This workshop is now full!
If you’re interested in working with Mike on this and other topics in academic leadership,
contact our school success team: schoolsuccess@isminc.com.
We’ll be in touch after Summer Institute is complete.

Strengthen your leadership presence, communicate with greater clarity, manage your team with confidence, and align your department’s work with your school’s mission and long-term goals.

As a department chair, you serve as the essential bridge between the leadership team and the faculty you support. This workshop offers practical strategies for leading with purpose, building trust, and organizing your department so that teachers feel supported and students benefit from consistent, mission-driven practices. You’ll learn how to navigate change, empower colleagues, and ensure your department functions as a cohesive, high-performing team.

This Summer Institute workshop is for:

  • Department chairs
  • Grade-level team leaders
  • Those who aspire to this work

You will:

  • Explore the leadership challenges and interpersonal skills that emerge as teachers step into departmental leadership roles.
  • Apply techniques for managing faculty effectively while balancing competing demands on your time and attention.
  • Develop strategies for curriculum leadership, instructional coordination, and clear communication across your department.
  • Establish mission-aligned processes for curriculum review, effective teaching practices, assessment, and student management.
  • Build a trusted professional network to share insights, seek advice, and support your leadership growth over time.

Curious if this session is right for you? Ask us!

July 13–17, 2026

Marriott Downtown City Creek Salt Lake City, UT

Mike shared really useful frameworks for myriad aspects of departmental leadership, from developing a departmental mission, to leading meetings, to reflecting on what is required to foster predictable, supportive, student-centered learning environments, to managing up, to curriculum review, and class observations. I came away with concrete things to focus on and try in my first year as chair. Such practical applications always feel worthwhile.”

Catherine Michaud, English Department Chair
The Bishop's School, CA