Higher Expectations Workshops

With my co-author Roberta Hawkins, I’m pleased to facilitate workshops based on the aims of our book Higher Expectations, namely, providing practical guidance on navigating academia for people who want to improve their own day-to-day work lives and create better conditions for everyone.

Workshops will assist attendees to identify how systemic and institutional challenges are affecting their work in areas such as teaching, research, service, administration, mentorship, graduate training, and more. 

The workshops will include tailored prompts, exercises, and expert guidance to help participants generate concrete steps they can immediately implement alongside longer-term and collective strategies for institutional change. We aim to leave participants with a sense of renewed hope for a better academia and feeling energized to be a part of the change. 

We will customize the workshop themes and exercises based on factors such as the career stage of participants and the concerns and goals of the group. For example, we can offer workshops tailored to graduate students and post docs considering careers in academia, early career faculty, those entering leadership positions, contingent faculty, or those who work together in a lab, department, or team.

Workshops can be held in person or virtually and can run from 90 minutes to three hours. Please don’t hesitate to reach out Leslie to discuss options including theme, timing, and pricing.

Professional Development Workshops

I offer professional development workshops online and in-person. I’m happy to work with groups of graduate students, post-docs, and faculty. Topics include:

• strategic planning
• preparing academic job applications
• time management
• research program development
• grant writing
• book proposal preparation
• and more!

I customize all seminars to match your group’s needs. In addition, participants will receive custom workbooks and presentation slides to help them put ideas into action.

Thanks for a very motivating seminar and the resources – I am convinced I need to implement my own strategic plan as an early career researcher.

– Participant in Planning with Purpose

Sample seminar: Planning with Purpose

This presentation take participants through the steps of creating a personal Strategic Plan for their research program and/or career. It’s suitable for everyone from graduate students to senior faculty. We work through the process of aligning your vision, mission, and values with concrete goals, objectives, and actions.

This group seminar includes a take-home workbook that participants can use to generate their own plans.

The 1-hour version of the seminar includes a presentation with time for questions. The 2-hour version builds in workshop time so participants can get a start on filling in the various elements of their personal plans.

Testimonials from Planning with Purpose Participants

The word cloud of examples was so helpful, as well as showing the predicted effects/after-effects of having a mission vs. no mission. The practical application and examples were the most personally useful and valuable.

Hearing you talk through identifying our visions and missions. I can relate to your examples of the person with and without a strategic plan. I like the example of how we can apply this process to our academic careers.

Defining and specifying each of the aspects in the strategic planning tree was helpful. It was also useful to see colleagues and contemporaries interested in these aspects of their own work.

Find out more about workshops

If you’re interested in having me join your group for a workshop, please reach out via my contact page. I’ll be happy to correspond about topics, timing, price, and any other questions you might have.