CIMER INSTITUTE

Description

Today’s most pressing institutional challenges—retaining talent, strengthening performance, advancing equity, and sustaining excellence—are fundamentally human challenges. Senior and Executive leaders are accountable for these outcomes, yet few institutions have a deliberate, evidence-based system that consistently develops and supports people comprehensively. The CIMER Institute for Academic Leaders is an intensive, 18-month, cohort-based learning experience for leaders in positions of authority who are ready to move from ideas to implementation. Grounded in the science of mentorship and organizational change, the Institute equips leaders to design, govern, and align isolated initiatives across their institutions into a mentorship (eco)system, creating a strategic infrastructure that drives measurable results. Participants leave with a clear blueprint, shared metrics, and enhanced capacity to embed mentorship as a sustainable, equitable force that strengthens performance, accelerates talent development, and contributes to lasting change toward organizational excellence.

why join the cimer institute?

Drive Institutional Impact and Amplify Your Institution’s Strategic Strength

• Create a strategic, institutional mentorship plan (e.g. institutional blueprint, governance implementation roadmap) that strategically strengthens effectiveness, coherence, and long-term sustainability of your mentorship efforts.

• Align mentorship systems and practices across units to reduce redundancy, improve outcomes, increase return on investment, and support excellence in research, training, and workforce development. 

• Position your institution as a national leader advancing innovative, equitable mentorship practices.

Become Part of a National Community of Change Leaders

• Join a cohort of 20 leaders dedicated to advancing cultures of mentorship at their institutions 

• Engage in systems-level learning with peer accountability

• Build connections that activate collaboration, shared learning, and long-term professional growth

Access Expert Support and Proven Tools

• Work directly with specialists in organizational change, assessment, education, and evidence-based mentoring on your mentorship strategic plan.

• Utilize research-informed templates, frameworks, and implementation resources that support high impact outcomes. 

Program structure

• 4-day, in-person, immersive cohort learning experience in Madison, WI (October 25-29, 2026)

• Monthly virtual, interactive cohort sessions (November 2026- March 2028)

• Intersession collaboration — Peer learning and expert consultations between sessions