Targeting staffers from program assistants to vice-presidents, AHEAD@NU aims to help higher education administrators fulfill their academic, career, personal and social objectives and meet the challenges they encounter along the way. The organization is open to all staff members on both campuses of the University.
Services provided to AHEAD@NU members include education on current trends in higher education, community building, networking and professional development opportunities. Topics to be addressed include career development, civic engagement, ethics, interpersonal skills, leadership and intercultural competence.
The AHEAD@NU Professional Development Series consists of three brown bag lunches each academic quarter on the same theme, beginning with a talk by a University senior executive. Evening events, featuring a speaker from outside the University, focus on major issues in higher education, such as accreditation and diversity. In addition, participants in AHEAD@NU may sign up for a listserv, where they can discuss issues in higher education, post links to interesting articles and share information about campus events of interest.
Four alumni of the Higher Education Administration and Policy program serve on the steering committee for the organization. They include Master of Science in Education staffer Kate Biddle (MS09), Evelyn Caliendo (MS06), Mariana Kepka (MS07) and Nicole Shiperek (MS10). After fulfilling a probationary period, AHEAD@NU was recently approved by the University for ongoing funding.