In 2018 the HBCU Council of Past Presidents approached Clark Atlanta University about the possibility of establishing a program to prepare future HBCU Presidents. The CAU School of Education in collaboration with the Online Learning and Continuing Education office wrote a planning grant to develop the HBCU Executive Leadership Institute. With the support of our distinguished Advisory Board and the HBCU ELI Team, the program is ready to welcome our Community of Fellows in January 2022.
The HBCU Executive Leadership Institute aims to establish a sustainable model for increasing the quality and supply of qualified candidates to serve as HBCU presidents and other executive level leaders. The Institute will support the design of a leadership development program that will focus on the preparation and development of HBCU presidents and executive leaders. The vision is to develop a performance-based leadership preparation program that will engage aspiring and new HBCU Presidents in an extended learning network that provides opportunities to practice and demonstrate proficiency in real time, in the real HBCU working environment.
The HBCU Executive Leadership Institute will address the following four components:
- Well-defined competency model (knowledge, skills, and dispositions) for effective HBCU leadership.
- A high-quality performance-based preparation program that engages participants in a combination of face-to-face and online learning experiences.
- A well-defined approach for recruitment of potential participants that includes selection criteria and protocols.
- A model for ongoing evaluation and support of aspiring and practicing HBCU leaders.
HBCU ELI Advisory Board
Executive Director
Dr. Phyllis Worthy Dawkins, Past President Bennett College and Acting President Cheyney University
ELI Team
- Dr. J. Fidel Turner, Jr., Dean, CAU School of Education
- Dr. Cheryl Dozier Davenport, Program Coordinator & President Emerita, Savannah State University
- Dr. Mary A. Hooper, Curriculum Designer, Associate Provost, CAU Online Learning & Continuing Education & Professor of Educational Leadership
- Mr. Cameron Randle, Program Manager & Educational Leadership Doctoral Student
- Dr. Dorothy Cowser Yancy, President Emerita, Shaw University & Johnson C. Smith University
Committees
- HBCU AB/C-HBCU-PP Curriculum Committee
- HBCU AB/C-HBCU-Past Presidents Selection Committee (Lyons, Lomotey, Hatton, Dolinger)
- TalentQuest, External Program Evaluator Consultants
Fundraising Committee
- Dr. Richard Lucas, Vice President, Institutional Advancement, Resource Person
- Ms. Quisa Foster, Assistant Vice President, Institutional Advancement
- Mrs. Kimberly Sellers-Bates, Prospect Research Manager, ELI Resource
HBCU AB Development Committee - Mr. Robert (Bob) Poole, Senior Philanthropic Advisor, Consultant
- Mr. Mason Blacher, President, Mason Jay Blacher & Associates, Consultant
Marketing and Communication Committee
- Mr. Sam Burston, Vice President, University Relations & External Affairs, Resource Person
- Ms. Jolene Butts Freeman, Director of News and Media Relations
- Ms. Mia Walker, Social Media Director
- Cecintel PR
- NCompass
- Per Se, External Marketing & Communication Consultants
- Glass Ladder
Partners
- TalentQuest LLC
- Ncompass International
- Per Se Media Group
- Mason Jay Blacher & Associates
- CAU Office of the President
- CAU Office of the Provost
- CAU Office of Online Learning and Continuing Education (OLCE)
- CAU Office of Institutional Advancement
- CAU Office of University Relations
Curriculum
The ELI Competency Model includes core leadership competencies of relationship building and networking, communication for influence, emotional intelligence skills, decision making, strategic planning, finance, and operations.
Executive-specific competencies for HBCUs include branding, funding, recruiting, academic management, team building, board relations; recruiting and developing the management team; leading through crisis and uncertainty; and advocating for racial and social justice.
These competencies provide the foundation needed for executives to ensure the success of students by equipping them with career enhancing tools (credentials, certificates, internships, etc.) to complement their subject matter training.
