Tuesday, August 29, 2017

2017 HERS Leadership Institute: An Inside Look with Dr. Kati Migliaccio

This summer UF-ABE professor Dr. Kati Migliaccio traveled to Pennsylvania for two weeks of intensive training at Bryn Mawr College. Dr. Migliaccio took part in one of HERS' Leadership Institutes for women in higher education. As one training participant shared on Twitter: “There is such a need for leadership and women in leadership in higher ed.” IrriGator approached Dr. Migliaccio to speak about her experience at #HERSBrynMawr17 and she kindly agreed.

Image via @HERSInstitutes
Can you tell us about your two week training experience at Bryn Mawr?
KM: The event was the 2017 HERS Training at Bryn Mawr. There are 3 locations for the training each year. One is at Wellesley, one is in Denver, and one is in Bryn Mawr. Three other UF women will attend HERS in 2017. The two weeks are focused on providing women in academics with different experiences to help them excel in their careers. Topics focus on basic knowledge skills such as accounting, but also include professional development skills such as speaking, dealing with difficult situations, and negotiating.

Dr. Kati Migliaccio
How does one get invited or become eligible for this training?
KM: Every institution does it differently. There’s a history with some institutions and their relationship with HERS. UF has a long history and the Provost Office has supported women attending HERS for many years (thank you!). Your supervisor or your dean can nominate you, or you can self-nominate when the call for nominations is released. Nominations are reviewed at the UF level; candidates are selected to apply to HERS for acceptance into the program.

What academic disciplines would you say were represented in your training?
KM: The majority of people at Bryn Mawr 2017 were from small liberal arts colleges, but there were also several people from large land-grant institutions. This year they had a STEM program and about half of the Bryn Mawr women were in STEM disciplines. The STEM program within HERS included special breakouts for STEM attendees where STEM issues and speakers were highlighted.
Specifically, were there topics covered that you felt you can immediately apply in your academic work?
KM: There were many topics! We focus so much on our science, or our discipline, that we don’t think about some of the other pieces that could help us do a better job. Examples are basic negotiation strategies, forming working partnerships, and reframing. Also, there were personal discussions on how to manage your time: how to create enough time and not feel guilty about taking time off work for a vacation or for family needs. We also covered how to get your point across through what you say - how to take your value system and move your value system into your conversations so people understand where you’re coming from and the reasoning behind your decisions.

There was also really good advice on finances. How to manage for retirement. And, how universities are being funded and how that’s likely to change. Some topics were really outside of the scope of your disciple but more those pieces that surround it and can either enhance your program or create more of a struggle for your program. 

One of the things that I hope to start to do is to allocate time on my calendar to look at bigger picture issues. For example looking at what’s happening nationally as far as education – and what the research funding future may be. I also hope to spend more time learning about the university system to better engage in activities that interest me such as improving graduate education.
Having attended a HERS training is it something you would recommend to women in academia eligible to attend?
KM: HERS is very specific for women and half of our curriculum was based on inclusive excellence. Whether or not other women would benefit from attending would depend on their future goals. Women interested in learning about or becoming involved in inclusive excellence would greatly benefit from this program. If you’re more interested in maybe going into the budget part of the university, or some other very specialized part, then there might be another training that’s better. If you’re interested in inclusive excellence and some of the unspoken issues and some of the more challenging social elements that are happening in society today, then it’s a really good place for you to go.
  
Can you elaborate on inclusive excellence?
KM: Inclusive excellence at the university is inclusion of all types of diversity across all aspects of the institution.
Is there anything I didn’t ask you about your HERS experience that you feel we should know?
KM: One of the things that I really liked about the program is that it made a point to say that it’s really easy in academics to get frustrated and get overwhelmed with everything you have to do, but to remember that you come to work, you do your best, and you go home. You’re not supposed to be everything to everybody and you’re not supposed to save the world. You’re supposed to do your job - that reinforcement of: it’s OK if you are sick a day. It’s OK if you don’t apply for every grant. 

The other thing I think we overlook especially as STEM people is that we get really focused on science and then we lose sight of our core values. And are our core values really playing out in our actions with our students, in how we teach, in how we do our research? I was reminded to keep my core values in place so they will help me be a better professor, mentor, and role model.

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