil self-assessments, ethical dilemmas, drawing activities, acting workshops and motivational speakers. All participants complete a Leadership Circle® 360 survey and the Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator and receive personal coaching based on survey results. Through this approach, WHELS helps leaders to formulate their own visions for change and to implement solutions appropriately.

Leadership education

USD is at the forefront of leadership education. In 1980, it founded the first doctoral program of leadership in the United States. The Summit is staffed by professors from USD's School of Leadership and Educational Sciences with research expertise in women leadership and higher education issues, as well as established experts in leadership development who many years of practical expertise in the field. Summit activities address themes such as leaders as learners, data-based decisions, integrated and strategic planning, viewing campus cultures as systems, multi-cultural aspects of leadership, student success strategies, ethics, and current college and university issues.

The learning community

WHELS brings together leaders from all sectors of higher education across the nation, and internationally, providing opportunities for interaction between leaders through small and large group activities throughout the Summit. We also have special events and workshops during the Summit in order to encourage our participants to share their experiences and insights with one another. We also encourage our participants to go on outings with other participants and to take advantage of the beautiful San Diego area to build up their networks. Many of our participants also choose to stay on our beautiful campus grounds during the conference in order to further enrich their communal learning experience.