The Challenge: Building consistent leadership in a lean university environment
Viterbo University employs roughly 290 full time staff and faculty, supported by a large adjunct population. Like many higher education institutions, strong individual contributors are promoted into leadership roles without formal management training. The result is real leadership complexity across roles and departments, without the HR capacity to support heavy programs.
When Emily Weaver joined to lead HR, she quickly determined there was a need to implement consistent manager training.
The university needed practical fundamentals that managers would actually use, without creating a heavy lift for a lean HR team.
The Solution:
Manager Method
Practical, cohort based learning that managers actually complete
Viterbo rolled out Manager 101 using cohorts and in person sessions. Senior leaders were included within the manager cohorts, and managers were intentionally placed outside of their normal work circles to broaden relationships and learning across campus. Viterbo’s president also participated in the training.
Managers engaged with the material and showed up ready to talk. Participation increased as the cohort sessions continued, and managers became more open and active in discussion.
The Results:
Engagement, application, and demand for what’s next
Viterbo saw impact quickly in a few concrete ways:
Strong participation and completion. Managers logged in, consumed the content, and stayed engaged through the cohort cadence.
Higher quality peer learning. Cross functional cohorts helped managers learn from challenges outside their day to day context.
Immediate applicability. Managers pulled practical tools and language into real conversations with their teams.
The internal sentiment also cut through the typical “mandatory training” fatigue.
“I’ve watched my fair share of mandatory video trainings with one eye on my inbox. The Manager Method training series Viterbo University invested in is different. It’s practical, concise, and packed with things you can immediately apply.”
Erin Edlund, Ph.D.
VP for Marketing, Communications, and Enrollment
