“Sometimes we need someone from outside to look in on our work and help us reach the next level.  Liz did that for Carthage, and she can do it for your campus, too.”-Dr. Karin Sconzert, Carthage College.

 

I am passionate about creating environments and promoting strategies that allow faculty to do their best work as teachers and scholars.

Recent work and publications:

**Getting Unstuck: workshops for women in higher ed, summer 2022: online workshops providing reflection, practical advice, goal setting to help tackle burnout and jumpstart projects

** “What Is a Campus?”, Inside Higher Ed, July 23, 2021

** If Everyone Does It, How Do We Do It Differently?: Critical Thinking in the Humanities Classroom: Presentation for the University of Mississippi, March 9, 2021

** Strong Start Workshops: Workshops for women who are academic administrators; workshops included goal/intention setting and discussion of time and stress management strategies; January 2021.

** Department Chair Workshops: Working with the American Historical Association, I helped write a successful Teagle Foundation grant to provide virtual workshops for chairs of history departments as they navigated the challenges of the pandemic; Summer and Fall 2020

“Liz Lehfeldt is an extremely effective facilitator…she enabled us to define more clearly what was distinctive about our approach, what we wanted to keep on doing, and what we wanted to modify,” Dr. Simon Doubleday, History Department, Hofstra University.

My background: I have over a decade’s experience as a higher ed administrator (all of which is informed by my 27 years as an academic historian and faculty member).  I have been a dean, a department chair, program director, and president of an international scholarly society.  I served a three-year term (2016-2019) as the Vice President of the Teaching Division of the American Historical Association, where I led several major projects involving history curriculum, enrollments, and pedagogy.  I blog about issues in higher ed administration and teaching and my work has appeared in Inside Higher Ed and Times Higher Education. I am happy to provide references from colleagues who have worked with me. 

My cv is available here.

I bring all this experience to bear in my work as a consultant.  I lead workshops, facilitate meetings, and offer coaching in three key areas:

1. Curriculum and programming: helping academic departments enhance their cohesiveness, outreach, and enrollments by developing strong curricula and programming
2. Faculty development: supporting faculty who choose to make the transition to administration
3. Promoting the humanities: enhancing the visibility of the humanities on campuses through curricular and programmatic initiatives.

I have worked with colleagues at a variety of types of institutions including Cal State Northridge, the University of Mississippi, Hofstra University, the University of Missouri at St. Louis, and Carthage College. 

Skeptical about consultants?  I am, too!  But sometimes a department or a campus needs an outsider’s perspective.  And I’m the perfect combination–I’m an outsider, who’s also an insider to the academy.  So I promise no management-speak or gimmicky group work.  Just straight talk and practical solutions based on conversations with you and your colleagues.

I have worked with colleagues in a variety of areas including:

• guiding departments through curricular change
• preparing faculty for careers in administration
• facilitating professional development for administrators (work-life balance, productivity, morale)
• providing training and preparation for department chairs, especially in history and the humanities
• helping academic units identify their purpose and goals
• addressing the concerns of women in higher ed
• conducting program reviews, for both internal and external assessment

I can also provide individual consultations/coaching and I am available as a speaker on any of the topics described above (fees negotiable).

I am happy to provide references from colleagues who have worked with me. 

Fees are negotiable.

Interested in having me work with you virtually or visit your campus? Contact me through this website, at talestoldoutofschool ~ at ~ gmail ~ dot ~ com, or fill out an interest form and we can start planning a virtual or in-person visit.