Summary

The Summer Institute began in 1976 with initial funding from the William H. Donner Foundation. The goal of the founders was to improve the status of women in the middle and executive levels of higher education administration, an area in which women traditionally had been under-represented. The Summer Institute, having celebrated its 30th birthday, is an established and highly successful effort.

The program accepts women who are actively seeking increased administrative responsibilities and provides

• training in the management and governance of institutions of higher education, with special attention to accounting and budgeting, long range planning, information technology, decision making processes, and policy implementation.
• institutional perspective on the pressing issues and problems in higher education today, giving special attention to the growing diversity of the student body and the workforce.
• strategies for professional development with special emphasis on leadership, self-presentation, institutional change, and career planning.
• continuing supportive network of peers and mentors.

Since 1976, nearly 2000 women, faculty and administrators from throughout the United States, Canada, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Virgin Islands, Bermuda, Nigeria, Sweden, Wales, Iran, and the Netherlands have participated in the four-week residential program.