Dr. Shanks’ organization and facilitation skills were very impressive
It was a pleasure to work with Dr. Alane Shanks on the planning and delivery of a symposium on Inclusive Excellence on College Campuses. Dr. Shanks, with another colleague, introduced a large group of college leaders to a rubric for the institutionalization of diversity, equity and inclusion in Higher Education and how a self-assessment might be implemented on their campuses. Dr. Shanks’ organization and facilitation skills were very impressive. She gave everyone time to speak and allowed conversations to take their course, but also managed to stay on time and on task. By the end of the Symposium, each and every participant expressed a willingness to take on the tasks of completing the rubric when they returned to their campus.
Alane’s manner and approach consistently yielded benefits
As an experienced senior executive that has always been able to manage career transitions, I was not sure that the outplacement/transition services would be helpful. However, at the very beginning of my work with Alane Shanks, my mind was changed. Within an atmosphere of strong support and encouragement, she helped me establish both short-term and long-term goals and moved me to think about each week ahead. Alane’s manner and approach consistently yielded benefits and was a strong factor in my progress on both the emotional and professional fronts. Her wealth of concrete suggestions and ongoing encouragement demonstrated true insight and yielded a set of actions with concrete results. Although I have always received very positive feedback on my networking and job hunting skills along with my resume and bio, it was clear to me that each of these critical components were, in fact, made much stronger and more effective thanks to her. I have worked on both sides of the table with outplacement/transition service providers. Alane is above all, the most outstanding and effective! She has my strongest endorsement.
Previously Head of Transformation Management and Corporate HR M&A Integration
Your comments were so helpful and gave me confidence
The phone meetings and assignments have been really useful for me so that I have deadlines for reflection. And writing things down helps me clarify my own thinking, but I know I wouldn’t take the time otherwise if we didn’t meet Also, I really appreciated the reviews you did of my draft letters and job descriptions. Your comments were so helpful and gave me confidence that I was asking for things in a professional, positive and honest way. I also really appreciated that you were willing to meet when needed, especially during those times it felt urgent to just talk through things. So thank you for your flexibility!
This helped me focus the narrative of my work, which helped me in the promotion process
The positive feedback and empowerment have given me the permission and confidence to ask for opportunities. The accountability has been really helpful to get me to follow through on my intentions. The process of developing SMART goals was really helpful to clarify what is important to me in my work, and to feel more purpose-driven and intentional in the work I take on or decline. I think this also helped me focus the narrative of my work, which helped me in the promotion process. Having my eye on the larger mission also helps me ignore some of the frustrations of academia.
It’s been really great to talk to someone regularly with no agenda of their own
It’s been really great to talk to someone regularly who just wants to know about what I want to do with no agenda of their own or investment in what it is I choose to do.
Alane and Jenene served as facilitator/trainers helping our staff and faculty become diversity, equity, and inclusion champions
Early in my tenure at WSU, I made the wise decision of hiring Alane Shanks, Ed.D. and Jenene Cook, Ph.D. to help create a campus-wide environment that attracts, retains, educates, and graduates a diverse student body prepared to meet the demands of the changing workforce in Massachusetts and the Nation. Initially under the auspices of the New England Resource Center for Higher Education (NERCHE) and then Renga Consulting, Alane and Jenene conducted a campus-wide readiness assessment, trained WSU’s Campus Climate Committee (CCC) to use the NERCHE Rubric, helped sub-committees create logic models and work plans for the Rubric Dimensions, and presented updates on the CCC’s progress to campus-wide audiences including WSU’s President Barry Maloney and his cabinet. Alane and Jenene served as facilitator/trainers helping our staff and faculty become diversity, equity, and inclusion champions. We made great strides forward with their help and I am looking for resources to hire them again as soon as the Pandemic is sorted!