2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Enhancing Leadership Capabilities of Engineering Instructional Faculty Through an ICVF-Based Reflection Activity

This practice paper describes a faculty leadership development activity that explores the six leadership roles of the Integrated Competing Values Framework (ICVF). This paper aims to explain the development and implementation of this leadership activity for engineering faculty, supporting the Design strategic priority of the Engineering Leadership Development (LEAD) Division.

Engineering Instructional Faculty - full-time, largely non-tenure-track educators - are a growing population in higher education. Not only do these educators spend more time in the classroom positively impacting students, they also play a critical role in leading educational change initiatives, such as adopting curricula that connect with students’ cultural identities to bolster their sense of belonging in engineering. Because of their current and future potential to impact students, there is increasing interest in supporting these faculty in their continued growth due to historically poor institutional support structures.

Given the limited institutional support structures and the unique demands on faculty in these positions, there is a pressing need for professional development programming tailored to EIF’s. Leadership development in particular can offer the perspective, resources, and tools needed to empower these faculty to pursue their change goals. One such initiative is the [intervention, redacted for review], which comprises a kickoff workshop that leverages various individual- and group-based participative activities followed by 7 weeks of virtual group coaching to support EIF’s ongoing educational change efforts at their institutions.

This practice paper focuses on the design and implementation of a leadership activity used during the [intervention, redacted for review]. In designing the activity, we leveraged the Integrated Competing Values Framework (ICVF) as a theoretical foundation for understanding the various ways leadership may be practiced by instructional faculty in engineering. Essential aspects of the ICVF, such as navigating various leadership roles and self-reflection, were considered during the activity’s design. In short, the activity leverages self-reflection by having participants gauge their leadership capabilities and consider which aspects they want to grow, acquire, or delegate to achieve their proposed change goal. Finally, the impact of this activity on participant leadership growth is explored through the analysis of qualitative data, i.e., observations of the activity and participant artifacts. The value and limitations of this activity as a leadership development tool are discussed (e.g., its developmental relevance to students and faculty), along with recommendations for practice.

Authors

Dr. Meagan R. Kendall http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9940-4405 University of Texas at El Paso [biography]

An Associate Professor at The University of Texas at El Paso, Dr. Meagan R. Kendall is a founding member of the Department of Engineering Education and Leadership. With a background in both engineering education and design thinking, her research focuses on how Latinx students develop identities as engineers and navigate moments of identity interference, student and faculty engineering leadership development through the Contextual Engineering Leadership Development framework, and promoting student motivation. Dr. Kendall is the Past Chair of the Engineering Leadership Development Division of ASEE.
Dr. Brett Tallman Texas Christian University [biography]

Brett Tallman is Visiting Lecturer at Texas Christian University. He earned his doctorate in Engineering at Montana State University (MSU), with focus on engineering leadership. His previous degrees include a Masters degree in Education from MSU (active learning in quantum mechanics) and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University. He comes to academia with over two decades of industry experience, including quality engineering with Toyota and managing his own consulting practice in biomedical and product design.
Mr. Henry Salgado University of Texas at El Paso [biography]

Henry Salgado is a Ph.D. student in Computer Science and a graduate researcher at The University of Texas at El Paso. He has earned two Master's degrees, one in Computational Science and another in Engineering. His research interests focus on the intersection of computer science, data science, and engineering education.
Gemma Henderson http://orcid.org/https://0000-0002-1782-1273 University of Miami [biography]

Gemma Henderson is a Director of Learning Platforms at the University of Miami, and previously held a position as a Senior Instructional Designer in the Learning Innovation and Faculty Engagement team. Gemma partners and consults with faculty, academic units and other university stakeholders across the University focusing on curriculum development and digital pedagogies. Gemma engages in information technologies and educational initiatives to enrich undergraduate and graduate courses on behalf of Academic Technologies. Gemma currently serves as the Curriculum Development Lead in a collaborative research project, funded by the National Science Foundation, with faculty at the University of Texas El Paso, University of Miami, and Florida International University focused on undergraduate engineering education at Hispanic Serving Institutions.

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 22, 2025, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 25, 2025