3 Skills to Become an Effective Leader

The HEUG Alliance 2016 conference kicked off with a keynote session by bestselling author and leadership thought leader Charlene Li.  Charlene Li is working at the Altimeter Group, Altimeter publishes independent research on disruptive technology trends. They provide strategy consulting based on research to give business leaders the insight and confidence to thrive in the face of change.

Li opened the session by challenging the audience to think about one person in their lives who has been a leader who inspired them.

“How did that person make you feel? Think of a single word to describe them,” Charlene Li said.

Throughout her keynote, Li highlighted the relationship between a leader and the people who are inspired to follow that individual. Li directed the keynote to higher education users, acknowledging that one of the main challenges leaders in the higher education industry is the goal to serve multiple stakeholders. All stakeholders, such as alumni, staff and students have different needs and different relationships to manage, and through it all, technology is playing a role.

According to Li, today’s digital world requires new ways of interacting with and leading others.

Charlene Li outlined three ways to become an effective leader. The first way to become an effective leader in the digital age is by listening to scale.

“Listening is the foundation of leadership. Without listening, you can’t lead your followers to the goal that you are trying to reach,” Charlene Li said. Li stated during the keynote that digital channels allow leaders to listen like never before, interacting closely with followers and listening to their needs in real time.

The second way to become an effective leader is by sharing. According to Li, sharing stories creates personal relationships with followers and shapes interactions.

The third way to become an effective leader in today’s day and age is by engaging. However, engagement with followers must be strategic with an aim to reach a certain milestone or goal.

“Engagement has to be driven by a purpose or strategic goal of the type of relationship you want to form,” Li said.

Engaging creates an organizational culture that allows followers to build a level of trust with the organization/leaders and inspires others to believe in the cause.  Li challenged institutions to step out of their comfort zones and become transformational leaders through listening, sharing and engaging. Li acknowledged that while there are tools that institutions can use to listen, share and engage, there are no requirements. Each school can choose the tools that work best for them to build a community and strengthen the relationship between leaders and the followers who are looking to them.

Li concluded by reinforcing that individuals can be leaders regardless of job title or position as well as challenging the audience to aspire to become the leader who inspired them in the past.

Challenge Your Institution to Embrace Digital Transformation

This year’s attendees will hear from keynote speaker Charlene Li, New York Times bestselling author and thought leader on social media, leadership and digital transformation on businesses and institutions. Li’s book, The Engaged Leader, offers strategic advice for leaders who find themselves in the midst of transition, as more business processes and interactions move to digital channels.

In her book, Li outlines how leaders must adapt and listen to followers, selecting the right tools to not only accomplish objectives and daily tasks, but create an ongoing conversation with followers as well. Li states that while change might be uncomfortable at first, in the end, organizations will thrive while utilizing today’s digital technologies.

Li’s call for digital transformation complements Oracle’s commitment to providing the very best technology and application functionality to institutions, allowing them to serve their prospects, students, alumni, faculty and staff through digital channels.

Oracle’s recent release of Campus Solutions 9.2, along with the rest of the PeopleSoft 9.2 Suite, provides higher education institutions with new capabilities as well as new levels of flexibility. With the development and enhancements in the Fluid User Interface, Oracle application users will be able to utilize a digital channel to engage their students. Additional features such as Selective Adoption through the PeopleSoft Update Managerallows institutions to select only the features they want, when they want, allowing institutions to create the experience that works best for them. By utilizing Oracle applications, institutions are maximizing their digital footprint by incorporating the best technology and mobility.

Preparing for Your PeopleSoft Campus Solutions 9.2 Upgrade

The recent release of PeopleSoft Campus Solutions 9.2 offers institutions the latest technology and platform they need to provide an enhanced and impactful experience for students, faculty and staff.

Oracle has developed and launched the Campus Solutions 9.2 upgrade with institutions in mind.

“Our objective is to deliver a low impact, high opportunity upgrade…” Mark Armstrong, Oracle Vice President for Higher Education Product Development, said.

Campus Solutions 9.2 provides customers with the window to allocate resources and plan what features they will uptake in the coming year. Campus Solutions 9.2 offers institutions a manageable upgrade path to become current and caught up on any application enhancements they have not yet deployed.

Campus Solutions 9.2 will continue to utilize the functionality delivered in 9.0 as well as the continuous delivery model through the PeopleSoft Update Manager (PUM) to deliver new functionalities. Bug fixes and regulatory patches will be delivered through this model in 9.2 as well. By using Selective Adoption, institutions will be able to determine which update images to take and apply. By utilizing PUM, institutions will lower their total cost of ownership without the mandate to budget for costly updates.

In 9.2, customers will receive redesigned student self-service through the Fluid User Interface. Students will experience an intuitive, modern experience while being able to access the information they need from their smartphone or tablet. In order to limit the amount of impact, the Fluid User Interface updates will be released after institutions take the initial 9.2 upgrade, allowing institutions to have the flexibility to choose when they would like to roll it out.

How can you prepare to upgrade to 9.2?

·      Stay current on your application maintenance. Make sure that your institution is current on PeopleTools.

·      Your institution must be on Bundle 34 for Campus Solutions/Bundle 25 for PeopleSoft HCM with PeopleTools 8.53 or higher.

·      Check out the Campus Solutions homepage on My Oracle Support (Doc ID 2013381.1).

Offer Students a Mobile Experience with Campus Solutions

With the PeopleSoft Campus Solutions mobile application, institutions will be able to increase their level of self-service that they can provide to applicants, students and alumni.

The mobile application provides users with a modern design and intuitive navigation, built using the Oracle Application Development Framework (ADF) Mobile. Users can view and edit information wherever they are at from their smartphone or tablet device.

After logging in to the application, students are taken to a landing page that shows their class schedules for the day and any outstanding notifications such as overdue library books and the late fee charge. By selecting a class, students can drill down and see course details such as instructor, textbook requirements and meeting location. Students can view instructor contact details and even drop a class from their mobile device.

In the Notifications tab of the landing page, information that is updated in Student Records shows up, such as a grade that was recently entered in. Students are not only able to see a grade on an assignment, but their current overall GPA and letter grade as well.

A Menu option from the landing page acts as a one-stop shop for any information students may want to access from the application. Students can view a complete class schedule for the term, view financial aid awards and monitor any holds on their account.

The Finances page shows students an account balance, amount of the next payment due, the last payment amount and any pending financial aid amounts.

Other beneficial features of the mobile application include the following:

·      A To Do page, listing out all checklist items with class assignments.
·      An Applications page, showing the progress and submission of all undergrad or postgrad programs within the university.
·      Class Search enabling students to search for and enroll in classes for a future term using keyword search and filters.
·      For schools that use PeopleSoft’s Contributor Relations module, students can make a donation directly from their phone to a campaign or cause of their choosing.