CHERD Academic Leadership Program for Women Administrators
Objectives of the Workshop
1. To enhance awareness of self in relation to workplace roles in the academy.
2. To provide current knowledge, frameworks and insights to assist in addressing
the challenges faced by women administrators.
3. To provide a forum where women administrators in higher education can discuss,
with their peers, issues which present opportunities and challenges for them.
4. To begin the development of strategies to address the issues identified
The workshop will involve small group and plenary discussions and there will be an
opportunity for individual consultations with seminar leaders.
Introduction
This program has been developed in response to an expressed need for a course focused
specifically on the needs of women administrators in the college and university sector. It
is intended to complement and supplement, but not duplicate or unduly overlap with,
CHERD’s other programs, including SUAC, UMC and CISAS. It is designed for women
administrators in positions with supervisory responsibilities and the opportunity to have a
significant impact on work teams charged with strategic responsibilities for which they
will be held accountable. Those who will gain most from the program will currently be in
such administrative positions or on the brink of taking them on. Emphasis will be on
increasing our collective awareness and understanding of the opportunities and
challenges in the higher education workplace and how we can best respond.
Seminar Leaders
SHEILA BROWN
Sheila Brown is a Halifax, NS based higher education consultant, specializing in
professional development for university and college faculty and administrators An
Honours graduate of Cambridge University, she also holds an MA and PhD from the
University of Alberta. After an extensive career in higher education and administration
she served as President and Vice-Chancellor of Mount Saint Vincent University for ten
years, a position from which she retired in 2006. She has held positions in four Canadian
universities, large and small, east and west, as faculty member, Department Chair, Dean
and Academic Vice-President. She has been honoured with the Queen’s Jubilee Medal
and received the Distinguished Member Award of the Canadian Society for the Study of
Higher Education in 2006. She was selected five times as one of Atlantic Business
Magazine’s “Top 50 CEOs in Atlantic Canada” and, in 2005, she was one of the first four
inductees into the “Top 50 CEOs in Atlantic Canada Hall of Fame
DALLAS CULLEN
Dallas Cullen was a faculty member in the School of Business at the University of
Alberta, where she was also Chair of the Women’s Studies Program from 1998 to 2006.
She has a B.A. from the University of Alberta, an M.Sc. in Psychology from Iowa State
University, and a Ph.D. in Experimental Social Psychology from Ohio State University.
She has taught undergraduate and graduate courses on gender issues in organizations for
over 30 years, and has been involved in management training programs in China and
Africa. At the University of Alberta, she was a founding member of both the Academic
Women’s Association and Women in Scholarship, Engineering, Science and Technology
(WISEST).She has done research on occupational segregation, on women and leadership
in sports organizations, and the recruitment and retention of women in science and
engineering careers. Her current scholarly focus is a feminist critique of work motivation
theories.
SHEILA DEVINE
Sheila Devine is the Director of Student Recruitment at Memorial University of
Newfoundland. She has previously held senior administrative positions at the University
of Calgary, Queen’s University and the University of Victoria. She has held the positions
of Associate Registrar, Director of Admissions and Legal Counsel, and has also served in
an advisory capacity to senior university officers. Sheila has given numerous national and
international seminars and lectures on universities and the law.
Outline of Topics
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Current status of women in academia
Issues of concern to women administrators
Success and derailment factors in breaking the “Glass ceiling”
Sex role stereotypes
Role models and mentoring
Maximizing the benefits of networking
Leadership styles
Fairness, equity and human rights issues
Approaches to leading change
Mobilizing people to achieve change