First Women's Leadership Exploration Program Cohort to Meet Today

The Women's Leadership Exploration Program launched by the UA ENGAGE initiative aims to increase the engagement of women faculty in leadership roles across the U of A. The program was planning to hold its first meeting Wednesday, Feb. 23, but due to the snow day this was turned into a virtual introduction. The first in-person session is now being held today, March 16. During this session participants will engage with a varied panel of women leaders on campus consisting of Ana Bridges, Mary Lacity, Kim LaScola Needy and Mary Savin.

We are so pleased to see the enthusiasm from the program participants, said Kim Needy, dean of the College of Engineering and program co-leader with Anne O'Leary-Kelly, senior associate of the Walton College of Business, and Lenny Ramsey, grant project manager for the NSF ADVANCE UA ENGAGE program. Clearly this program is needed and will help our campus take an important step towards preparing more women leaders.

The program recently named its inaugural cohort:

• Lisa Bowers, associate professor of communication sciences and disorders
• Nilda Burgos, professor of weed physiology and molecular biology
• Jingyi Chen, professor of physical chemistry
• Michelle Evans-White, professor and vice chair in biological sciences
• Kristen Gibson, associate professor of food safety and microbiology
• Fiona Goggin, professor of entomology and plant pathology
• Michelle Gray, associate professor and interim department head of exercise science
• Christa Hestekin, associate professor and Ansel and Virginia Condray Endowed Professorship in Chemical Engineering
• Julia Kennefick, associate professor of physics       
• Sherry Li, professor of economics
• Ashlea Milburn, associate professor of industrial engineering
• Clemencia Rojas, assistant professor of plant pathology
• Claudia Rosales, assistant professor of supply chain management
• Shannon Servoss, associate professor of chemical engineering and co-director of undergraduate research
• Marilou Shreve, assistant professor of nursing
• Susanne Striegler, professor of organic chemistry
• Shengfan Zhang, associate professor of industrial engineering
• Wen Zhang, associate professor of civil engineering

The program involves four two-hour sessions over a period of three months in the spring semester. This cohort-based program uses a flexible flipped classroom model, with pre-work (readings, videos) used as preparation for face-to-face sessions. These sessions will consist of discussions with peers, panels with women in leadership roles, as well as talks by experts.

The topics covered include:

1. Identification of leadership values and strengths,
2. Recognition and formation of critical leadership skills,
3. Creation of a toolkit that supports mental and physical health and
4. Construction of a leadership intention map to guide future experiences and exploration.