CVM faculty participate in variety of leadership programs

 

Dr. Jeff Abbott with AAVMC group.

Dr. Jeff Abbott, in back row, fifth from right, is shown with AAVMC Leadership Academy participants.  This program is one of several leadership-oriented programs that UF College of Veterinary Medicine faculty members are participating in. (Photo courtesy of Dr. Jeff Abbott)

By Sarah Carey

Several UF CVM faculty members and administrators have been actively involved in various programs recently to enhance their leadership skills within the veterinary profession and in general. Although several such programs are available at the national level, others are offered at UF.

In most cases, participants are nominated for these types of programs at the college’s top administrative levels, by the dean, a department chair or the UF Veterinary Hospitals chief of staff.

According to Dean James W. Lloyd, many of these programs have their genesis in national initiatives going back several years. These programs have focused on the current and future market for veterinarians and the need for veterinary institutions to do a better job of training students in skills other than the traditional basic and clinical sciences – skills such as problem-solving communications, the ability to work on teams, and management — which are increasingly important in today’s world.

The most recent iteration of these national initiatives has been the North American Education Consortium, commonly referred to as NAVMEC. Lloyd has been involved as a consultant in several of these initiatives, and helped create and implement the AAVMC program alluded to below.

A separate story will be forthcoming on communications-specific leadership efforts at the college.

Among the programs UF CVM faculty are involved in:

 Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges Leadership Academy

The AAVMC launched the Academy in 2012 to provide leadership development for emerging leaders in academia and provide a forum to build lasting ties between faculty members at veterinary schools and departments around the world.

The program is divided into three sessions, the third of which convenes just prior to the association’s annual conference in Washington, DC, and includes advocacy visits on Capitol Hill.

Among the topics covered in the program are calibrating the lens(es) of the inclusive leader; essential communication skills for leaders; media training; self-awareness as a foundation for successful leadership; managing conflict; when teams aren’t functioning; strategic thinking; leading change; academic leadership training and an insider’s guide to Washington.

Each member institution may enroll one faculty member in the program.

UF CVM participant for 2012-2013 was Dr. Jeff Abbott, associate professor in the department of infectious diseases and pathology. The college’s 2013-2014  representative is Dr. Carsten Bandt, an assistant professor of emergency medicine and critical care.

University of Florida Leadership Programs

UF offers a few campus leadership programs.

ALAP:

Dr. Dana Zimmel, chief of staff of the UF Veterinary Hospitals, Dr. Amara Estrada, associate professor of small animal cardiology; Dr. Rowan Milner, chairman of the department of small animal clinical sciences; and Dr. Dan Brown, an associate professor of infectious diseases, completed UF’s Advanced Leadership for Academics and Professionals (ALAP) program in 2010-2011, 2011-2012 and 2012-2013, with Milner and Brown being the most recent participants.

Former college dean, Dr. Glen Hoffsis, frequently served as a guest speaker.

Designed in cooperation with UF’s Office of the Provost, Faculty Senate, and Human Resource Services, this leadership program is for UF academics and professionals interested in focusing on more formal ways to contribute in leadership positions at UF as well as those who wish to further explore and develop their leadership skills.

IAL:

Dr. Pamela Ginn, associate dean for students and instruction, and Dr. Carlos Risco are participants in the Institute for Academic Leadership Department Chairs Workshop this month at the Mission Inn Resort, Howie in the Hills, Fla. The workshop is a two-session series, with one occurring in the fall and the next in the spring of 2014. Topics to be discussed at the September session include faculty evaluation, performance counseling, delegating and using committees and legal issues facing department chairs.

Milner completed the program last year.

UF Academy:

Three college faculty and staff members, including Dr. Iske Larkin, lecturer and educational coordinator of UF’s Aquatic Animal Health Program; Sheri Holloway, assistant director of the UF Small Animal Hospital; and Dieter Haager, chief financial officer of the UF Veterinary Hospitals have participated in another UF leadership program called the UF Academy.

Designed for emerging leaders, the UF Academy is a nine-month program that provides a UF-specific approach for up to 15 recognized star achievers who are “emerging leaders” at the University of Florida. Entering its tenth year, the UF Academy focuses on immersion in the university culture and exposure to its organizational structure.

Southeastern Conference Academic Consortium Academic Leadership Development Program:

Milner, the college’s small animal clinical sciences department chairman, is also one of three UF faculty members selected to serve as an ALDP Fellow in 2013-2014.

According to UF’s Office of the Provost, which sponsors the program, the ALDP mission is to identify, develop, prepare, and advance faculty as academic leaders in and for the SEC universities. By providing the knowledge and skills necessary for academic leadership, the program aims to assist in identifying and cultivating the next generation of leaders within the SEC institutions.

In addition to attending workshops with other SECAC/ALDP Fellows at the University of Georgia and the University of South Carolina in 2014, UF’s Fellows will participate in local leadership initiatives that will familiarize them with UF’s organizational structure and relationship to other state and regional institutions.

American Veterinary Medical Association

The AVMA’s Future Leader’s program develops the leadership skills and talents of young emerging leader veterinarians. Dr. Sarah Reuss, a clinical assistant professor in the department of large animal clinical sciences, has been selected to participate in the 2013-2014 program.

The association created the program as a means of identifying and sustaining veterinary leaders for all levels of organized veterinary medicine. Class participants receive the opportunity to enhance their individual leadership skills and to create useable tools for the wider veterinary profession. The program’s goal is to develop the strengths and talents of these emerging leaders, promoting their skills for the benefit of the veterinary workplace, organized veterinary medicine and society as a whole.

American Association of Equine Practitioners Emerging Leaders Workshop

The association has hosted a leadership development program in Kentucky.  Zimmel, the UF Veterinary Hospitals chief of staff, and Dr. Margo Macpherson, a professor of theriogenology, both participated in that program in the past. Zimmel participated in 2004, 2006 and 2008. Macpherson participated in 2008.

The three-day workshop had the goal of identifying rising equine practitioners who would be of great service to the equine veterinary profession in a leadership capacity. Participants were invited by the AAEP board of directors and were involved in sessions touching on such topics as emotional intelligence, communicating with the new generation of practitioners and running effective volunteer leader groups, such as committees.

HERS/Bryn Mawr Summer Institute

Graduates of this program include Zimmel, who attended this year (see story here) and Dr. Ruth Francis-Floyd, who attended in 2007.

The program is one of three summer institutes offered by the educational non-profit Higher Education Resource Services (HERS). Each summer since 1976, the HERS Bryn Mawr Summer Institute for Women in Higher Education Administration has provided a residential program with an intensive leadership and management curriculum for approximately 70 women faculty and administrators on the Bryn Mawr College campus.

HERS Institute participants generally hold mid- to senior-level positions and bring expertise from many academic disciplines and organizational specialties.  They also represent a range of ethnic and national groups, ages and years of experience in higher education and other related fields. Each of the three HERS Institutes deliberately seeks a diverse group of approximately 70 women leaders to share and learn from their multiple perspectives under the guidance of women faculty from higher education, national organizations, government and foundations.

 

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September 2013

Dr. Jeff Abbott with AAVMC group.

CVM faculty participating in variety of leadership programs

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