The Executive Leadership Academy (ELA), is a program designed to support mid-to-senior level leaders at the University of Iowa in their efforts to develop, enhance, and apply their leadership skills on campus.
Once selected to join the academy, members are assigned to a project team. Each project team consists of staff from a variety of departments and units across campus—each member with a unique set of skills and leadership qualities
With a project team in place, Kathryn Schwarm-Benson, Human Resources Leadership Development and Consultant/Leadership Coach, invites campus partners to collaborate with ELA participants to work on a strategic project that each team must direct and implement. The goals of the ELA program and the teams include increasing cross-institutional collaboration, expanding participants’ leadership skills, and enhancing a strategic, innovative campus culture.
This year, one of the three ELA teams has partnered with the Office of Teaching, Learning & Technology Center for Teaching, and Hancher Auditorium to sponsor The Largest Classroom on Campus—Connecting Hancher Across the Disciplines, a project designed to support faculty collaborations with Hancher and the Center for Teaching.
Liz McIntire, Director of Institutional Events for the Office of the President is one of the six team members involved in the project. McIntire says the team is working with the Center for Teaching and Hancher to communicate new and creative ways faculty can incorporate the services of the performing arts center and the new building itself into their students' learning experiences.
To that end, the team has created an opportunity on Thursday April 20, 3:15-6:00, for faculty members to learn from their peers who have collaborated in the past with the Center and Hancher to enhance course curricula.
McIntire says after meeting with Chuck Swanson, Director of Hancher Auditorium, and Jean Florman, Director of the Center for Teaching, the goal of their project has been to plant the seed for faculty members to grow and sustain The Largest Classroom on Campus project and reach as many students as possible each year.
Hancher will host the event, which will begin with an optional guided tour of the new building, followed by a panel discussion by faculty members who will share their experiences integrating Hancher resources into their courses. The evening will end with an ideation session where participants will brainstorm ideas for their own courses.
Jim Sayre, Associate Director for the Parking and Transportation Department, and member of The Largest Classroom on Campus ELA project says faculty panelists are excited to share their experiences collaborating with Hancher.
"It will be an informal and multidisciplinary event," he says, "We hope faculty members from all disciplines will attend and based on their curriculum, think of ways the infrastructure, building, and programs at Hancher can be incorporated into their specific courses and impact their students."
Whether it's attending a reading, a comedy show, a musical, or learning about the budgeting, marketing, or back-stage technical efforts that help create a great performance, collaborations between faculty members, the Center for Teaching, and Hancher can create unique, exciting, and academically rich learning experiences for UI students.
To learn more and register for the April 20th event please visit: https://teach.its.uiowa.edu/events/largest-classroom-campus-connecting-hancher-across-disciplines