Leadership University Program

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Background

Today’s organizations face a variety of challenges including:

Poor staff morale

Low customer satisfaction

Ineffective and unhealthy conflict resolution

Lack of appropriate internal communication

Organizational infighting

Unsatisfactory customer service

Inadequate training for managers

In order to increase customer satisfaction, improve efficiency, increase morale, create trust and improve overall managerial effectiveness, today’s organizations must invest in developing existing employees to overcome the aforementioned challenges.

Program Overview

Leadership University provides a series of six 8-hour classes on supervisory leadership skills for managers for a total of 48 hours of training. The schedule and format is determined based on the needs of the individual company or organization. Participants who successfully complete all six classes will receive a supervisory leadership certificate from Edinboro University.

The coursework in the program is designed to provide business professionals with the necessary skills for effective supervisory leadership. Courses are taught by university faculty or professional instructors with strong academic or professional backgrounds in communication and management, as well as professional and consulting experience. The courses offer practical content for professionals using a variety of active learning approaches including case study analysis, role-playing, and simulations among other techniques. All courses offer a high degree of interactivity to engage adult professional learners.

Required Courses

The Fundamentals of Management

In the workplace, managers must take a diverse group of employees with differing skills, motivations and experience levels and blend them together to work productively and efficiently together—no easy task! This course introduces participants to the fundamentals of management including learning delegation skills to improve efficiency, practicing effective meeting management, assessing individual behavioral styles of employees, and dealing with difficult employees and customers.

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Essential Management Skills

The way in which managers supervise and coach employees can impact employee satisfaction, turnover and morale, as well as overall organizational performance. This course provides managers with strategic tools to define goals, objectives and responsibilities in the workplace as a means of striving for peak performance management and continuous improvement. Participants will receive and practice skills in planning and goal setting to establish a process for setting expectations, monitoring performance, effecting change, delivering constructive feedback and rewarding superior performance.

Motivating Your Staff

In any workplace, motivating employees is complex and dependent on the wants and needs of each individual—what motivates one person might not motivate another. This course helps participants gain insight into what motivates different employees to want to succeed in their job and ultimately create a more satisfied and productive workforce. Participants will learn what practices and procedures can motivate and de-motivate employees, while developing their individual managerial style that will foster a team of self-starters through the use of internal and external incentives.

Communication Effectiveness for Managers

Research shows that the majority of workplace problems can be traced back to unclear or insufficient communication in the organization. The ability to communicate clearly is essential for successful managers at all levels. This course helps participants practice effective communication skills including communicating clearly to avoid misunderstanding, developing active listening skills, and improving interpersonal communication skills when working with employees and customers. In addition, participants will learn to choose the most appropriate method for communicating messages and expressing those messages through print, electronic and face-to-face formats.

Leading an Effective Team

More than 75% of organizations used team-based formats in some aspect of their day-to-day operations; however, working effectively in teams can prove challenging to employees. This course will explore the dynamics of teamwork and team development, and discuss what procedures are essential to building productive teams. Participants will develop confidence in their abilities to be productive team leaders by learning tools and strategies that work in today’s workplace teams.

Basic Conflict Management

Today’s professionals face more conflict and greater complexity in the workplace than ever before, coupled with the fact that few ever receive formal training in conflict resolution strategies. This course teaches strategies for productive conflict management in interpersonal, group, and organizational contexts. It examines the causes and types of conflict, develops knowledge of the nature of conflict, and offers tactics for resolving conflict situations.

Edinboro University Faculty*

Dr. Melissa Gibson is a Professor in the Communication, Journalism & Media Department at Edinboro University. She earned her master’s and doctoral degrees in organizational communication and business management from Ohio University and her bachelor’s degree from Edinboro University. In 20 years of teaching at the college level, Dr. Gibson has taught more than 30 different courses ranging from freshman-level to doctoral level courses. She teaches courses such as Leadership Communication, Integrated Marketing Communications, Crisis Communication, Crisis Management, Organizational Communication and Training & Development, among others. Prior to her current position, she taught undergraduate and graduate courses at Western Michigan University, Gannon University and Mercyhurst

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University. She has also worked as a consultant to profit and nonprofit organizations across the country. In addition to a published textbook, her research has appeared in peer-reviewed journals including Management Communication Quarterly, Journal of Applied Communication Research, Journal of Management Consulting, Business Communication Quarterly, and Journal of Women in Educational Leadership. Dr. Gibson has also presented 40 conference presentations and secured grants totaling $250,000. She has received numerous teaching awards including 1999 Professor of the Year at Western Michigan University. She has been a consultant and trainer for various organizations across the Midwest since 1994, including the College of Osteopathic Medicine, Health and Human Services Division in Zainesville, Ohio.

Dr. Kathleen M. Golden is a Professor in the Communication, Journalism and Media Department at Edinboro University. She has a Ph.D. from Kent State University and has over 30 years of teaching and consulting experience. She teaches on both the undergraduate and graduate level. Dr. Golden has expertise in computer assisted decision making, Expert Choice, and has facilitated meetings using that software/hardware combination across Edinboro University both in and outside of the classroom. She has several times served as a trainer for mammography technicians through Vantage Health Care. Her work has extended to Europe, where she assisted Business Process Management theorists, from across the world, in problem solving and idea generation in Luxembourg. She is active in Story at Work in Washington, DC, a group of organizational consultants who utilize storytelling to implement change in organizations. She is currently on the Communication board for the Educational Testing Service in Princeton, NJ, and she serves as creator and editor of ancillary materials for the nationally top-ranked Pearson Higher Education textbook on interviewing.

Dr. Timothy Thompson is a Professor in the Communication, Journalism & Media Department at Edinboro University. He writes and consults on communication, creativity, conflict, and stress management. Most recently, he completed a book entitled Creative Communication: Social Systems Making Mind, and conducted workshops on “exercising creativity” at the Virginia Ball Center for Creative Inquiry. The workshop was part of the initial activities for the “Aging Well in East Central Indiana” at Ball State University. Dr. Thompson planned and facilitated student and faculty retreats for the Rochester Institute of Technology on several occasions over the last nine years. The weekend retreats at Beaver Hollow Conference Center were focused on enhancing teaching and learning at RIT. The RIT retreat is modeled after the PA State System’s Summer Academy for the Advancement of College Teaching, from which Thompson is a 1992 graduate. Dr. Thompson also directs the Edinboro Highland Games & Scottish Festival at the University. He received his doctorate from Bowling Green State University in 1986.

*Faculty and Instructors determined for each customized program.

Location

All courses can be located at Edinboro University Main Campus in Edinboro, The Porreco College of Edinboro University in Erie, or on-site at your location.

Contact: Beth A. Zewe, Director of Continuing Education and Workforce Development

312 Reeder Hall | 219 Meadville Street | Edinboro, PA 16444 Email: zewe@edinboro.edu Phone: (814) 732-1420

Visit us at: http://www.edinboro.edu/academics/continuing-education-personal-enrichment/for-employers/

One of the 14 universities in Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education