Published on March 4, 2014 by Philip Poole  

Samford University will host a group of school superintendents from around the state March 11 to discuss transforming education in Alabama.

A new Transformational Leadership Academy has been established through a partnership between Samford, School Superintendents Association of Alabama, the Schlechty Center and Education Solutions to collaboratively design professional development and support for Alabama superintendents.

The academy will convene for four sessions throughout the year in Orlean Bullard Beeson Hall on Samford's campus. March 11 is the first session.

"We are excited to be a part of this new initiative to support educational leaders," said Dr. Jeanie Box, dean of Samford's Orlean Bullard Beeson School of Education. She also noted the work will not compete with state or organizational initiatives, but will encourage and assist superintendents in meeting their goals as transformational leaders in Alabama.

According to Box, the academy will offer sessions to participating superintendents focusing on understanding and embracing transformational leadership, learning how to attract and recruit talent and build the capacity of leaders to transform schools, enhancing leadership skills, developing shared leadership capacities, and developing teachers as leaders, designers and guides to instruction.

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 5,791 students from 49 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.