Faculty Leaders Series

The Faculty Leaders Series equips department chairs, division chiefs and faculty directors with the knowledge and skills they need for success. Faculty leaders will learn how to develop leadership skills, build community and manage people, facilitate change and solve problems commonly encountered in their roles.

Monthly lunches cover a rotation of valuable leadership topics such as managing conflict, managing staff, difficult conversations, constructive feedback, strategic planning and leadership during challenging times, as well as topics specific to academic leadership such as equitable distribution of service, effective department mentoring programs and developing and promoting junior faculty.

Sessions include discussions with peer faculty leaders and are taught by representatives from key units at the University, including the Center for Leadership, the Office of the Ombudsperson, and the Faculty Wellness Program.

Registration and contact: Faculty leaders will receive emails to register for each session. If you have questions, please contact Joan Johnson, Senior Director for Faculty, Office of the Provost, at faculty@northwestern.edu.

2026-2027 Schedule
Time: noon-1:30 p.m., lunch provided.
Check back for updates to schedule, registration links and program descriptions.

Table showing schedule for Faculty Leaders Series
Date	Topic	Facilitators
Oct. 5	Practical Tools for Holding Difficult Conversations Effectively hold difficult conversations by becoming aware of your own and others’ thinking and reasoning Explore how to get beyond data, assumptions, inference and interpretation for more effective conversations Register online	Michelle Manno, Associate Provost for Community Enrichment, and Sarah Klaper, University Ombudsperson
Nov. 2	Aligning Expectations, Communication and Boundaries Across Generations	Adam Goodman, Director, Center for Leadership
Nov. 30	Leadership in the Age of AI: What Does Leadership Actually Require of Us Now? How faculty leaders can lean into human capacity, where their own edge lies and how to use AI to augment it	Richard Jolly, Associate Clinical Professor of Management and Organizations, Kellogg
Jan. 11	Succession Planning	Adam Goodman, Director, Center for Leadership
Feb. 2	Managing Staff	Shana Carroll, Clinical Professor and Associate Chair of Management and Organizations, Kellogg
Mar. 1	Faculty Teaching and Service Distribution Best Practices	Faculty leaders panel