2026 Leadership Program
Program Leads
Laura Rantala
Kenji Ikemoto
Eric Wilson
Shawna BuShell
Advisor Committee
John Bansavich, EdD
Hussam Kashou, PhD
Henry Burnett, PhD
2026 Cohort
Topics & Dates
March 13 | 12:00-1:30 PM
Welcome To The Program, Meet Your Cohort, Introduction To The Canvas Course
Program details, meet and greet, and how to navigate our Canvas Course.
April 10 | 12:00-1:30 PM
Leading in the Dark: How Do I Lead When I’m Not the Boss AND I Don’t Know Where I’m Supposed to Go? | Dr. John Lynch (Somona State University)
Things are weird right now. If you feel like you don’t know what’s going to happen next in the cruise ship that is higher ed, and even though you’re not actually the captain of the ship, it’s somehow going to be your job to help steer the ship to safety, you’re not alone! I feel the same way some days. So there’s at least two of us. I’m going to share how *I* understand leadership, how I try to lead from the middle of an organization, and finally, how I decide where to lead when my bosses aren’t telling me what the priorities are. Come hang out and tell me what you think about my approach! Worst case, we spend time rearranging deck chairs while listening to an epic string quartet. What could go wrong?
May 8 | 12:00-1:30 PM
From Compliance to Culture: Leading Sustainable Change in Online Learning and Instructional Quality | Dr. Tara Giblin (Orange Coast College)
Higher education leaders today face overlapping waves of change—expanding online learning, RSI compliance, digital accessibility standards, and strategic planning demands—often arriving all at once. This session explores how leaders can move beyond reactive compliance toward sustainable institutional practice, using real examples from online quality initiatives, accessibility work, and strategic planning. Attendees will leave with concrete strategies for aligning emerging requirements with institutional priorities, engaging faculty in meaningful dialogue, and building the resilient structures needed to turn regulatory and technological challenges into lasting improvements in teaching, student engagement, and institutional adaptability.
June 12 | 12:00-1:30 PM
Keeping Your Values Core in EdTech Leadership | Dr. Jenae Cohn (UC Berkeley)
EdTech leaders regularly have to make complex decisions that impact institutional processes, procedures, services, and programs. Within the complexity of these decision-making matrices, EdTech leaders must wrestle with the multiple impacts and consequences of their decisions. After all, from selecting whether to pilot a new learning tool to developing the curriculum and infrastructure for a new faculty development program, the consequences of EdTech leaders' decisions will impact faculty, student, and staff stakeholders differently. How do we weigh the consequences of these decisions reasonably and in alignment with equity-oriented values? In this session, we will explore multiple case studies involving challenging ethical dilemmas in the EdTech field. As a group, we will discuss our responses and reactions to these case studies, considering how we can survey the impacts of our choices reasonably and responsibly.
July 10 | 12:00-1:30 PM
TBA
Save the Date! Check back for more information to follow.