Program Overview

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 TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP FROM THE INSIDE/OUT
Presenter: Dwight Perry, Senior VP/Education & Provost — Moody Bible Institute (IL)
Overview: Transformational leadership is an approach to leadership that best protects the heart of the leader. Explore a biblical model of transformational leadership that begins with a leader’s character and builds from there versus transactional leadership.

• Learn the critical question that every person wants to be assured of concerning those in leadership
• Understand the differences between transactional vs. transformational leadership
• Discover the pitfalls to sustained transformational leadership
• Capture the lessons learned from the life of a transformational leader; the Story of Joseph, Genesis 37-50

 SHEPHERDING THE FACULTY — LIVING IN THE GRACE/EXCELLENCE TENSION
Presenter: Eric Bargerhuff, Vice President Academic Affairs — Trinity College of Florida (FL)
Overview: In general, leading a college faculty is complex and challenging. Leading faculty in the context of biblical higher education has an additional challenge due to the tension of demonstrating grace while also expecting excellence.  Learn some key shepherding strategies that you can use to lead a faculty in a manner that demands excellence while also demonstrating grace, including . . .

• How to create a culture of trust; the first building block of a flourishing CAO/faculty relationship
• How to lead from a position of humility
• The essence of leading from a shepherding perspective
• Strategies you can use to navigate the grace/excellence tension

NAVIGATING THE CAO/HR RELATIONSHIP
Presenter: Mark Griffin, CEO — In His Name HR, Lancaster (PA)
Overview: One of the most critical relationships within higher education is between the CAO and the HR office.  Learn from a seasoned human resource officer about strategies you can use to ensure a strong professional relationship that contributes to organizational success. Explore . . .

• The key issues that the CAO and the HR office share including employee recruitment, interviewing, hiring, firing, Title IX, employee evaluation, and the impact of labor law
• Strategies that help build a strong relationship between the CAO and the HR office
• The pitfalls to avoid in leading the faculty from an HR perspective
• The value of a robust faculty evaluation process and how it contributes to professional growth and excellence in the classroom

 BUILDING A CULTURE OF QUALITY ASSURANCE AND IMPROVEMENT
Presenter: Lisa Beatty, Director — ABHE Commission on Accreditation (FL)
Overview: As the chief academic officer, it is your responsibility to cultivate a culture of quality assurance and improvement.  An effective culture is one that does not require a restart every 10 years in rhythm with accreditation renewal activities.  Hear from ABHE’s new Commission on Accreditation Director, Lisa Beatty, as she unpacks strategies you can use to build a culture of quality assurance and improvement.

• Recognize the relational dynamic between quality assurance and improvement
• Learn the importance of building an iterative culture of quality assurance and improvement
• Discover strategies to avoid falling into a 10-year cycled pattern of quality assurance and improvement
• Connect your quality assurance and improvement activities into your budgeting and planning efforts

CURRICULUM THAT CONNECTS WITH GENERATION Z
Presenter: John Plake, Director, Ministry Intelligence — American Bible Society (PA)
Overview: For 11 years, the American Bible Society has conducted groundbreaking research related to people’s engagement with the Word of God.  Emerging trends will inform how Bible colleges should shape their curricular approaches when designing a scope and sequence that effectively engages today’s Gen Z learner.

• How Gen Z engages with faith, the Bible, and the Church differently from preceding generations.
• The latest research on the spiritual needs of Gen Z in the context of biblical higher education
• Connecting your curriculum to the context of America’s emerging adults
• A strategy to involve faculty in key conversations around biblical engagement research and its impact on curricular design

 THE IMPORTANCE OF A CURRICULAR RESPONSE TO ISSUES OF RACE AND ETHNICITY
Presenter: Charles Ware, Executive Director, Grace Relations — College of Biblical Studies-Houston (TX)
Overview: How well does your curriculum address racial tensions?  Students expect and need to engage in the complex conversations facing our culture from a biblical perspective with today’s heightened sensitivity to race and ethnicity.  Engage with a distinguished leader at one of ABHE’s most diverse colleges who is passionate about a proper curricular response to racial tensions grounded in biblical and theological principles. Discover . . .

• God’s mind and heart for unity with diversity   
• The value of a curricular audit to help identify how you address issues of race and ethnicity in the classroom and ways to engage your faculty in designing a curricular response that is biblically and theologically grounded
• Strategies to support continued conversation and maturity of thought around issues of race and ethnicity
• Potential pitfalls for your efforts to lead faculty through the complex conversations of racial tensions

 NAVIGATING BALANCE — ACADEMIC FREEDOM, RELIGIOUS TRADITION, & CRITICAL THINKING
Presenter: Jena Dunn, Provost — Stark College & Seminary (TX)
Overview: Balancing academic freedom and religious traditions can be difficult. Often, we create statements and practices which are denominationally narrow. This approach can limit critical thinking and an appropriate level of wrestling with nuanced Biblical and theological concepts. Consider distinctly biblical academic freedom statements and practices which also encourage high-level critical thinking in the classroom, including . . .

• Key issues surrounding narrow academic freedom statements and practices
• Faculty conversations regarding academic freedom, religious tradition, & critical thinking
• A strategy to assess your current academic freedom statement and practices
• Strategies to encourage critical thinking in the classroom without abandoning religious tradition

 DEVELOPING CURRICULUM WITH FULL FACULTY BUY-IN AND OWNERSHIP
Presenter: Leon Miles, Executive Vice President — Institute for Lutheran Theology (SD)
Overview: Curriculum development can be a slow and painstaking process that often results in a mediocre product with little faculty ownership. Learn how to engage the faculty in a healthy process that leads to a robust curriculum and a high level of ownership.

• Develop a manageable process that engages key stakeholders
• Understand pitfalls that can take the process off track
• Discover strategies to successfully navigate through potential barriers to success
• Identify effective curricular implementation strategies

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