Women: Leading and Managing Change
in Higher Education…The HERS
Experience
Kristel Seth
Marilyn Hart
Director, Research and Sponsored Programs
Denver Institute, 2013
Director, Undergraduate Research Center
Bryn Mawr Institute, 2012
Live with Intention
 Be deliberate
 Join the conversation
 Address the need
Intentionally think about and plan for your future!
Women in Academic Leadership
 Women earn the majority of postsecondary degrees.
 Women are earning more professional degrees.
 Women are overall under-represented as faculty, midlevel and senior administration.
 Female PHD’s are more likely to obtain positions at
two-year versus four-year institutions.
 Women have career “set-backs” for personal
reasons.
 Female professors earn 80% of their male
counterparts.
Female University Presidents
 Women represent 27% of college presidents.
 At Community Colleges, 33% of presidents are
women.
 At Women’s Colleges, female presidents are the
norm.
Outline
 Opportunities (& Challenges)
 Career Advancement
 HERS Introduction
 Institute Overview
 Experience and Benefits
 Application Process and Selection
 Final Thoughts and Questions
Opportunities (& Challenges)
 List strengths, passions
 Identify opportunities
 Locate gaps, challenges
 Set goals, make a plan
 Balance life/work
Career Advancement
 Chart career aspirations
 Keep a journal, update your resume/CV, have an
electronic career file, start a gratitude folder
 Document success – create a PAR diary
< P=problem, challenge, issue, opportunity
< A=action taken to (re)solve
< R=results, benefit, outcome
*Tell a story about your accomplishments
 Transferability of skills
Career Advancement cont.
 Professional building blocks
< Networks, continuous learning, leadership experience,
institutional experience and service, professional
image
 Personal building blocks
< Balance, health, recreation, stress management,
relationship skills, dealing with failure, persistence,
reinvention, sense of humor
 Reflect on and utilize strengths
 Have a mentor, be a mentor
HERS:
Higher Education Resource Services
 An educational non-profit organization;
 Provides leadership and management development for
women in higher education administration;
 Prepared more than 4300 women faculty and
administrators for leadership roles;
 Alumnae over 1200 campuses: USA, South Africa,
Botswana, India, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Micronesia, and
Caribbean region; and
 Over 500 HERS alumnae now serve in senior level
positions.
HERS Institute Overview
Five themes of curriculum (2013):
I. Understanding the Higher Education Environment
II. Planning and Leading Change in the Academy
III. Managing and Investing Strategic Resources
IV. Engaging Individual and Institutional Diversity
V. Mapping Your Leadership Development
*chief university officer interviews, readings, self
assessments, leadership project
Take Charge: Leadership Project
Identify a project, develop a plan:
< Connected to mission, tied into strategic plan
< Strengths/weaknesses, opportunities/barriers
< Establish a team: stakeholders, allies, supporters,
mentors
< Vision for implementation, empowered to act
< Create timeline, communicate deliverables
< Track progress, make adjustments, celebrate
successes
HERS: The Experience,
The Benefits
 Institutional awareness,
university connections
 Intentional planning and goal
setting
 Network with a community of
powerful women
 Support and advocate
 Multitude of resources
MSU HERS Alumni
Bryn Mawr Summer Institute
Linda Duckett, 2000
Jean Haar, 2006
Jennifer Guyer-Wood, 2007
Deborah Jesseman, 2008
Marilyn Hart, 2012
Denver Summer Institute
Debra Schulz, 2009
Kimberly Greer, 2010
Rhonda Dass, 2011
Candace Raskin, 2012
Kristel Seth, 2013
Linda Jacoby, 2013
Wellesley Institute
Michelle Alvarez, 2012
Nancy Fitzsimons, 2012
Institute Locations & Dates
Apply for a Scholarship!
The President’s Commission on the Status of
Women (PCSW) is now accepting
scholarship applications.
A representative from MSU will attend one of
the annual HERS Institutes for women during
the 2013-2014 academic year.
The purpose of the Institute is to advance women
leaders in the middle and executive levels of higher
education administration.
Application Process
The MSU scholarship application process requires:
 completion of the HERS application form,
 self-descriptive letter,
 letter of recommendation from a supervisor, and
 resume.
More information on the application process is
available at the Commission’s website:
http://www.mnsu.edu/csw/hers.html
Review Process
Submit completed application packets:
 by January 24, 2014 ,
 to Jeane McGraw in WA 325.
Applications will be reviewed by the PCSW
and recommendations forwarded to
President Davenport.
Final Thoughts
 Live intentionally
 Set goals and plan for your aspirations
 Utilize professional development opportunities
 Document your successes
 Network, be an advocate for women
 Find a mentor, be a mentor
Questions?