Sam Augustine, Pharm.D., was one of 15 UNMC faculty members who graduated recently from the Administrative Colloquium, a course intended to improve administrative and leadership skills.
Although the Administrative Colloquium course lasted only one year, Dr. Augustine said, the relationships that he formed and the opportunities brought forth by the course will pervade the rest of his career.
“It was really a neat way to network with other people on campus,” said Dr. Augustine, an associate professor of pharmacy practice in the College of Pharmacy. “It helped me in several instances, from both a personal and professional standpoint.”
The March 6 graduation ceremony marked the end of the 2001 class of the Administrative Colloquium. The course is a one-year class composed of a series of eight, three-hour workshops. In addition, two other two-hour meetings allow for participants to network with each other and to meet senior faculty and staff. Each participant is required to complete a personal growth project, which he or she presented as a poster display or as a short oral presentation at Wednesday’s ceremony. Graduates of the Administrative Colloquium can pursue the Canedy Executive Leadership Development Program at UNMC/NHS to further hone their leadership skills.
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UNMC Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D., said that UNMC’s vision to become world-class requires that the university use its resources “efficiently and effectively so that UNMC’s economic benefit to the state is maximized.
“The Administrative Colloquium is an integral part of our campus strategy to improve our administrative processes and campus leadership to more effectively manage our most important resource — our people,” Dr. Maurer said.
Fred McCurdy, M.D., Ph.D., associate chairman for pediatric education at UNMC, administrates the colloquium. Diana Lough, Ph.D., coordinator of faculty development in UNMC Continuing Education, along with Anna Maroon, the faculty development administrative assistant, coordinate all aspects of the program to include arranging facilities, coordinating travel for the speakers, and really “make the program happen,” Dr. McCurdy said.
Audrey Nelson, Ph.D., an associate professor in the College of Nursing, is another graduate of the Administrative Colloquium. She will use some of the skills she learned when pitching her clinical research study idea to faculty members or staff at other universities.
“I will modify how I present my study,” said Dr. Nelson, a registered nurse. “In five different universities, there may be five different visions and missions all with a different slant that needs to be considered so the overall project goal can be achieved.”
Once researchers at those universities begin participating in the study, it’s important to make them feel important and connected, Dr. Nelson said.
“You’ve got to have all members of the team ‘buy-in’ or you won’t achieve your goal,” said Dr. Nelson, whose research deals with studying the stamina of mothers whose children undergo stem-cell transplantations. “I need to make sure that all the research team members feel part of the team and have access to me.”
Dr. Nelson said she would recommend the Administrative Colloquium for faculty members who may be in leadership positions in their departments or those who may be asked to be involved in an administrative role across departments.
Dr. Augustine said that his experience was good, as well.
“I would encourage people to become involved in it,” he said.
Photo: From left to right: Jeff Baldwin, Sheila Ellis, Jim Turpen, Pascale Lane, Sam Augustine, Carol LaCroix, Linda Fell, Audrey Nelson, Roxanne Alter, Audrey Paulman and Kathryn Fiandt. Not pictured: Joyce Black, Gerald Groggel, Jose Romero and Henry St. Germain.