Members of the Sanger Leadership Center team recently attended and presented at the 2024 Leadership Educators Institute (LEI), a conference dedicated to sharing best practices among higher education leadership educators. Held in Philadelphia, the trip also provided an opportunity to visit the McNulty Leadership Program at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
“Taking time away from our day-to-day work to engage in important conversations about trends, needs, and developments in our field is essential,” said Jeff Domagala, managing director of the Center. “Doing so as a team this year made the experience even more meaningful. We were able to compare notes and reflect on new practices we can bring back to Michigan Ross.”
The Sanger team presented two sessions at the conference. Domagala and Nicholas Viviano, program specialist, led a session titled “Elevating Your Leadership Communities: Cultivating Vulnerability through Peer Learning.” This session encouraged attendees to rethink how to deepen learning by incorporating peer-to-peer interactions and coaching opportunities. It showcased examples from two Sanger programs: the Ross Leaders Academy and Leading Inclusive Teams.
“I was thrilled to see attendees engaging with the interactive components of our session,” Viviano said. “There were plenty of questions throughout, and participants made good use of the worksheets we provided to apply what they learned at their own campuses.”
Michelle Austin, director of programming, tackled the challenge of teaching leadership skills to students with varying levels of experience in her session, “Scaling to Experience: Leadership Education Across Knowledge Levels.” Attendees completed a four-step workbook during the session.
“Many campuses serve students ranging from those fresh out of high school to seasoned professionals leading organizations,” Austin explained. “I shared Sanger’s approach to designing programs that meet the needs of all these students. We begin with a ‘customer discovery’ approach, often used in business, using tools like empathy mapping. The better you understand your students’ pains, gains, and experiences, the more effective your programming can be.”
Austin’s session also emphasized the importance of cross-campus partnerships in implementing leadership education. “It’s crucial to examine students’ curricular experiences and collaborate with academic offices and faculty to make leadership education accessible to all students — even those who may not have time to participate in co-curricular programming,” she said.
Both presentations sparked meaningful conversations and connections with leadership centers across the country, including the University of Tennessee, the University of Louisville, Gettysburg College, Indiana University, and others.
Following the conference, the Sanger team visited the McNulty Leadership Program at Wharton, where they met with its deputy director, Anne Greenhalgh, and other team members. “It was invigorating to discuss leadership education in the context of business students and to discover that many of our opportunities and challenges are similar,” said Suzy Skrtic, Sanger program specialist. The teams had in-depth conversations about strategy, fellowship programs, assessment, and coaching, and they plan to stay connected.
Armed with a wealth of notes, new ideas, LinkedIn connections, and future plans, the Sanger team is excited for the year ahead. “Our students and stakeholders will see some of the insights we gained implemented in our programs in 2025,” Domagala shared. “LEI was a fantastic experience for our team.”
Michelle Austin, Nicholas Viviano, & Jeff Domagala