Every year, the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) invites 28 representatives from colleges around the country to take part in the Senior Leadership Academy. Dr. David Kenley, associate history professor at Elizabethtown College, was invited.
“Provost Traverso contacted me and asked if I was interested in being nominated for the academy,” said Kenley in a phone interview. “I was very pleased to be nominated. I didn’t know much about it, but the more I researched it, the more excited I got.”
“The program is highly selective, and I was thrilled when David was selected to participate,” said Elizabethtown College provost Susan Traverso. “My enthusiasm was both for him and for the College. David’s participation in the SLA will increase the College’s national recognition, and I know that David will represent the College well in this national venue.” Traverso said that Kenley was not the first Elizabethtown faculty member to be nominated, but he is the first to be chosen for the academy.
The academy is set up to help people in their current positions, as well as future opportunities for leadership.”
Colleges and universities select and nominate mid-level administrators who they believe have the potential to rise to senior-level positions. The individuals chosen participate in two national seminars, in addition to webinars, structured mentorship guidance and individual activities designed to offer them experiences that expand on their current skill set and help them tackle issues about which they have little experience.
Dr. Kenley says that for him, the area where he wants to make the largest strides is athletics. While he has been involved with many on-campus organizations, athletics is not one of them. “I don’t know much about athletics, or the process,” he said. “It’s more than the game; it’s recruiting, maximizing, designing academic opportunities for students. Athletics are one thing I want to expand on. If that arises, I will be prepared to play a role.” The first national seminar took place in early November in Baltimore, Maryland. The second seminar will be in Washington, D.C., in June.
The CIC serves small to mid-sized liberal arts colleges in the United States. Its focus is providing services to campus leaders such as the ones offered in the Senior Leadership Academy, and its mission includes connecting campus leaders and forming collaborations, fostering institutional effectiveness and promoting high-quality education.
The Academy benefits not only the participants but higher education as a whole, wrote Richard Eckman, CIC president. “The need to prepare future leaders of colleges and universities has never been greater because the generation of people now in senior leadership positions on campus is rapidly approaching retirement.”
The council stated on its website that, since its 2010-2011 academy, 48 percent of participants have succeeded in achieving upward mobility. “The academy is set up to help people in their current positions, as well as future opportunities for leadership,” said Kenley. He currently serves as the director of Global Understanding and Peacemaking and as the vice president of the College’s Faculty Assembly. He has been teaching in the history department at Elizabethtown College since 2004. His research is focused on Asian history, mainly modern China. He has published several books on Chinese intellectual history, including “New Culture in a New World.”
“The skills and experiences I’ll gain will be immediately applicable for my current leadership positions, as well as future positions to serve the College,” he noted.