Office of Enrollment Management and Marketing Completes Pilot of Management and Leadership Training Program

(SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY — December 20, 2024) At the beginning of December, the Office of Enrollment Management and Marketing (OEMM) held its final workshops in Saratoga Springs for the first-of-its-kind Management and Leadership Training Program.

The program, in which participants devoted two hours a week to over the course of a year, was born out of OEMM’s strategic plan initiative to build in succession planning and staff development for the department. Kristin FitzSimons, director of Strategic Planning and Development, created and developed the program.

“With this professional development program, I wanted to make sure I gave the opportunity for rising talent to have access to the vocabulary and understanding of what it takes to be a leader,” FitzSimons said. “It was definitely a team effort.”

A cohort of seven staff members applied and were accepted into the program, including Anne Sweet, assistant director of military student services, Caitlin West, assistant director of Admissions, Stephen Parato, senior copywriter/storyteller, Christopher Rolley, enrollment and partnership outreach officer, Jillian Johnis, assistant director of recruitment, Stephanie Nix, graduate outreach and advisement coordinator, and Mindy Boenning, active duty program coordinator. Before the program began, participants took a coachability assessment to evaluate their openness to feedback and growth mindset.

“Our Management and Leadership Program was designed to cultivate the next generation of leaders to inspire teams, drive organizational success, and foster innovation,” Vice President for Enrollment Management and Marketing Andrea Hennessy said. “Through a comprehensive curriculum, participants gained insights into strategic thinking, effective decision-making, and people management. Additionally, cohort members engaged coaches to assist them in meeting their personal goals. The program not only offered opportunity for growth within the cohort, but for the coaches and directors who engaged this year-long program.”

With a focus on individualized coaching, OEMM directors were trained by Director of Veteran and Military Education Desiree Drindak and paired with a member of the staff cohort. Participating directors included Jen D’Agostino, senior director of Admissions, Heather Howard, director of recruitment, Mary Austin, director of 1Stop Student Services, Doug Gruse, chief marketing officer, Kelly Mollica, director of partnerships, and Michelle Campbell, director of Financial Aid.

“Leading the coaching segment of the OEMM Management and Leadership program was an incredible opportunity for my own professional growth as well as for supporting the OEMM team,” Drindak said. “The program included directors as coaches, which allowed emerging leaders to grow while enhancing the leadership abilities of current directors. This dual coaching model within the program promoted mutual development, strengthening leadership across our organization.”

“The coaching aspect of the program was a great complement to the modules,” Parato said. “I met bi-weekly with my coach, who helped me formulate specific goals and stick to them. Even the process of talking to someone about my work and ambitions was transformative in and of itself.”

Directors were assigned different modules to teach the cohort based on their strengths and areas of expertise, with some taking courses through SUNY’s Center for Professional Development to aid in their coaching. Some of the topics covered included having difficult conversations, providing constructive feedback, emotional intelligence, making data-driven decisions, and more. Empire State University President Lisa Vollendorf was a guest speaker during the Humility in Leadership module. Overall, the program highlighted a cross-university collaboration to provide expert learning content and discussions.

“Every module was fascinating,” Parato said. “I also found little ways to apply at least something from each module into my daily work. For example, understanding change management has helped me set more realistic deadlines for projects instead of rushing to complete things.”

“Graduates of this program were not just taught to manage, but to lead with vision, resilience, innovation and integrity, making a positive impact within OEMM and Empire State University,” Hennessy said.