Leadership & Innovation in Academics Matter (LIAM)
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Overview
The goal of LIAM is to prepare you to lead in an academic setting: to influence the organization, to change its direction, to change its culture. We believe that a developmental approach best allows us to achieve this goal. In order to accomplish this, we have created a series of experiences that inform your ability to first lead yourself, to lead with others and then to lead the organization. Woven through these modules are the threads of design thinking, innovation and self-directed learning to reinforce and bind the experiences together. The leadership development program for early to mid-career faculty on the HSC campus aimed at enhancing their leadership skills. The goal of LIAM is to prepare you to lead in an academic setting: to influence the organization, to change its direction, to change its culture.
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FAQ
LIAM (Leadership and Innovation in Academics Matter) is a leadership development program for early- and mid-career faculty at the University of Louisville’s Health Sciences Center. Designed to build leadership skills through a structured, developmental approach, the program has graduated over 225 faculty members since 2017.
Beginning in 2026, LIAM will consist of three, 3-credit-hour courses over three semesters (summer, fall and spring). These courses—LIAM I, II and III—cover topics like leadership fundamentals, team dynamics, communication academic career planning and crisis management. The summer course is fully virtual; the fall and spring courses are hybrid, with a mix of in-person and online sessions.
Participants receive nine hours of graduate-level UofL college credit at no cost, thanks to tuition support (up to six credit hours per semester). These credits can be applied toward a Master’s in Health Professions Education or a forthcoming Certificate in Academic Leadership.
Applications open each January for the summer cohort. No nomination is required. Sixteen participants are selected annually following an interview process conducted by OPED faculty. Selected participants progress through the program together as a cohort.
**You will need to apply to the University of Louisville grad school for participation.
Applications are accepted from March 25-April 19 and have closed for the 2025-26 year. More information for the next cohort will be available at a later date.