Professional Development Programs

Aspiring Leaders Seminar – The Leadership Project

The PhD Project is proud to host the Aspiring Leaders Seminar – The Leadership Project. This program was developed in partnership with AACSB and retired Dean Andy Policano in 2015. This program was designed to inspire the next generation of historically underrepresented minority business school faculty to take on administrative roles such as department head, dean, provost, and president.

Dean Policano took on the challenge of creating a valuable Aspiring Leaders Seminar (ALS) that brought together diverse business school faculty for this purpose. He used his book, “From Ivory Tower to Glass House,” as a foundation for the seminar due to its systematic treatment of both the challenges faced by higher education and potential strategies to address them. THis book covers many important topics relevant to academic leaders: funding, mediation and negotiation techniques, change management, crisis management, strategic planning, fundraising, and board development.
In 2022, Dean Policano handed the reins to three members of The PhD Project serving as business school deans to ensure the longevity of the ALS, which allowed him to retire from his many years of service to The PhD Project. Session facilitators come from R1, HBCU and Religious affiliated schools to ensure attendees have representation.

The program is an in-person, 1 ½ day meeting held during the summer. We invite approximately 20-25 historically underrepresented PhD Project faculty members who have achieved tenure at their institutions. These are individuals who may be currently serving in, applying for, or considering leadership positions in the future.

For more information on this exciting program, contact us at info@phdproject.org.

Strategies for Teaching Success – partnering with Bentley University

In July 2015, Bentley University piloted a program for PhD Project members to address teaching skills. This invitation only session has become an annual event, held each June for new and emerging faculty.  For more information contact Myrna Varner.

East Carolina Emerging Scholars

The East Carolina University (ECU) Emerging Scholars Symposium, held each October, is a program for scholars nearing the end of their terminal degree studies and recent graduates, including postdoctoral scholars. The program is designed to diversify East Carolina University’s faculty pipeline with emphasis on groups underrepresented in their field. Participants in this program will (1) engage with ECU academic leaders, (2) learn about faculty life at ECU, and (3) showcase their research.

Program Benefits

• Networking dinners with academic leaders and faculty

• Research presentations to faculty and students

• Campus and community tours

• Workshops and panel discussions regarding faculty careers at ECU

Please contact Myrna Varner by September 30th for details about this year’s event.

Providence College Case Writing Workshop

This summer case writing workshop, held in June, was motivated by the need for more diversity representation in business school curricula – especially in business school cases. Participants will hear from journal editors about how to source ideas and material for cases, about case publishing and about the importance of case teaching notes. AACSB staff will discuss the role case publishing can play in AACSB standards for faculty qualification and for impact. An interactive case “hackathon” will help you flesh out a case idea and develop a project plan for writing and submitting a case for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. This is open to both doctoral students and faculty members. There is no fee for the workshop, and you must commit to participating on both days.

Please contact Myrna Varner for details about this year’s event.