Wednesday, May 7, 2025
Neda Barrett, senior HR director

Dear CLAS Supervisors,

I am reaching out to invite nominations for the University’s Executive Leadership Academy-Higher Education (ELA) program. The Executive Leadership Academy (ELA) – Higher Education is a comprehensive and immersive program that prepares UI leaders to meet the organizational goals of the University of Iowa now and into the future. ​ The program will kick off in September 2025 and will conclude in April 2026. 

This program is best suited for leaders who are new to or moving into more strategic roles and have demonstrated strong mid-level management experience. The goals of the program include: 

  • Providing extensive training, mentoring, networking, and shared problem solving to expand leadership skills and cultivate emerging strategic level leadership.  
  • Broadening and growing the skills of today's leaders to meet the organizational goals of the University of Iowa in the future.  
  • Opportunities to practice big picture thinking and leadership skills in a safe and supportive environment. 
  • Growing a community of leaders across campus. 

ELA- Higher Ed Program Elements 

  • Immersions  
  • Coaching  
  • Leadership Lab  
  • Mentorship  
  • Closing Session with Leadership Lab Presentations 

For more information, please see the ELA website.

If you would like to nominate a faculty or staff member, please provide their name along with a brief paragraph outlining why you believe this opportunity would contribute to their professional growth and benefit our college no later than May 12, 5:00 p.m. Please note that we can only put forward a limited number of nominations. The Senior Leadership Team will review all nominations and notify you if your nominee is selected to continue in the nomination process. I will send in the approved nominees to the ELA-Higher Education Selection Committee (comprised of alumni and academy administration) who will review applications and make the final selection. 

Please see this document which outlines the difference between UI Lead, CLAS Leads, and ELA. 

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Thanks,
Neda 

Note: this memo was also published on April 16, 2025.