ALAP helps leaders find their voice

Gillian Lord, Ph.D., associate dean for undergraduate affairs and director of the Academic Advising Center, has dedicated her career to strengthening the undergraduate experience at UF. A longtime educator and academic leader, Lord credits the Advanced Leadership for Academics and Professionals (ALAP) program with broadening her perspective on leadership and enhancing her ability to guide complex institutional work.

Read on to earn how Lord’s ALAP participation helped her find her leadership voice and continues to shape her work.

Tell us about your professional journey and how you came to be in your current position at the University of Florida. 

I completed my Ph.D. in Hispanic Linguistics at Penn State and joined the University of Florida in 2001 to direct the lower-division Spanish language program. In that role, I worked closely with instructors, developed curriculum and gained early experience in academic leadership, albeit at a relatively small scale. Those years working with the program and all our graduate instructors were formative, though, and led me to a commitment to undergraduate education. 

Shortly after earning tenure, I was asked to step in as department chair. Although I didn’t initially feel fully prepared, I think I grew into the role over eleven years and gained a broader perspective on how departments support students and faculty alike. That helped me move my thinking from individual courses to programmatic curricula, and to consider more broadly the environments we create and how to help students succeed. 

It’s also worth noting that over these years, my teaching, research and service remained centered on undergraduates. In addition to researching the teaching and learning of foreign languages, I served for more than a decade as a Preview advisor, which helped me understand the challenges students face as they begin at UF. I work — and have for many years — on the Commencement Chief Marshal team, so I have the joy of watching those students celebrate their accomplishments. It’s a nice bookend with Preview and has helped me view the undergraduate experience from start to finish. Being part of those moments has continually reminded me why this work matters. 

Serving as Associate Dean for Undergraduate Affairs and Director of the Academic Advising Center in CLAS felt like a natural culmination of this path — bringing together my experiences in teaching, leadership and student support to advance my college’s undergraduate mission.  

What motivated you to participate in the ALAP program? 

As I settled into my role as department chair, I realized that while I was learning a great deal on the job, I wanted to be more intentional about growing as a leader. I was encountering new responsibilities and facing complex decisions, and at times I felt like I was figuring things out as I went. I knew there had to be frameworks or resources that could help me lead more thoughtfully and confidently. After hearing positive experiences from colleagues, ALAP seemed like an opportunity not only to strengthen my leadership skills, but also to enable me to reflect and be more deliberate about the kind of leader I wanted to become. That space for growth and reflection is what ultimately motivated me to apply. 

What impact has the ALAP program had on you professionally and, if applicable, personally? 

Participating in the program really was a turning point in my professional development. As I mentioned, I had only been tenured for about a year when I was asked to step into a leadership role as department chair. I was doing the work, but I hadn’t yet found my voice or my confidence as a leader. ALAP helped me do exactly that. 

One of the most important outcomes of the program was helping me understand that leadership doesn’t require becoming someone else. Through ALAP, I learned what leadership could look like when grounded in my own values and priorities. I came to recognize myself as a communicator and consensus builder. And just as importantly, I learned that consensus — especially 100% consensus — isn’t always possible. That realization was both liberating and empowering. ALAP helped me develop the judgment to know when to keep working toward shared agreement and when (and how) to move forward when full consensus isn’t attainable. 

Are there specific resources or connections you made during the program that you found most valuable and why? 

A particularly challenging and rewarding ALAP experience was creating and filming an elevator pitch for my unit. That process revealed how differently each of us understood our priorities and mission, shaped by our disciplinary perspectives. Working to identify a common thread forced me to rethink my own goals, broaden my thinking and better understand my colleagues. It also clarified why we sometimes struggled with change or decision-making as a unit. That experience helped make me a better leader, but it also helped me better understand the systems I was working in. 

Beyond formal leadership development, one of the most enduring benefits of ALAP has been the relationships. I met extraordinary leaders from across campus in a wide range of roles, and over the past decade, those connections have repeatedly helped me solve problems, navigate challenges and get answers when I needed them — sometimes in my outside-of-UF life, too. Knowing I can count on those people on campus or beyond, reiterates for me that ALAP builds not just leaders but a genuine community. 

How have you applied what you learned in this program in your role as a leader? 

I see the influence of ALAP most clearly in how I approach change and advocacy. The program gave me a clearer understanding of how complex institutions function and how important it is to communicate thoughtfully with different stakeholders. 

Since completing ALAP, I’ve led the development of new academic initiatives that required balancing tradition with innovation and navigating differing perspectives. The frameworks and strategic lens I gained through the program helped me build support and articulate a clear purpose, and eventually move the work forward in a collaborative way. I’ve also drawn on those lessons when advocating for resources for my units or faculty. ALAP strengthened my ability to frame needs within broader institutional priorities and to approach those conversations systematically (and, occasionally, with persistence!). Overall, the program continues to shape how I think about my role as a leader and encourages me beyond day-to-day management and decision-making to pursue thoughtful stewardship of people, programs and our mission.  

Beyond UF, ALAP also helped me clarify my longer-term professional goals. Since completing the program, much of my work within my discipline has focused more intentionally on advocacy programmatic/curricular leadership — an interest I may not have recognized without the reflective space ALAP provided.  

What would you tell a colleague who is considering applying to this program? 

If I were advising a colleague considering ALAP, I would convey three points: 

The first is simple: do it! While the program does require a time commitment, it is remarkably manageable, and the return on investment is tremendous.   

Second, if you can participate early in your leadership trajectory, the impact is even greater. I joined five years into my role, and I often wish I had these tools sooner. 

Most importantly, I would encourage participants to approach the program with an open mind. Not every reading or case study will resonate immediately, but there is always something valuable to take away. Years later, I still use the language, strategies and connections I gained through ALAP. 

Applications for the 2026–27 ALAP cohort are open now through Friday, May 1. Apply on the UFHR website.