Asynchronous Online Courses
Focused Learning, Designed for Academic Leaders
Registration for Summer 2025 Opens on May 1st
Participants should expect to spend about four hours per week completing coursework. Each course is focused on a single topic, and draws on curated research in the field as well as academic expertise.
As always, the design of each course includes opportunities for reflection and interaction, empowering you to boost your skills with a group of peers interested in the same issues.
April
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Onboarding New Faculty to Your School's Culture and Pedagogy
Ensure long-term faculty success by learning actionable onboarding strategies that align new hires with your school’s mission, culture, and pedagogy.
April 14 - April 25
July 7 - July 18
June
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The Emotional Lives of Teenagers with Dr. Lisa Damour
Join NY Times best-selling author Dr. Lisa Damour to learn how to apply new insights on teens’ cognitive and emotional development in schools.
June 16 - June 27
July 21 - August 1 -
Preparing for Your First Year in Department Leadership
Gain strategies and confidence to successfully navigate your first year in department leadership.
June 16 - June 20
August 4 - August 8 -
Preparing for Your First Year in Division Leadership
Build your confidence, your skills, and your support network as you get ready to start your first year as a division leader.
June 16 - June 20
July 14 - July 18 -
Competency-Based Learning: A Primer for Academic Leaders
Gain a foundational understanding of competency-based learning. Designed for academic leaders, this course offers practical insights and strategies to initiate meaningful conversations within your school community.
June 16 - June 20
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Curriculum Leadership: Storyboarding for Impact
Learn to guide and communicate curriculum work more effectively using curriculum storyboards—practical tools that support planning, collaboration, and clarity across your school community.
June 23 - June 27
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Leading Curricular and Pedagogical Change
Our adaptable framework helps Academic Leaders plan for curricular and pedagogical change and manage a sustainable and supportive implementation process.
June 23 - June 27
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Building the GPT Your School Needs (No Programming)
Learn to create custom GPTs or agents for academic leadership. This course covers effective prompts, use cases, and practical applications in school administration. Build your own GPT or agent.
June 23 - June 27
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Aligning Mission and Curriculum with Your Custom Bot
Rebuild your school’s evaluation process to align with your current values so you can advance your pedagogical initiatives.
June 30 - July 4
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Leading a Mission-Aligned Curriculum Audit
Learn to lead a curriculum audit aligned with mission-centered goals. Gain tools and templates for planning an audit within a school year, adaptable for single departments or cross-division competencies.
June 30 - July 4
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Cultural Competence in 2025
Coming Soon
June 30 - July 4
July
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Leading Your Team/Department in Understanding Generative AI in 2025
Learn to guide your team in exploring Generative AI and considering the implications for teaching and learning in alignment with school mission and values.
July 7 - July 11
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Aligning Teacher Evaluation with Pedagogical Priorities
Rebuild your school’s evaluation process to align with your current values so you can advance your pedagogical initiatives.
July 7 - July 11
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Let's Talk Not Text: Restoring Face-to-Face Communication in a Screenbound World
Empower faculty with authentic interaction skills to navigate challenges in today's educational landscape.
July 7 - July 11
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Onboarding New Faculty to Your School's Culture and Pedagogy
Ensure long-term faculty success by learning actionable onboarding strategies that align new hires with your school’s mission, culture, and pedagogy.
April 14 - April 25
July 7 - July 18 -
Preparing for Your First Year in Division Leadership
Build your confidence, your skills, and your support network as you get ready to start your first year as a division leader.
June 16 - June 20
July 14 - July 18 -
Instructional Rounds: Fostering Reflective Teacher Practice
Explore instructional rounds as a tool for improving student learning by fostering teacher reflection. Learn to implement a pilot program and develop observation frameworks.
July 14 - July 18
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AI for YOU, Academic Leader
Discover how Generative AI can help school leaders navigate their workday more efficiently and enhance thought leadership.
July 14 - July 18
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Personalized Learning: A Primer for Academic Leaders
Understand personalized learning and explore how Generative AI can enhance learner-driven pedagogy in your school.
July 14 - July 18
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The Emotional Lives of Teenagers with Dr. Lisa Damour
Join NY Times best-selling author Dr. Lisa Damour to learn how to apply new insights on teens’ cognitive and emotional development in schools.
June 16 - June 27
July 21 - August 1 -
Assessing Your Assessments in the Age of AI
Examine current assessment practices and consider strategies better aligning your school's assessment practices iwth your mission and values.
July 21 - July 25
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Student Survey Design
We’ll examine the purposes of survey data research and share strategies and samples to guide participants on how to construct reliable questions.
July 21 - July 25
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Curriculum Mapping: What You Need to Know Before You Start
Plan effective curriculum mapping that honors your school's values and culture. Leave with a plan and timeline, developed from our guiding documents. We'll suggest how AI tools can support and streamline the process.
July 21 - July 25
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Evaluating Department Leaders as Academic Leaders
Learn about using a competency-based approach that will help leaders reconsider how they assess the effectiveness of department and team leaders
July 21 - July 25
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Preparing for Schedule Changes
Develop a process to design and implement new school schedules that meet your school's unique needs.
July 28 - August 1
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Mentoring Matters: Get it Right
Lead a stronger mentoring program for new faculty. This course equips Academic Leaders with strategies to support mentors and mentees in creating a confident, connected start for new colleagues.
July 28 - August 1
August
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Preparing for Your First Year in Department Leadership
Gain strategies and confidence to successfully navigate your first year in department leadership.
June 16 - June 20
August 4 - August 8 -
Navigating Tough Talks: Managing Challenges with Confidence
Coming Soon
August 4 - August 8
More about online courses at the
Association for Academic Leaders
At the Association for Academic Leaders, we know these two things about our members: their time is short and their interests and needs encompass a wide array of issues. As a competency-based professional association, we have intentionally designed our courses to meet these seemingly divergent needs.
Almost all of our courses are short, lasting one week; they open on a Friday afternoon and close on Sunday evening 10 days later. Every course is designed to be completed in what we call an “asynchronous but paced” manner in about 4-5 hours total over the course of those 10 days. This time frame includes both weekend and weekday time to ensure that participants can complete the assignments at the times their schedule permits.
In practice, this means that each course targets a specific aspect of one of the competencies Academic Leaders need to grow to help their schools thrive. While the overall topic may seem quite large, once inside, participants will find a highly-curated selection of resources that target the objectives of the course.
Just because the courses are short does not mean they are completed in isolation. We ask that participants plan to pace themselves by including time to interact, not just consume the course material. Each offering is led by one of our highly knowledgeable facilitators, who provides feedback to participants’ submissions and questions. In addition, participants are encouraged (expected) to engage with one another in making meaning from the course material though our discussion assignments.
The conversations don’t end when the course is completed and the badges awarded. We provide opportunities to continue the connections made in our courses in our members-only discussion areas in our online portal.