The Collaborative at CU Denver
Developing Equity Leaders for Organizational Change
Shared Equity Leaders (SEL) position institutions to engage in forward thinking to support the success of all faculty, staff, and students. Dozens of institutions have implemented the Shared Equity Leadership Framework to assess policies, practices, and procedures. The implementation of this framework benefits individual leaders and their collective efforts to effect systemic change.
Utilizing a research-driven approach in collaboration with our equity-focused higher education doctoral program, University of Colorado Denver’s School of Education and Human Development, led by renowned equity scholar Dean Marvin Lynn, will launch the Higher Education Shared Equity Leadership Collaborative (The Collaborative) on September 15, 2024. This effort is led by Executive Director, Dr. Teara Flagg Lander who is known for her development of innovative and equity-centered programming that advances systemic change.
The Importance of Shared Equity Leadership
The Collaborative at CU Denver enables higher education executive leaders and teams to develop equity mindedness in an inclusive and collaborative environment and serves as an important element in the program’s design. Estela Bensimon who is credited for the equity mindedness term (Bensimon, 2007)tooltip along with Adrianna Kezar, PhD, and colleagues at the University of Southern California researched and developed the shared equity leadership model (Kezar, et al.,2021)tooltip. Leaders engage in a personal journey toward critical consciousness, further understanding and defining values and practices for their institution that creates an understanding and centering of student needs. The effective implementation of shared equity leadership provides accountability and sustainability to their organizations.
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The Purpose of the Collaborative
The Collaborative develops executive leaders who will incorporate and implement shared equity leadership through their institutions. During a year-long process, executive teams will be challenged to implement Shared Equity Leadership (SEL) as a foundation for decision making and actionable measures regarding organizational change, learning and development to support student success initiatives, and collaborative leadership efforts. The model will enable participants to create an interpersonal, strategic, and functional shared equity leadership philosophy that integrates with the institutional Strategic Plan and engages all stakeholders.
Structure and Commitment
September 15, 2024
Launch Date
November 1, 2024
Application Open
Interest Form Due
January 10, 2025
Application Due
February 1-15, 2025
Interviews
March 1, 2025
Executive teams selected
April 1-July 1, 2025
Pre-Work
July 7-11, 2025
Immersive Week
August 1, 2025
Executive mentor assigned
August - 2025-2026 Academic Year
Professional development and executive mentor coaching
This opportunity begins with an orientation led by our Executive Director, which will be followed by curated pre-work assignments to ensure there is a foundational understanding of their campus community prior to the week-long immersive experience on the CU Denver campus. During the onsite experience, each executive team member will work on their individual understanding of shared equity leadership, their collective team approach and understanding of shared equity leadership. They will also continue reflecting and planning ways to implement shared equity on their campus.
Executive Coaching
Next, leaders will be intentionally paired with an executive mentor who will meet with the designated executive team once a month to ensure the execution of the Shared Equity Leadership Plan.
Learning Outcomes
As a result of successful participation in The Collaborative the institution will be positioned to:
- Build institutional capacity for a Shared Equity Leadership (SEL) that embodies an inclusive culture when examining all organizational operations.
- Create a collaborative equity serving vision and philosophy to facilitate organizational changes in thinking, doing, and reflecting that ensures student and institutional success.
- Embrace disruption by encouraging openness and connectedness to create productive processes for organizational transformation.
- Generate sustainable models for individual and organizational learning that supports continued infusion of SEL strategies.
- Institute meaningful accountability systems to measure the impact of SEL practices.
- Establish learning communities for The Collaborative teams that provide ongoing support for the integration of the SEL model.
Suggested Executive Team Members
The intended executive team members should be those who hold a significant executive function like but not limited to the President, Chancellor, Provost, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operations Officer, Vice President, or Vice Chancellor. Additionally, executives responsible for the financial, student, and academic functions of the institution are encouraged to attend. The size of executive teams can range from five to ten participants.
Cost
The cost of working with The Collaborative is competitively priced to meet current higher education and industry standards while aligning with the values that we espouse as equity leaders. The base price is $30,000 for a minimum of three team members up to five team members. We may be able to accommodate larger teams and can provide a quote upon request.