One of three current strategic projects, the GLCA Academic Leadership and Innovation (GALI) series is the signature GLCA program that provides professional development and supporting communities of practice for faculty and administrators to become institutional stewards with the skills and institutional knowledge needed to provide leadership on programs, projects, and strategic priorities of the institution. Building on over two decades of workshops focused primarily on mid-career faculty, the GALI series has expanded to support multiple constituencies with programming delivered using multiple modalities.
GLCA currently offers the following in the GALI series:
Department Chair GALI
An in-person weekend-long workshop usually held in the fall. Each CAO nominates up to three new or relatively new department chairs to participate. Objectives of the workshop include:
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- Reviewing challenges and opportunities faced by our types of institutions
- Providing a broad understanding of institutional operations, decisions, and budgeting
- Exploring skills, tools and strategies to address a range of roles department chairs play
- Fostering a leadership mindset in support of the department and the institution
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Department Chair GALI workshops have been offered annually since the launch of the current strategic plan.
Administrator GALI
This program consists of an in-person two-day workshop followed by a series of virtual sessions throughout the academic year. The first Administrator GALI was held in 2023-24 and annually since. Institutional leadership nominates up to three administrators to participate. Objectives of the workshop include:
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- Providing administrators with an institution-wide understanding of institutional operations and decision making through a review of the workings, priorities, and challenges of five administrative divisions
- Developing administrators to be institutional stewards who can provide leadership around key institutional issues
- Prepare administrators to plan for their future direction(s) in higher education, aligned with their personal and professional values and in support of their institution’s priorities
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Pop-Up GALI
Pop-Up GALIs are single day workshops held on a GLCA campus focused on one or two issues of importance to that campus. Campuses may invite faculty, staff and administrators from nearby campuses to participate. Following is a list of Pop-Up GALIs held to date:
- Kalamazoo College, Winter 2024, with participation from Albion and Hope Colleges
- DePauw University, Winter 2025, with participation from Wabash College
- Kenyon College, Fall 2025
An institution interested in hosting a Pop-Up GALI should contact GLCA President Mickey McDonald ([email protected]).
Summit on Student Academic Success
The GLCA will hold a GALI Summit on Student Academic Success February 23-25, 2026 in Ann Arbor. Campus teams attending the summit will deepen their understanding of today’s students and focus on strategies to promote academic success through action and support both inside and outside the classroom. For more information on this Summit, please contact Colleen Monahan Smith ([email protected]).
GLCA Academic Leadership Fellows Program
This grant funded program is providing a cohort of ten Humanities faculty extensive professional and leadership development as they serve in a titled administrative role on their campus during the 2026-27 and 2027-28 academic years. More information can be found here.
More Information
With advice from institutional leadership, the GLCA will continue to develop programs for various constituencies and utilizing multiple modalities to meet the evolving needs of our institutions and their faculty and administrators.
For more information on this signature GLCA program, contact Mickey McDonald ([email protected]).