Officer Academy 2022
Officer Academy, one of Alpha Sigma Tau’s cornerstone educational events, is back January 6-8, 2022!
Incoming collegiate chapter Executive Committee officers: Invest in yourself and become the best leader you can be. Join us for Officer Academy 2022!
Throughout the Officer Academy experience, collegiate Executive Committee officers will take part in EQUIP: Officer Skills Training. Developed by RISE Partnerships, an industry-leading organization, this curriculum gives new collegiate chapter leaders the skills to manage the interpersonal and situational challenges and opportunities they will face in their new positions.
Officer Academy Overview
What’s the schedule for Officer Academy?
While there’s pre-work for attendees to complete beforehand, Officer Academy 2022 live programming will take place virtually January 6-8, 2022 during the following times (listed in Eastern time):
Thursday, January 6
- 7:00 – 7:45 p.m. | Cohort Huddle – Introductions and Get-to-Know-You | Small Group
- 7:45 – 8:00 p.m. | Break
- 8:00 – 9:00 p.m. | Welcome and Introduction to Officer Academy | Large Group Webinar
Friday, January 7
- 12:00 – 12:45 p.m. | Cohort Huddle – Work Session | Small Group
- 12:45 – 1:15 p.m. | Peer Position Panels | Roundtable Breakouts
- 1:45 – 2:30 p.m. | Break
- 2:30 – 3:00 p.m. | Cohort Huddle – Debrief | Small Group
- 3:00 – 3:30 p.m. | Scenario Advancement | Large Group Webinar
- 3:30 – 4:00 p.m. | Break
- 4:00 – 4:45 p.m. | Cohort Huddle – Work Session | Small Group
Saturday, January 8
- 12:00 – 12:45 p.m. | Cohort Huddle – Work Session | Small Group
- 12:45 – 1:30 p.m. | Scenario Advancement with Advisor Panel | Large Group Webinar
- 1:30 – 2:00 p.m. | Break
- 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. | Cohort Huddle – Work Session | Small Group
- 3:00 – 3:15 p.m. | Break
- 3:15 – 4:00 p.m. | Scenario Advancement with Peer Position Panels | Roundtable Breakouts
- 4:00 – 4:45 p.m. | Cohort Huddle – Debrief | Small Group
- 4:45 – 5:00 p.m. | Closing | Large Group Webinar
All times are listed in Eastern time.
What will I gain from taking part in Officer Academy?
Officer Academy 2022 is designed to equip all participants with the knowledge and skills necessary to be an effective leader. While we focus on your leadership role in Alpha Sigma Tau, the skills you learn and develop throughout the program translate to any role leading or being on a team.
This year’s curriculum has been updated and re-vamped to create an even more engaging learning experience. The program is organized into three sections covering a variety of topics including:
Personal leadership: Managing yourself and your leadership approach
- Leadership styles
- Project management
- Your resources and support
Interpersonal leadership: Managing others
- Engaging your members
- Delegating responsibility
- Navigating conflict
- Managing emotions
Situational leadership: Troubleshooting difficult situations
- Technical and adaptive leadership
- Critical thinking techniques
- What to do when things don’t work
How does this program work?
Officer Academy is broken into two parts: pre-work through the Alpha Sigma Tau Learning Lounge and the live virtual sessions conducted via Zoom.
Pre-work
An Officer Academy 2022 course will be available in the Learning Lounge no later than December 20, 2021. All Officer Academy attendees must complete the pre-work prior to the Officer Academy Live Virtual Experience.
Officer Academy Live Virtual Experience
Participants will have the opportunity to identify potential leadership challenges they may face during their term. Large group sessions will simulate the experience of one leadership challenge and apply the concepts learned in the Officer Academy Learning Lounge course. Small group sessions will provide additional opportunities to practice skills and concepts and to address chapter-specific topics.
Additionally, there will be time provided for participants to learn from previous Officer Academy participants on hard won lessons, pivoting away from and back towards in-person sorority life, and workshopping the skills taught in the asynchronous course with peers and guided facilitation from volunteers.
Participants will also be expected to complete pre-and-post program surveys.
It’s important to note that Officer Academy curriculum is not designed as position-specific training. Position-specific training courses and resources are available as part of the New Officer Onboarding program.
Who can participate in Officer Academy?
All Executive Committee officers (Chapter President and Vice Presidents) are invited and strongly encouraged to participate in Officer Academy. Regardless of which position she holds in the chapter, each participant will leave Officer Academy with new skills, ideas, and resources related to leadership, accountability, delegation, and more.
How much does it cost?
Each collegiate chapter will be billed a one-time flat registration fee of $250 on December 1, 2021. The $250 fee covers all Executive Committee officers from the chapter who are able to participate, so encourage all of your Executive Committee officers to join in! Registration payment will be due January 1.
How can I register?
Executive Committee officers can register for Officer Academy via Officer Portal under “Submit a Form.” The form will be located under the “Forms that Can Be Completed at Anytime” section. All registrations must be submitted by December 19, 2021.
Note: Participants must be reported as an officer in MCR, with the update reflected in Officer Portal, before registration will be available. So if your chapter elected new officers but hasn’t updated your officer listings yet, you’ll need to do that first.
What will I need to prepare?
Each participant will need to complete the following:
- Register individually via Officer Portal no later than December 19, 2021.
- Complete the Officer Academy pre-survey no later than January 3. The survey link will be included in the confirmation email you will receive after registering.
- Complete the assigned Officer Academy 2022 course in the Learning Lounge by January 6, 2022. The course will be available no later than December 15, 2021.
- Attend all sessions of the Officer Academy 2022 program.
In addition, it is strongly recommended that all participants have access to a laptop or desktop computer to optimize the participation experience. In addition, participants should have a device with a web camera and microphone and/or headphones to be able to participate fully.
Questions about Officer Academy 2021? Contact Angie Bong, Associate Executive Director of Member Services at abong@alphasigmatau.org or 317-613-7229.
Officer Academy and EQUIP: Officer Skills Training were made possible by a generous grant from the Alpha Sigma Tau National Foundation. Invaluable leadership opportunities like this are only possible thanks to donors who support the Foundation. Thank you for empowering the next generation of women to excel in life. Click here if you would like to support leadership programs like Officer Academy.
Curriculum Overview
Setting Direction
Participants kicked off their Officer Academy experience by completing a dashboarding activity in which they evaluated and then depicted their chapter’s current state on a number of dimensions of chapter health, including sense of sisterhood, health and safety, operations, academic performance, affinity and pride, and member engagement, among others. Participants then crafted a vision for their desired chapter state and developed goals for how to get from the current state to the desired state.
Leading Your Team: Engaging Members
Participants learned about how to involve and motivate members in meaningful ways through examining the “Power of Law”—a realistic and achievable theory of getting members to give just 5% more. Participants “worked their roster” to identify members with untapped talents and gifts that need to be reengaged through relationship building and then role-played asking those members for help in ways that were specific and personal.
Leading Your Team: Aligning Members
Participants explored the three keys to accountability: setting expectations, communicating expectations, and reinforcing expectations. They examined their own chapter’s cultural norms and evaluated the degree of alignment with desired expectations or behaviors. Participants then brainstormed ways to reward and encourage the more desired behaviors, while reducing reinforcement of undesired behaviors. Participants also discussed member personalities that might prove challenging, and practice skills for caring conversations using a confrontation framework.
Planning and Execution
Participants were challenged on the assumption that “members just aren’t engaged” and asked to consider that engagement is directly correlated to the energy-level and desirability of the events and activities we do. Participants were tasked with thinking through what turns an event from an “energy-suck” to an “energy-boost” and learned specific skills for event prototyping, breaking down the work into manageable parts, building and assigning the task list, and planning the calendar. Put it all together, and you have a recipe for a well-thought-out, engaging, and well-organized event.
Alpha Sigma Tau Leadership: Tools and Resources
Participants received an overview of important Alpha Sigma Tau tools and resources available to help support their success during their officer term. The program reviewed what, where, and why of the Chapter Support Team, Basecamp, Officer Portal, MyChapterRoom (MCR), Billhighway, CrowdChange, Parson-Bishop Services, and the Brand Toolkit.