Leadership Programs

The President and Provost's Leadership Institute
The Women's Place Staff Leadership Series (SLS)

The President and Provost's Leadership Institute

The President and Provost's Leadership Institute (PPLI) focuses on long-term faculty leadership development. The primary goals of the institute are to create a pool of potential leaders from groups that traditionally have been underrepresented in key leadership roles and to develop leaders who can create a culture that is supportive of all faculty members.

Successful academic leaders create a productive place for everyone to work. They must be able to motivate people to work well together; academic leaders rarely exercise their full authority, relying instead on the leadership skills of persuasion, coaching and achieving consensus. The institute focuses on the nature of effective leadership rather than on the tasks for which academic leaders are responsible.

This 16-month program is designed to allow participants to engage in self-assessment and professional development. The leadership institute utilizes a variety of learning experiences, including:

• A series of self-assessments with associated group workshops to help participants understand themselves better and to learn more about interacting with others unlike themselves.
• A series of experiential workshops with special attention to conflict, negotiation and difficult conversations.
• Small group, interactive lunches with university leaders.
• Lunch presentations by university leaders.
• Opportunities to apply for faculty associate positions with The Women's Place and for further leadership training opportunities.

Background

The Ohio State University created The Women's Place (TWP) "to make Ohio State a cutting edge institution which supports and develops women's opportunities for achievement." The Women's Place was "designed to be a mechanism to influence critical institutional policies that impact women and the environment for women."

As part of its mission to create a climate conducive to women's opportunities for achievement, The Women's Place, under the auspices of the Office of Academic Affairs, and in collaboration with the Office of Human Resources, in 2005 began offering a leadership training program—The President and Provost's Leadership Institute—that focuses on long-term faculty leadership development.

The institute participants will be tenure-track or clinical-track faculty members (associate or full professors) who do not currently hold significant leadership positions, but who may be in a position to do so within two to five years. Up to 24 faculty can participate in each version of the institute.

The primary goal of the institute is to create a pool of potential leaders from groups that traditionally have been underrepresented in key leadership roles, and in particular in the role of department chairs and school directors. For most units this will be women and underrepresented minorities. However, majority men are welcome to be participants.

List of Institute Graduates

Application Process

The call for applications will take place every other spring. The next call will open in spring 2025.

Who is Eligible

Clinical or tenured faculty at the associate professor level or higher. Typical participants are faculty at one of these career stages:

• Not currently holding a significant leadership position, but interested in doing so in the next five years
• New to administrative positions (often as chair, director, or associate dean)
• New to leadership at Ohio State after transitioning from another institution

Eligibility is open to all Ohio State campuses and colleges. We welcome multiple participants from larger colleges (for example, Arts and Sciences and Medicine).

Up to 24 faculty can participate in each cohort of the institute.

PPLI Application Process

Faculty may nominate themselves for participation by following the steps below.

Then, before you fill out your application, gather the materials below. You cannot save an incomplete application and return later. You must input all the required information at one time; your information will only be saved when you click on the final submit button at the bottom of the page. Materials you'll need to have ready include the following: 

• Answer to the essay question in the application
• 1-2 page letter of interest
• Brief CV
• Letter of commitment that must be submitted by an administrator to whom you report -- see below (this can be submitted after your application)

Applications also require a letter of commitment from an administrator to whom you report (chair, dean, director, or vice provost). Letters of commitment should be submitted separately and confidentially by the administrator to womensplace@osu.edu.

Nominees should confirm that they have financial and logistical support for participating in the program. For example, faculty may need to agree with their chairs to an adjusted teaching schedule or workload to enable regular attendance.

More About the Program

Here’s what PPLI alum have to say about the program:

“I have become more aware of my own strengths and of ways to manage people with different strengths. It's been eye opening to see the effects of putting the principles into practice both with my own research team and at the department level.”

“It has been really effective to hear from leaders across the university and to learn about their leadership journey … . The networking opportunities have also been very valuable, both within the cohort and with senior leaders.”

“I truly enjoyed this opportunity and will definitely recommend it to others at the university.”

SCHEDULE: The cohort meets every other Friday from 1-3:30 pm

COST: The cost of the program for each participant, to be covered by the participant’s department or college, is $2,500 for the full 16-month program. Fees cover expenses for books, materials, external speakers, assessments, and other activities. The Women’s Place requests payment of the program fee 60 days in advance of the beginning of the program.

TENTATIVE TOPICS FOR THE PROGRAM:

• Career Mapping
• Moving from Professoriate to Administration
• Leading Diversity & Inclusion Initiatives
• Mindfulness at Work
• Identifying Your Strengths
• Principles and Practices of Fiscal Decision-Making
• Managing Employees and Difficult Conversations
• Strategic Planning with Data & Metrics
• Leading through Change and Crisis

For questions, please contact womensplace@osu.edu.

If you need to access this application in another format, please contact womensplace@osu.edu.

The President & Provost's Leadership Institute (PPLI) will include accommodations for individuals with disabilities; requests for accommodations during the program can be made when applicants are accepted for participation.

2023-24 PPLI Application

The Women's Place is accepting applications for the 2024-25 cohort. Applications are due by July 15, 2024. Details, along with a link to apply, are found on the page linked via the button below.

The Women's Place Staff Leadership Series (SLS)

The Staff Leadership Series (SLS) focuses on experiential leadership skill building and development for Ohio State staff. To help achieve The Women's Place (TWP) goal of expanding opportunities for women's growth, leadership, and power at the university, the year-long SLS will expand leadership capacity; facilitate skills development to help staff become more effective, innovative and inclusive leaders; and create a pool of potential staff leaders from groups that have been traditionally underrepresented in key leadership roles.

Participants will meet regularly for workshops and group discussions, learning from guest facilitators and self-reflection. They will also have the opportunity for informal group gatherings with senior staff women at the university and peer mentoring.

Members of SLS cohorts are expected to be able to participate in the series as part of their typical work hours and should not be utilizing comp time, sick time or vacation time to complete the program.

While topics change from year to year, the following are commonly offered:

The SLS brings the One University concept to life by diminishing internal boundaries, promoting sharing of information, and facilitating university-wide teamwork.

We strive to represent the university community’s diversity in the series and encourage people of all genders and identities to apply.

SLS APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

To learn who is part of the SLS community, download the list of graduates.

SLS Graduates 2005-2023