Join us on Friday, March 21st at 1:00pm EST/10:00am PAC for an interactive webinar tailored for faculty affairs professionals and faculty about leading during the ongoing changes in the higher education environment. Amanda Shaffer of Shaffer Consulting will discuss the V.U.C.A. (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity) framework and share insights on managing yourself and others, easing community anxiety, and fostering open, honest dialogue.
Bring your questions and ideas as we come together to understand and navigate these critical moments, ensuring that your team feels informed, connected, and supported.
Speaker:
Amanda Shaffer is a professional coach and consultant with extensive experience supporting individuals and institutions to develop their capacity and embrace diversity. Whether she is facilitating professional development programs, coaching leaders, or helping faculty advance in their careers, Amanda’s work is defined by her dedication to equity, inclusion, and social progress.
Since 2003 Amanda has been involved with multiple NSF ADVANCE awards focused on improving gender equity in STEM disciplines and she currently serves as a volunteer facilitator for the ADVANCE GEO partnership. Her career advancement program, “To Tenure and Beyond” (initiated under NSF Award #0540800), was published in Forward to Professorship: Academic Leadership Development in Science and Engineering (2015).
In addition to coaching academic faculty and administrators across the country, Amanda designs and facilitates workshops focused on academic career advancement, culture change and diversity education. Recent workshops include topics such as Inclusive Communication, Reducing Bias in Evaluation Committees, Strategies for DEI Excellence, Building a Mindful Career, and Leading with Inclusion.
Amanda currently serves as the Diversity Officer for the College of Agriculture & Natural Resources at the University of Maryland, College Park. As Diversity Officer she is responsible for executing the college diversity strategic plan and providing educational programming. Previously, as the inaugural Director of Diversity Education for the University of Alabama at Birmingham (2018-20), she wrote and produced a Cultural Awareness video for new employees and subsequently received the 2019 President’s Diversity Champion Award for advancing diversity, equity and inclusion at UAB. From 2013 to 2018 while Director of the Office of Faculty Development at Case Western Reserve University, she helped found and then directed the Ohio Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia Higher Education Recruitment Consortium (HERC).