What outcomes should faculty technology provide to colleges and universities? How can they use it most wisely? And where is it going next?
Those were the questions in play at the first-ever Interfolio Summit, held in mid-July 2019 at the Westin City Center in downtown Washington, DC.
Over 175 individuals representing 80 colleges and universities descended upon Washington, DC for this three-day event offering learning and networking opportunities for anyone who uses Interfolio to manage academic hiring, faculty activity reporting, and professional review workflows in higher education.
Throughout the event, it was clear that the Faculty Information System has an essential role to play in empowering global higher education not only to work more cost-effectively, but also—especially—to eliminate the current pervasive blindspot around academic lifecycle moments like faculty hiring, teaching, scholarship, professional advancement, and service to the institution.
Prologue to the Summit: the Product Advisory Committee
Preceding the Summit proper, we met with the 2019 cohort of the Interfolio Product Advisory Committee (PAC). The PAC is a small, rotating group of faculty affairs, technology, and administrative leaders from 12 academic institutions who consult with Interfolio throughout the year to provide input and reactions to the investments that we’re making in the products.
Day 1: Setting the stage
The beginning of the Summit took place on Wednesday afternoon, giving attendees ample chance to get in, get registered, and take stock of the opportunities.
The Summit kicked off with reflective opening remarks—first from Interfolio founder, president, and chief product officer Steve Goldenberg on the 20-year anniversary of the company’s founding, and next from Interfolio CEO Andrew Rosen on the critical and timely necessity of the Faculty Information System technology category.
Lessons on change management—from those that have done it
Following the opening remarks, and connecting the dots with the 2019 PAC meeting, the very first session of the Summit addressed change management as it relates to higher education faculty technology.
We heard from experienced Interfolio champions at 2019 PAC member institutions UCSD, Vanderbilt, and Tulane, as well as Interfolio Senior Consultant David Schenirer.
For some of the concrete guidance including best practices from the field and notes from these speakers (among others), take a look at our free downloadable white paper, Managing Change When Implementing Faculty Technology.
While the educational programming of that first short day wrapped up, we invited Summit attendees to an entertaining happy hour complete with rooftop views at the Eaton DC.
For more information on the 2019 Interfolio Summit, check out the other two posts: Day 2: Keynote, client presentations, and a birthday party and Day 3: Success stories, a look under the hood, and a 6-month roadmap.