2008 AAG Department Leadership Workshop
June 20–22 • UCLA

Register Today!

AAG members are invited to the 5th annual workshop devoted to department leadership and healthy departments. The 2008 workshop will be held on the weekend of June 20-22. Workshop sessions will take place at UCLA in Los Angeles on Saturday, June 21 and on the morning of Sunday, June 22. For those able to arrive a day earlier, a field trip entitled “Hollywood to the Sea” will be conducted by Dydia DeLyser on Friday, June 20 to give participants something of the flavor of Los Angeles.

An Excellent Opportunity to Learn from University Administrators and Experienced Department Chairs
The workshop is designed for all geographers who wish to make their departments stronger and more visible, but it is particularly well suited for those persons who have recently or who will soon assume positions of department leadership. The 2008 workshop will follow the format of previous workshops in having geographers who have served as department heads and university administrators start each session with comments regarding the session’s focus but with most time devoted to question and answer and discussion among all participants. Time will be allocated for informal sessions in which participants can exchange ideas and experiences with guest panelists and among themselves.

The following have accepted invitations to participate as panelists (subject to scheduling demands):

• Risa Palm, Provost of the SUNY System, Albany NY
• Jennifer Wolch, former Dean of Graduate Programs at the University of Southern California
• Michael Goodchild, former Chair, Department of Geography, University of California, Santa Barbara
• David Rigby, Chair, Department of Geography, UCLA
• John Agnew, former Chair, Department of Geography, UCLA
• Thomas Baerwald, Senior Science Advisor, National Science Foundation
• Sona Andrews, Provost, Boise State
• Andrew Bodman, former Provost, Western Washington
• Craig Colten, former Chair, Anthropology and Geography, LSU

Workshop Topics

A wide range of topics will be addressed during the workshop, including:

• Aligning the department with the goals of the college and university
  
• Building strong relationships within departments that enable departments and their members to function effectively in the larger institutional environment
  
• Engaging in effective strategic planning
  
• Helping a department define its mission and make the changes needed to succeed
  
• Evaluating and redesigning undergraduate and graduate curricula
  
• Broadening social and intellectual diversity in the faculty and student body
  
• Working effectively in a “hybrid” department
  
• Recruiting and mentoring new faculty
  
• Integrating GIS and other new initiatives into the department
  
• Identifying and acquiring resources to expand department activities
  
• Preparing faculty for department leadership

Other topics may be identified based on expressions of interest by workshop participants prior to the workshop.

Additional Information

The cost for the workshop is $350. This includes all sessions, lunches both days, dinner on Saturday night and light refreshments during breaks.

Low hotel rates ($113-$118/night) are available at the Guest House on the UCLA campus for workshop participants. A block of rooms has been reserved, and will be available until May 19th, 2008. All reservations made under our block of rooms will need to be made through the AAG. Please contact Oscar Larson, olarson@aag.org, to let him know your arrival and departure dates. Rooms are available June 20th, June 21st and June 22nd.

If you have questions about the organization and content of the 2008 Department Leadership Workshop, contact AAG Vice President, John Agnew, at jagnew@geog.ucla.edu.

If you have questions about workshop registration or other logistical issues related to the Department Leadership workshop, contact AAG Conference Director, Oscar Larson at olarson@aag.org or 202-234-1450.

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About Healthy Departments

AAG Past President Vicky Lawson launched the Healthy Departments Initiative to strengthen the leadership and administrative skills of Department Chairpersons in the discipline. The project has organized a series of workshops to assist Department Chairs and facilitate sharing of successful strategies for maintaining healthy departments.

The Healthy Departments website is intended as a resource to assist Department Chairs and provide practical resources and information that can improve program quality. Because the Healthy Departments website will evolve over time and will have new information added on an ongoing basis, the AAG invites suggestions for additional resources to be included.