Chantell Cosner, PhD

In case you’re wondering want we’re discussing at an international leadership conference this week…

One of my colleagues and I were looking at my Instagram today, brainstorming some ideas for an upcoming ad campaign. Nearly every single ad in my feed was for GLP-1s or related weight loss products. He was horrified and said “I just get beer ads.” 😟

Oooof…and this is why applications for Pharmacy school continue to dip. The industry has a significant image problem.

Guuurrrl, the can of worms you just opened…🤣

But seriously, when the chips are down, I remember how grateful I am not to be in charge of parking on campus.

Staying emotionally engaged and kind during disruptive change is such an important skill as a leader. It’s also incredibly taxing. What are some practices leaders can adopt to avoid burnout and stay grounded?

So if you’re still following me here, hello! 👋 I look forward to staying connected.

I’m committing to get back into the groove with regular social and blog posts after a summer hiatus — a sort of informal post-doc to keep me exploring themes that relate to my research interests and current discourse. I’m grateful for the ability to ground myself in this work, especially right now.

I’ve also seen colleagues go into the private sector and thrive + they were better compensated. Public systems are complex — sometimes unnecessarily so. But I know many wonderful people who work incredibly hard to ensure they support the public good.

I find it interesting that there continues to be a narrative that working in the public sector (ie gov. or public ed) is super cushy and easy. And yet, I’ve watched very competent and successful people totally fall apart when they transition from private to public.

This isn’t an Onion article right? 🧐

Punching numbers into the calculator is easy. But knowing you’re getting the right answer— that’s the part that matters and requires conceptual understanding. Same logic applies with LLMs. That’s why reading comprehension and media literacy are key to using these tools in the long run.

My latest analogy for the use of ChatGPT/LLMs is that of a calculator. To use a calculator effectively, you need to understand how math works and how you structure questions to get the answers you want. Without that knowledge, it’s pretty useless.

👏👏👏 The number of times I have heard “We need to tell our story better.” How many other industries have completely transformed nearly every aspect of millions of peoples lives thru education, research, innovation and community engagement?

To the extent this exists anywhere, the financial sweet spot of higher ed institutions is places with: 1) stable to growing demand/enrollment; 2) stable to growing regional population; 3) small federal research portfolio; 4) non-elite status (mostly off Trump radar)

NIH guts its first and largest study centered on women The Women’s Health Initiative has produced numerous influential findings

Some of the most impactful studies are longitudinal (sometimes taking years) and holistic (lots of data collected by teams of researchers). These do not happen overnight and require consistent funding.

Case in point:

www.science.org/content/arti...

Just heard one of our Deans discussing how the current cuts to health research funding will impact our lives for decades to come. It takes time to build out high-quality research programs. The amount of momentum we are going to lose is hard to fathom.

I’ve been listening to Sarah Wynn-Williams’ “Careless People”, about her personal journey alongside the rise of Facebook and I highly recommend it. Not only does it unveil some deeply disturbing stories about the inner workings of FB, but it illustrates how power can shape org culture.

I believe that the best thing we can do as managers and team leaders is to help our people to be successful not just in their current role, but for their future one as well.

This is particularly important for people who I know are talented, professional and humble. I’m honest about opportunities for growth but communicate the growth I saw when they worked with me.

One of my favorite things is being in the receiving end of a reference check phone call for someone on my team (or formerly on my team). I use the opportunity to bend the callers ear for as long as they will allow about how great the person is they are about to hire.

My health insurance provider offers me an annual subscription to the Calm meditation app at no additional cost and it’s probably one of my favorite and most used benefits, especially right now.🧘‍♀️

I’ve always loved working in higher ed because there’s usually so much hope for the future. We educate students with the hope they can transform themselves and their communities with new knowledge. We invest in research to improve lives and our planet. That’s why right now feels so difficult.

👏👏👏

Exciting news! "The 30-60-90-Day Handbook: Checklists for Communications and Marketing Leaders in Higher Education" is now shipping! 📘📦 It comes with a bonus workbook so you can put the checklists into action.
💙📚 #booksky #highered #leadershipbooks #higheredleadership #higheredmarketing #checklists

Things are hard right now. At my university, we’re experiencing a quadruple squeeze, federal, state, system and campus. The pressure is immense and the fear, pervasive. My resistance is resilience and it takes all my courage to stay committed to that.

I’ve also tried to weave Appreciative Inquiry into some of my discussions and ask, “What is going well?” and “What can we do to improve right now, knowing what we know (or don’t).” I’ve sought to create spaces for venting, tears, laughter and frustration without judgment.

Over the past several weeks, I’ve decided to lean in even further and put my energy into supporting a positive environment for my team. The storm is raging around us, but staying focused on what we can accomplish has helped tremendously with moral.

Well now I’m even MORE excited!

a man wearing a suit and tie is standing in a field of yellow flowers ALT: a man wearing a suit and tie is standing in a field of yellow flowers

Submitted a proposal last night for the International Leadership Association conference in Prague!🤞🤞…and now I wait until late April for acceptance.

Target Loses Web Traffic As Costco Gains On Feb. 28 Economic Blackout Day Target's website traffic dropped 9% on Feb. 28 in the People's Union online shopping boycott with its app usage down 14%, compared with mid-February Friday results.

Higher ed leaders need to be suuuper thoughtful about how they are approaching DEI right now. Not just because of the legal pressures— the public is watching and voting with thier dollar.

www.forbes.com/sites/pamdan...