Susan Christy, Ph.D

Why call Susan Christy when you are challenged to improve Employee Engagement and Faculty-Staff relationships?

(1) She gets what it’s really like to work in higher education with Faculty and Staff

(2) Explains the hidden forces at work in academic Faculty and Staff relationships

(3) Reveals proven methods, tools and best practices for you and your staff to succeed on campus

Faculty and Staff members feel understood and appreciated when Susan explains the institution’s structure, faculty and staff reward systems and work styles. Participants immediately begin to see old situations in a new light. She unpacks real-world scenarios illustrating dynamics at work and recommends specific tactics that can be implemented right away.

Along with her own research, Susan has gathered success stories and best practices from hundreds of universities and academic departments across the country. Her collection of institutional savvy and practical know-how grows with every consulting, training and coaching session to provide your teams with the most current and relevant solutions.

No wonder, Susan’s article in the CUPA-HRs newsletter, Transforming Staff-Faculty Relationships: Progress in Closing the Great Divide, was the most read article in the year it was published.

Working Effectively with Faculty: Guidebook to Higher Education Staff and Managers is widely used in higher education for trainings, new staff orientation and discussion groups. Susan works with leaders on accelerating employee engagement, coaching individual faculty members and administrators and facilitating department retreats.

Susan is a tenured psychology professor, certified corporate management consultant, and researcher/author into the nuances of academia. She provides customized solutions to improve almost every department and aspect of university life.

When on sabbatical, Susan was recruited into corporate communications training where she became Vice President of Programs at HighGain, Inc. in San Francisco. Three years later, she started Christy Consulting, Inc. where she specialized in Higher Education Leadership, Team Building and Customer Service.

When UCSF Medical School chose her to consult with departments and provide campus-wide trainings, word spread fast. Soon Susan was working with dozens of colleges and universities on the West Coast.

The Director of Training at Stanford University selected her to design and pilot a training to help staff understand the academic world and staff-faculty relationships. Participants in hundreds of universities and higher education conferences across the country have benefited from her programs and book – Working Effectively with Faculty. Her consulting, coaching and retreats draw on the depth and breadth of her experience in higher education and the business world.

Susan Christy, Ph.D.

Professional Profile

Susan Christy has created the first ever comprehensive approach, book and training for building strong staff-faculty relationships – Working Effectively with Faculty: Guidebook for Higher Education Staff and Managers. Her current focus is consulting and speaking for universities, colleges, academic medicine, and higher education conferences on the topic of academic culture, staff-faculty partnerships and how staff and faculty can work together to create the best in education, research and organizational effectiveness. Susan continues to facilitate retreats and provide coaching for university faculty, administrators and staff.

Experience

Author, consultant, keynote speaker/trainer – Academic culture, staff-faculty relationships, strategies and best practices for staff who work with faculty

• Working Effectively with Faculty: Guidebook for Higher Education Staff and Managers
• Customized keynote speeches and trainings for universities, colleges, academic medicine and higher education conferences (see partial client list and topics below)
• Consulting and research for higher education – staff-faculty partnerships, organizational effectiveness, lean management, shared services, teambuilding, department and team retreats
• Individual coaching for faculty and/or staff at all levels
• See client list at SusanChristy.com

Management consulting, training design and delivery, coaching, retreats

President, Christy Consulting, Inc. 1998-2011. Christy Associates 1988-1998.

• Team building with high-performing teams and teams in crisis – team tune-up to major interventions, team retreats
• Management consulting
• Training: Leadership skills for managers and supervisors, customer service strategies, team building, coaching, listening, accountability, working with difficult people
• Coaching – one-on-one support that focuses on the client’s agenda
• Christy Consulting, Inc. was dissolved in 2011 and Susan now works as a solo proprietor
• See client list at Susan Christy.com

HighGain Inc., San Francisco, CA.  Vice President of Programs, 1987-1988

Head Trainer and Director of Programs, 1985-1987

• Designed and implemented corporate communications training programs, consulted with clients on management and team building
• Hired, trained, and managed thirteen trainers and program department staff

Professional speaker, television talk-show host

• Speaker to businesses, academic institutions and community organizations. Topics represent Susan’s broad background in psychology, business, higher education, team building and empowerment
• TV talk show host, weekly program – REACHing the Disabled

Tenured Professor of Psychology

Asnuntuck Community College, Enfield CT.  1973-1984

• Directed Psychology program and designed psychology curriculum
• Established and coordinated Speakers’ Bureau
• Consulted with the Women’s Center, Day Care Center, and Disabilities Program

College and University teaching

• University of Hartford, Hartford, CT. 1971-1973.  Part-time Instructor
• Tunxis Community College, West Hartford CT. 1971-1973.  Part-time professor
• University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH. 1968-1969.  Part-time Instructor           
• Lowell State College, Lowell, MA. Full time Instructor.  1966-1967

Education

• D. in Counseling Psychology, California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, CA,  1994. Dissertation on self-esteem and self-compassion
• A., University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire, 1967. (Psychology) Thesis on motivation and cooperation in business
• A., Connecticut College, New London, CT., 1965 (Psychology)

Certified Management Consultant

California College Teaching Credential—Business and Psychology

Board Member

• The Institute of Management Consultants
• The California Institute of Integral Studies
• Keep Your Freedom, Keep Your Dreams (Teen pregnancy prevention)
• American Association of University Women
• Positive Resource Center – AIDS Benefits Counselors

Volunteer

• Mojave, Navajo, Zuni Indians – projects to preserve their cultures
• Tsunami Relief work in India – worked in two fishing villages and raised $21,000 to feed hungry people, build 10 houses and buy fishing nets for a whole village
• Juvenile Hall. Self-esteem, anger management work with youth
• Guest speaker at many schools and universities
• Center for Attitudinal Healing – facilitated many groups for caregivers
• Valley Emergency Readiness Group – Marin County, California