The course will meet over 6 weekly sessions on Tuesdays from 2-3:30 p.m. ET: Jan 26, Feb. 2, 9, 16 & 23, Mar. 2. 

How do we make change happen on our campuses? How do we move from good ideas to meaningful, lasting institutional change? Universities are complex organizations with multiple priorities and decision-making processes. Successfully advancing sustainability and other institutional priorities requires more than technical expertise or individual leadership. It requires understanding how decisions are made, where influence lies, how to engage stakeholders and build support, and how to work effectively within existing systems.

This six-session course explores these issues through the lenses of leadership, governance, and change management.

Participants will examine the “pieces and parts” of a university, including organizational structures, decision-making processes, and formal and informal sources of influence and consider how they can either enable or constrain change. The course will also introduce sociocracy and participatory action as alternative approaches to collective decision-making and will assess when and where different approaches may be useful.

Through interactive activities, peer learning, and application to a real institutional challenge, participants will put these concepts into practice. The goal is to build practical understanding, skills, and agency for navigating institutional complexity and advancing change across different organizational contexts.

What You Will Gain

• Understand how university governance, structures, and sources of influence shape institutional change
• Identify stakeholders, barriers, opportunities, and potential levers for action
• Strengthen skills in stakeholder engagement, building support, and navigating institutional decision-making
• Explore sociocracy and participatory action as approaches to collective decision-making
• Develop a change map and practical strategy for a real campus challenge
• Build confidence and agency to contribute to change from wherever you sit within an institution

Who Should Attend

Sustainability professionals, faculty, staff, administrators, students, and other campus change-makers interested in advancing sustainability or other institutional priorities. The course is particularly relevant for those leading initiatives, working across departments, building stakeholder support, navigating institutional decision-making, or seeking to influence change without formal authority.

Key Details

Schedule:

The course will meet over 6 weekly sessions on Tuesdays from 2-3:30 p.m. ET: Jan 26, Feb. 2, 9, 16 & 23, Mar. 2.

Registration Fees* 

* To check if your organization is a current AASHE member, please search the AASHE Membership Directory.

A limited number of scholarships are available to individuals who need financial assistance to participate. Please apply two weeks before the program begins to be considered for a scholarship for this workshop.

Registration Policies:

• Registration deadline is January 20, 2027.
• Payment is accepted in the form of Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover cards.
  If you need to pay by check or ACH, please contact us at least 5 weeks prior to the event start date. Registration using these forms of payment must be received 4 weeks prior to the event start date and full payment must be received by AASHE within 2 weeks of event start date.
• Cancellation Policy: A 20% processing fee applies to any cancellation processed up to ten days before the program starts. No refunds will be given after that date.
• No substitutions are allowed.
• Registered participants will receive access to the recording after the live event.
• Review all Terms & Conditions.

Facilitator

Teri Balser, Professor, University of Calgary
Professor Teri Balser is a passionate scholar and university leader. Formerly Provost and Vice-President (Academic) at the University of Calgary, she has also been interim President and Provost at Dalhousie University. Throughout her 25-year career she has sought to connect and empower people across public, academic, and private sectors in working together toward a sustainable future. She believes deeply in the need for genuinely shared and participatory governance in higher education, and is trained as a Sociocracy facilitator and trainer to support that goal. She brings that work, coupled with the perspective of university leadership, to bear on how we can help our institutions manage the challenges we face as we move forward.

Any questions about the workshop?
Please contact Daita Serghi, education@aashe.org

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