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Subject Matter Expert | Leadership Excellence Certificate

Call for Course Authors (Subject Matter Expertise): Leadership Excellence Certificate, Higher Education Leadership Program

The Higher Education Leadership Certificate Program is a multi-level leadership development program designed to support academic and administrative leaders as they shape institutional direction, steward strategic resources, and guide transformation across the university.

The program will consist of three scaffolded certificates—Essentials, Growth, and Excellence—each comprising eight distinct courses that integrate leadership and business skills for a higher education context. The initiative is grounded in the university’s strategic priorities and aims to cultivate core competencies in academic and administrative leadership, institutional governance, strategic decision-making, and inclusive excellence.

The Leadership Excellence Certificate is designed for senior academic and administrative leaders (e.g., deans, provosts, executive-level administrative roles). Through eight advanced-level courses, this certificate will help participants deepen their capacity to lead across systems, make evidenceinformed decisions, and navigate the complex intersections of academic values, organizational priorities, and public accountability, in a rapidly evolving higher education sector.

The Leadership Excellence program model is hybrid, with an emphasis on synchronous delivery. Courses will integrate synchronous sessions with selected asynchronous online components to enhance accessibility and collaboration.

Program Description

The Leadership Excellence Certificate equips senior academic and administrative leaders to shape institutional direction, steward strategic resources, and guide transformation across the university. Designed for deans, provosts, directors, and executive-level professionals, the program develops advanced capabilities in institutional strategy, governance, digital transformation, financial stewardship, and stakeholder engagement.

Leaders build the capacity to think and act systemically—integrating emotional and cultural intelligence with analytical judgment. Executive effectiveness relies on interpreting organizational dynamics, anticipating how decisions ripple across systems, and engaging people with empathy,  transparency, and conviction.

Equity, diversity, inclusion, accessibility, and decolonization are treated as system-wide commitments embedded in strategy, governance, and culture. These values drive sustainable impact on institutional resilience, student and faculty success, public trust, and societal contribution.

Courses emphasize the interconnection of executive decisions across domains—strategy, finance, governance, people, digital, innovation, and trust—while allowing each course to deepen one dimension of institutional leadership practice. The program highlights the need to navigate the intersections of academic values, organizational priorities, and public accountability, equipping leaders to embed innovation, sustainability, and inclusive excellence into planning, governance, and leadership practice to achieve enduring institutional and societal outcomes.

Upon successful completion of the program, participants will be able to:

  • Analyze complex institutional ecosystems by analyzing interdependencies among strategy, finance, governance, workforce, digital systems, and interest holders, with attention to how decisions impact institutional sustainability and accountability
  • Appraise competing priorities and values across academic, administrative, and societal domains to make equitable, accountable, and context-sensitive leadership judgments
  • Integrate evidence, data, and perspectives from diverse sources to inform resilient, transparent, and future-oriented institutional decisions
  • Formulate integrative responses to uncertainty and disruption that balance sustainability, innovation, equity, and public trust
  • Reconcile institutional commitments with societal expectations by engaging governments, Indigenous communities, students, donors, and the public in ways that sustain reputation and impact

Courses & Experience

We are currently seeking SMEs to develop and facilitate the following courses: 

  1. Safeguarding Integrity: Governance, Policy and Institutional Accountability
  2. Stewarding Resources for Impact: Finance and Institutional Sustainability
  3. Driving Renewal: Innovation and Systems Transformation
  4. Leading People Systems: Workforce Strategy and Institutional Culture
  5. Governing Knowledge: Data, Digital Oversight and Evidence-Informed Leadership
  6. Navigating Ecosystems of Trust: Interest Holders and Engagement

With experience in areas such as:

  • Academic strategy, institutional planning, and governance
  • Higher education leadership and organizational change
  • Labour relations, faculty affairs, and institutional culture
  • Financial stewardship, enterprise budgeting, and resource allocation
  • Data governance, evidence-informed decision-making, and institutional research
  • Digital transformation, technology strategy, and AI policy in higher education
  • Stakeholder engagement, government relations, and reputation management
  • Equity, inclusion, decolonization, accessibility, and reconciliation in leadership practice

Required Qualifications

  • Doctoral degree preferred (PhD, EdD, DBA, or equivalent terminal degree) in a relevant field (e.g., Leadership, Business, Higher Education, Public Administration, Organizational Development); Master’s Degree plus practical experience may be considered.
  • Distinguished record of scholarship and/or professional leadership in higher education or related sectors, with demonstrated impact at the institutional, faculty, or executive level
  • Substantial leadership experience (10+ years) in academic, administrative, or senior operational roles
  • Demonstrated expertise in translating complex research, policy, and practice into accessible, practice-oriented learning for professional and executive audiences
  • Proven experience in curriculum or course development, with preference given to those who have developed online, self-directed learning programs
  • Strong record of teaching, training, or facilitation for adult or professional learners
  • Exceptional communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work across disciplines and institutional units to meet project milestones

Compensation and Engagement

SMEs will be engaged as independent contractors. Each engagement includes structured planning, development of in-person and synchronous activities, design of applied case studies and assessments, review of the CourseLink site (for supplementary asynchronous elements), and collaborative development with the design team. The estimated range of effort is 30–40 hours. This should be considered a guideline, as actual time may vary depending on course scope, content complexity, the developer’s prior experience with course development, institutional timelines, technology requirements, and the level of collaboration required.

Note: Developments would commence through Winter 2026 – Fall 2026 based on launch schedule. 

To Apply

Please submit your resume and a brief cover letter outlining your subject matter expertise and relevant experience by January 31, 2026, for full consideration. 

Applications may continue to be accepted after this date until suitable candidates are identified.

Please include the course(s) in which you wish to develop.

Lisa Blenkinsop, Program Manager, Global Initiatives, School of Continuing Studies
Email: lblenkin@uoguelph.ca