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Professors to Participate in Higher Education Resource Services Summer Institute

Ferris State UniversityTwo Ferris State University professors will travel to the east coast, in July, to participate in the prestigious Higher Education Resource Services’ (HERS) Summer Leadership Institute 2017.

Lianne Briggs, the chair of the Sports, Entertainment and Hospitality Management department, in the College of Business, and Jennifer Johnson, a professor of Geography in the College of Arts, Sciences and Education, will attend the HERS institute, to be held on the Bryn Mawr College campus, in Bryn Mawr, Pa. The office of Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Paul Blake offered its full support to the professors’ involvement in this 12-day intensive program, intended to prepare women faculty and administrators for leadership roles in higher education.

The HERS curriculum consists of a leadership development model with a focus on self-knowledge, networking and institutional awareness. Participants complete assignments before attending the institute to assess their own leadership skills and knowledge of their institution.

“I am very honored to have been selected to attend the HERS Summer Institute 2017,” Briggs said. “As the SEHM department chair, and a co-coordinator of academic service-learning, I believe this experience will be beneficial and rewarding for me, now, and in the future.”

The institute provides attendees a rich network of women influential in many other institutions to use as resources and mentors. Women faculty with experience in higher education, national academic organizations, government and foundations act as guides for the sessions.

“I look forward to talking with other women in academia to find out how they are addressing such challenges at their own institutions,” Johnson said. “I hope to bring back an expanded skillset and fresh ideas that will benefit the students and faculty in the College of Arts, Sciences and Education, and Ferris as a whole.”

Attendees also develop a project of their choice to affect change at their institution and exercise their leadership skills.

“Over the next year, I will be working on expanding the number of international exchange opportunities for our students,” Briggs said.

Johnson also has a vision.

“I applied because I wanted to develop skills that would maximize my ability to serve the needs of my colleagues, our students, and our university,” Johnson said.


PHOTO CAPTION: Ferris State University professors Lianne Briggs (left) and Jennifer Johnson will attend the Higher Education Resource Services (HERS) Summer Leadership Institute 2017, at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania.