What is the Leadership Academy?
The Texas State University Leadership Academy Certificate Program is a premier, research-backed professional development experience designed to empower aspiring and early-career faculty and staff leaders.
Rooted in a three-theory framework—Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Transactional and Transformational Leadership Theory, and Kouzes and Posner’s Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership—the Leadership Academy bridges leadership science with everyday practice. Over five months and ten immersive sessions, participants build authentic self-awareness, master relational trust, learn to navigate adaptive change, and cultivate high-performing, empowered teams.
Cohort Limit: Due to the highly personalized, reflective, and collaborative nature of the program, participation is limited to 20 participants per cohort.
Why Is Leadership Important?
Great leaders do not simply manage tasks—they transform workplace culture, foster psychological safety, enhance institutional value, improve employee retention, and empower their teams to deliver outstanding outcomes.
In the modern workplace, leadership is an observable, learnable set of behaviors rather than a positional title. When early-career leaders rely solely on transactional exchanges (managing tasks, schedules, and compliance), teams often experience burnout, siloed communication, and disengagement. By shifting toward Transformational Leadership, leaders address higher-order human needs—inspiring shared purpose, intellectually stimulating innovation, and providing individualized consideration to every team member.
Investing in your leadership capabilities early in your career establishes lifelong habits of values-driven decision-making, emotional intelligence, and relational trust that reverberate across Texas State University.
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Program Benefits
The Leadership Academy provides a high-impact, research-grounded environment designed to elevate your leadership capabilities and expand your institutional reach:
- DiSC® Behavioral Profile & Facilitated Debrief: Complete a complimentary DiSC® assessment to discover your natural behavioral style, identify workplace blind spots, and learn to adapt your communication to lead teams effectively.
- Shared Cohort Common Reading: Receive a complimentary copy of a shared cohort book and engage in 10 structured cohort book discussions focused on courage, vulnerability, and resilience.
- Cross-Divisional Peer Network: Build deep, lasting relationships across various university departments in an intentional 20-person cohort that breaks down campus silos.
- Leadership Insights: Learn directly from guest speakers across Texas State who share real-world stories of values-driven leadership, overcoming workplace setbacks, and driving change.
- Applied Leadership Experiments: Put learning into immediate practice through structured between-session assignments tested directly in your daily role.
- Experiential Team-Building at University Camp: Participate in an immersive 4-hour low-ropes challenge in Wimberley, applying leadership, communication, and problem-solving skills in real time.
- Structured 1:1 Mentoring & Coaching: Benefit from dedicated 1:1 check-in sessions with the program facilitator to personalize your growth goals and debrief real-time leadership challenges.
- Personal Leadership Philosophy (PLP): Formulate and present a capstone Credo and Leadership Philosophy that clearly articulates your core values, vision, and long-term commitments as a leader.
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Eligibility for Participation:
- Full-time, benefits-eligible Texas State faculty or staff member with at least one year of service prior to program start date.
- In good standing with no disciplinary actions or performance concerns.
- Mandatory supervisor approval and commitment to attend at least 8 of the 10 scheduled sessions.
Nomination Process:
The Leadership Academy nomination and selection process includes the following steps:
- Nomination: Employees may be nominated for the Leadership Academy by either their supervisor or a colleague using the nomination form below. Before submitting a nomination, employees are encouraged to discuss their interest, motivation, and readiness for the program with their supervisor.
- Supervisor support:
If a colleague submits the nomination, the nominee’s supervisor must review the nomination, approve it, and confirm their support before it can move forward in the selection process.
If the supervisor submits the nomination, it will move forward to the next step in the selection process. - Eligibility review: Human Resources reviews nominations to confirm that nominees meet program eligibility.
- Selection: Eligible nominees with confirmed supervisor support are placed in the selection pool. The Selection Committee reviews qualified candidates and selects the Leadership Academy cohort. Human Resources will consult with Vice Presidents during the selection process.
- Notification: A total of 20 employees will be selected to participate in the Leadership Academy. Selected employees and their supervisors will be notified of the outcome and next steps.
Please note: A nomination does not guarantee selection. To be considered, nominees must meet all eligibility requirements and have confirmed supervisor support.
Program Schedule:
All participants will receive a physical handout of the schedule as well as calendar items to their Bobcat email. Program schedule is subject to change. If locations, dates, or times are changed, participants will be given significant notice via email and teams.
| Session | Date | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Kick Off | Tues. January 5 | 10:00 – 11:30 AM |
| Session 1 | Fri. January 8 | 8:00 – 12:00 PM |
| Session 2 | Fri. January 22 | 1:00 – 5:00 PM |
| Session 3 | Fri. February 5 | 8:00 – 12:00 PM |
| Session 4 | Fri. February 19 | 1:00 – 5:00 PM |
| Session 5 | Fri. March 5 | 8:00 – 12:00 PM |
| Session 6 | Fri. March 26 | 8:00 – 12:00 PM |
| Session 7 | Fri. April 12 | 1:00 – 5:00 PM |
| Session 8 | Fri. April 16 | 8:00 – 12:00 PM |
| Session 9 | Fri. April 30 | 1:00 – 5:00 PM |
| Session 10 | Fri. May 7 | 8:00 – 12:00 PM |
| Graduation | Wed. May 12 | 10:30 – 12:30 PM |
What to expect as a Cohort Member:
Leadership Academy is a highly immersive, active-learning experience. Cohort members are expected to engage fully in discussions, group activities, reflection, and peer learning throughout the program.
- Attendance: To graduate, cohort members must attend at least 8 of 10 sessions.
- Active participation: Participants are expected to contribute to discussions, activities, and collaborative learning experiences. The Academy is designed around adult learning principles, so members will be active learners rather than passive attendees.
- Group reading: Cohort members will participate in discussions of a selected book throughout the Academy. Books will be provided; no purchase is necessary.
- Facilitator sessions: Each cohort member will schedule three one-on-one virtual sessions with the Leadership Academy facilitator to discuss goals, seek guidance, and identify additional resources or support.
- University Camp: One session will take place at University Camp in Wimberley and will include activities designed to build stronger relationships and connections within the cohort.
- Optional meet-ups: Optional group gatherings may be offered twice a month, such as virtual coffee conversations or informal lunches. Costs associated with these gatherings are not covered by Leadership Academy.
- Additional resources: Cohort members will have access to optional development resources, including LinkedIn Learning courses. Completed LinkedIn Learning courses will appear in SuccessFactors Learning history and may be visible to the participant’s supervisor.
What a Typical Leadership Academy Session Looks Like:
Each 4-hour session follows a structured, engaging format* designed to balance networking, executive presentation, applied group work, shared reading, and personal reflection.
- Breakfast (or Snacks) & Networking (15 mins) – Welcome, light refreshments, and informal peer check-in.
- Welcome & Ice Breaker (30 mins) – Cohort connection activity and debrief of between-session leadership experiments.
- Speaker Presentation & Content (90 mins) – Executive guest speaker story followed by core theoretical framing.
- Break (15 mins) – Rest and informal reflection.
- Applied Activity & Practice (30 mins) – Hands-on skill building and diagnostics.
- Cohort Networking / Small Group Discussion (15 mins) – Peer-to-peer discussion, application feedback, and shared problem-solving.
- Book Discussion (30 mins) – Facilitated cohort discussion on the assigned chapters of the shared cohort book.
- Closing Remarks & Assignment (15 mins) – Session summary, feedback collection, and introduction of the upcoming Leadership Experiment.
*Daily schedule is subject to change.
Leadership Academy Cohort Spring ‘27
Nominations open Tuesday, September 8 and close on October 2. Employees may be nominated by a colleague* or their supervisor. Self-nominations are not accepted.
For specifics regarding the nomination and approval process, please review the Nomination Process section.
*Please note: If you are nominating a colleague, please ensure you have their supervisor’s correct NetID email address (e.g., abcd1234@txstate.edu). An incorrect email address may prevent the supervisor from receiving the nomination for review.