About ELATES at Drexel

ELATES at Drexel is a national leadership development program designed to promote senior STEM faculty as they advance into effective institutional leadership roles within their schools and universities. This program was originally conceived and historically focused on training and elevating women in STEM leadership, but has transitioned to educate and support all STEM faculty who are launching their leadership journey.

ELATES is an intensive full-year, part-time fellowship program, offered in collaboration by the College of Engineering and LeBow College of Business' Executive Education team, that provides training and development for faculty. Three in-residence sessions of 5 days each are used to enhance knowledge and skills in business practices of higher education, project management with diverse stakeholders, and effective communication in a variety of leadership platforms. Sessions are supported by:

• Online readings and assignments.
• Monthly conference calls with learning communities and senior advisors.
• Interviews with key officials at the home institution.
• Institutional Action Project development.
• Mentoring to apply new skills to work at the home institution.

ELATES Fellows will:

• Improve their personal and professional leadership through professional and peer coaching and comprehensive leadership assessments.
• Learn, through activities, classroom presentations, and interviews of their own institutional leaders, how to understand and navigate organizational dynamics.
• Expand their knowledge of strategic finance and resource management at the institutional level through didactic presentations, case studies, and work at their home institutions.

Leadership

ELATES at Drexel is facilitated by an interdisciplinary Drexel University team led by Sharon L. Walker, PhD, former dean of Drexel's College of Engineering, in partnership with Janet Rizzuto, executive director of executive education at the LeBow College of Business.

History

The ELATES program was modeled off of the highly successful The Hedwing van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine^® (ELAM^®) program, an affiliated leadership program in Drexel's College of Medicine. Originally named “ELATE at Drexel”, the program initially  was designed only with a focus on building community among women faculty across academic STEM disciplines, but has been transformed to promote both men and women into advanced leadership roles. The program was also renamed in 2018 from ELATE to ELATES (Executive Leadership in Academic Technology, Engineering and Science) to make it clear at the outset that our leadership training program is aimed at science faculty as well as those from engineering and technology fields. 

Since its inception in 2012, ELATES has graduated over 300 participants from institutions across the US and Canada.

ELATES has been recognized with awards and grants from

• The National Science Foundation
• The Alfred P Sloan Foundation
• The Henry Luce Foundation
• The American Council on Education
• The Kern Family Foundation

Guest Panelists and Speakers

• Elizabeth Rider, President, Elizabethtown College
• Harriet Nembhard, President, Harvey Mudd College
• Jean McGivney-Burelle, Provost, Saint Joseph’s University
• Laura Carlson, Provost, University of Delaware
• Soraya Coley, President, Cal Poly Pomona
• Mary V. Krueger, Brigadier General, United States Army
• Cheryl McConnell, Provost, Saint Joseph’s University
• Paul Jensen, Provost, Drexel University
• Julie Wollman, President, Widener University
• JoAnne Epps, Provost, Temple University
• Linda Abriola, Former Dean of Engineering, Tufts University
• Gilda Barabino, Dean, Grove School of Engineering, The City College of New York
• Fran Berman, Vice President for Research, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
• Elizabeth Cannon, President, University of Calgary
• Pamela Eibeck, President, University of the Pacific
• Linda Katehi, Chancellor, University of California, Davis 
• Maria Klawe, President, Harvey Mudd College
• Cherry Murray, Dean, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University
• Laura Steinberg, Special Assistant for Strategy, Office of the Vice Chancellor for Strategic Initiatives and Innovation; Former Dean, LC Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science, Syracuse University
• Orlando L. Taylor, Vice President for Strategic Initiatives and Research, Fielding Graduate University
• Susan Ambrose, Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning, Northeastern University
• Klod Kokini, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs College of Engineering, Purdue University