Seeking to improve the leadership capacity of academic and administrative leaders and to build a culture of leadership development across the university, the Rutgers Center for Organizational Leadership offers a suite of collaborative leadership education initiatives for aspiring and current leaders at Rutgers.

The Center recently selected its new cohorts for three of their signature leadership programs, the Rutgers Leadership Academy, the Academic Leadership Program-RBHS, and the PreDoctoral Leadership Development Academy.

Distinguished Professor of Communication at SC&I, Brent Ruben, who is Executive Director of the Rutgers Center for Organizational Leadership, said, “The need for effective leadership across Rutgers University and higher education continues to grow in importance. These programs are an excellent example of what is possible when we leverage the knowledge, talent, and capabilities that exist across our university.”

This year, two SC&I faculty members nominated Rutgers colleagues for the Rutgers Leadership Academy, and one SC&I administrator will attend as a member of this year’s RLA cohort. RLA is a one-year program (formerly a two-year program) for mid-career faculty and staff from across the university who aspire to broadened leadership roles within their units, the university, and/or higher education, more generally.

SC&I’s Assistant Dean For Instructional Support and Assessment, Sharon Stoerger, was nominated for RLA by SC&I’s Dean for Programs and Professor of Communication, Dafna Lemish. “Through the RLA,” Stoerger said, “I hope to tailor my existing skills to help me make impactful changes to higher education. Part of this work begins at ‘home’ and involves developing skills that will enable me to be a more effective leader within SC&I. Being innovative, creative, and brainstorming with people are activities that resonate with me, and I would like to learn how to use these skills in a more systematic and targeted way in order to transform a vision into reality. I want to lead the changes that improve the teaching and learning experience at Rutgers. In the (modified) words of Mahatma Gandhi, I want to be the change that I wish to see in higher education.”

SC&I’s Teaching Professor Richard Dool, who is Director of the Master of Communication and Media Program, nominated Robyn Ginese, Director for Leadership and Experiential Learning at Rutgers Student Affairs, who will also participate in the program this year.

 In addition to the Rutgers Leadership Academy, the Academic Leadership Program at RBHS (ALP-RBHS) provides a venue for faculty administrators from across Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences (e.g., chairs, program directors) to examine and further develop their leadership, management, and organizational competencies with attention to current biomedical and health sciences challenges and opportunities at the national and state level, and within Rutgers and RBHS. Developed in collaboration between the Rutgers Center for Organizational Leadership and RBHS leaders, faculty, and staff, the one-year program delivers a blend of concepts, best practices, methods, and tools to enhance participants’ leadership competencies and ability to advance their individual units and RBHS more broadly. Part-Time Lecturer in SC&I’s Department of Communication, Christine Goldthwaite, serves as the Senior Program Administrator for this program.

 In its ninth year, the PreDoctoral Leadership Academy (PLDA), is a one-year program designed to provide doctoral students from a broad array of academic disciplines with the supplemental knowledge and skills needed for academic and administrative leadership roles. Six doctoral students from SC&I have completed this program, and Henry Boachi, a current doctoral student, was selected to participate in the 2019-2020 PLDA cohort.

Part-Time Lecturer in SC&I’s Department of Communication, Ralph Gigliotti, who is Director of Leadership Development and Research, Rutgers Center for Organizational Leadership, said,  “We are thrilled to welcome such a diverse and motivated group of participants for each of our signature leadership development programs. We continue to learn from the participants of our programs, and we use their feedback to continually refine and improve the experience for future groups.”  

The list of incoming 2019-2020 cohorts can be found below:

Rutgers Leadership Academy Cohort

Academic Leadership Program-RBHS Cohort

PreDoctoral Leadership Development Academy Cohort

For more information about the Department of Communication at the Rutgers School of Communication and Information (SC&I), click here.