Asynchronous Online Courses
Focused Learning, Designed for Academic Leaders
Registration is Open for Winter/Spring 2026
Participants should expect to spend about four hours per week completing coursework. Each course is focused on a single topic, and draws on curated research in the field as well as academic expertise.
As always, the design of each course includes opportunities for reflection and interaction, empowering you to boost your skills with a group of peers interested in the same issues.
January
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The Emotional Lives of Teenagers with Dr. Lisa Damour
Join NY Times best-selling author Dr. Lisa Damour to learn how to apply new insights on teens’ cognitive and emotional development in schools.
January 26 - February 6
February
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Recruiting and Hiring Considerations for 2026
Insights for the complexities of recruiting and hiring the faculty you need in 2026.
February 2 - February 6
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Building the GPT Your School Needs (No Programming)
Learn to create custom GPTs or agents for academic leadership. This course covers effective prompts, use cases, and practical applications in school administration. Build your own GPT or agent.
February 2 - February 6
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Making Custom-Built Bots to Align Curriculum to Mission
Learn to use custom GPTs for mission-driven curriculum design and adaptation. This course covers creating custom GPTs, evaluating GenAI-generated content, and tailoring it to your school’s unique program.
February 9 - February 13
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Student Survey Design
We’ll examine the purposes of survey data research and share strategies and samples to guide participants on how to construct reliable questions.
February 16 - February 20
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Tough Talks: Challenging Conversations with Direct Reports
This course helps independent school leaders strengthen their supervisory skills by engaging in the kinds of conversations that are tempting to avoid, yet essential for professional growth, accountability, and team cohesion.
February 16 - February 20
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Competency-Based Learning: A Primer for Academic Leaders
Gain a foundational understanding of competency-based learning. Designed for academic leaders, this course offers practical insights and strategies to initiate meaningful conversations within your school community.
February 23 - 27
March
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Leading a Mission-Aligned Curriculum Audit
Learn to lead a curriculum audit aligned with mission-centered goals. Gain tools and templates for planning an audit within a school year, adaptable for single departments or cross-division competencies.
March 2 - March 6
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AI for YOU, Academic Leader
Discover how Generative AI can help school leaders navigate their workday more efficiently and enhance thought leadership.
March 9 - March 13
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Evaluating Department Leaders as Academic Leaders
Learn about using a competency-based approach that will help leaders reconsider how they assess the effectiveness of department and team leaders
March 16 - March 20
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Curriculum Mapping: What You Need to Know Before You Start
Plan effective curriculum mapping that honors your school's values and culture. Leave with a personalized plan and timeline, developed from our templates. We'll suggest how AI tools can support and streamline the process.
March 23 - March 27
April
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Onboarding New Faculty to Your School's Culture and Pedagogy
Ensure long-term faculty success by learning actionable onboarding strategies that align new hires with your school’s mission, culture, and pedagogy.
April 13 - April 24
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Mentoring Matters: Get it Right
Lead a stronger mentoring program for new faculty. This course equips Academic Leaders with strategies to support mentors and mentees in creating a confident, connected start for new colleagues.
April 20 - April 24
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Cultural Competence in 2026
This course equips leaders to create the conditions where students and teachers can thrive because they know that they belong within the life of your school.
April 27 - May 1
More about online courses at the
Association for Academic Leaders
At the Association for Academic Leaders, we know these two things about our members: their time is short and their interests and needs encompass a wide array of issues. As a competency-based professional association, we have intentionally designed our courses to meet these seemingly divergent needs.
Almost all of our courses are short, lasting one week; they open on a Friday afternoon and close on Sunday evening 10 days later. Every course is designed to be completed in what we call an “asynchronous but paced” manner in about 4-5 hours total over the course of those 10 days. This time frame includes both weekend and weekday time to ensure that participants can complete the assignments at the times their schedule permits.
In practice, this means that each course targets a specific aspect of one of the competencies Academic Leaders need to grow to help their schools thrive. While the overall topic may seem quite large, once inside, participants will find a highly-curated selection of resources that target the objectives of the course.
Just because the courses are short does not mean they are completed in isolation. We ask that participants plan to pace themselves by including time to interact, not just consume the course material. Each offering is led by one of our highly knowledgeable facilitators, who provides feedback to participants’ submissions and questions. In addition, participants are encouraged (expected) to engage with one another in making meaning from the course material though our discussion assignments.
The conversations don’t end when the course is completed and the badges awarded. We provide opportunities to continue the connections made in our courses in our members-only discussion areas in our online portal.