Problem Solvers

CREATIVELY SOLVING PROBLEMS TO BUILD SUCCESSFUL ORGANIZATIONS

About Us

Quick overview of who we are.

We help organizations in education and engineering and technology workforce sectors creatively solve problems – known and unknown – to build successful organizations of the future.

Through expert assessment, vision and credibility, we empower our clients to implement authentic, elegant solutions to programmatic and cultural challenges and continuously improve. We adeptly consult through new initiatives and all phases of the change cycle: conflicts or under performance, assessment and evaluation, planning, and maintenance or management of sustainable changes.

Our depth of experiences as diverse C-suite leaders of educational, professional, corporate and nonprofit organizations equip our firm to consult about all aspects of operations.

Let Us Help

Some of the services we provide

What your organization accomplishes is determined by your people and how they utilize the resources at their disposal. If you are in a situation where performance is not what is needed, rather because of changes pushed on the organization, or recent slides in operations, or sustained stumbles, The Abura Group can help. We specialize in services to assess and diagnose current structures, procedures, or attitudes, to design programs or interventions to help all people in your organization and whom it serves, to develop better skills for interactions and reactions by your people when dealing with each other or whom they serve, to plan more strategically and adapt more nimbly when situations change, and to even change the underlying assumptions made by those in your organization if needed. Our experiences lie primarily in all areas of higher education performance and in units focused on the scientific and technical workforce.

DIAGNOSING CURRENT PERFORMANCE INHIBITORS

We can do assessments and comparisons of your organizations effectiveness in its key performance indicators, and explore structural, training, operational flow bottlenecks, distributed leadership needs, policy or guideline deficiencies, or even mission confusion.

PLANNING AND MANAGING FOR BETTER PERFORMANCE

We can facilitate the processes for your organization to develop or reaffirm its mission and vision that are shared by the people in the organization, understand and support the key indicators for success, both strategic and tactical indicators and their timelines, and plan for both sustaining and adapting due to ever changing pressures on the organization.

SHIFTING ASPECTS OF THE ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE

We can make more apparent the artifacts (indicators, structures, policies and practices) and the espoused values, missions, and vision of the organization for all levels of your organization and expose where different sections may be at odds. We can use the discrepancies between actual artifacts and espoused values and goals to lay bare the underlying assumptions that are driving the individuals in your organization behaviors. Finally, we can propose and facilitate the development of logic models for change of your organizational culture if desired.

DESIGNING PROGRAMS AND INTERVENTIONS

We have enormous experience in programs and interventions to enhance performance success, whether targeting students, faculty, staff, administrators, underrepresented personnel, or individuals with less social capital to succeed in the environment you are targeting. Included in program development efforts can be skill enhancement in assessment and evaluation, data management, funding proposal writing, and professional mentoring and coaching.

DEVELOPING INDIVIDUALS’ SKILLS IN CONFLICTS, DIALOGUES,
AND ADAPTING TO CHANGE

We recognize that all organizations will have conflicts and some difficult dialogues due to both stress and boredom, to diversity in people’s needs, beliefs, and past experiences, and to constant changes- internal and external- being dealt with. Organizations should not squelch or avoid conflict, but develop skills to manage conflicts, big and small, in a timely, fair, just, and realistic manner. We can provide development opportunities in diversity, inclusion, equity, conflict management, dialogue skills, and personal and group management during change.

Some of Our Clients

Our partners have been engaged with units, divisions and/or individuals at the following organizations since our incorporation in 2020. Contacts can be provided upon request.

Norfolk State University – Provost Office

Research Triangle Educational Consultants

Texas A&M University – Institute for Engineering Education and Innovation

University of Texas, Austin – Computer Science Department

Our Team

Stephanie Adams, Ph.D.

Stephanie G. Adams, Ph.D., has 25 years of experience working with colleges and universities, government agencies and non-profit organizations. She has held academic leadership positions for the past 15 year, including: department head, associate dean, and dean. Dr. Adams is a fellow of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) and has held a number of elected positions in ASEE, including President, Vice President of Professional Interest Councils, Professional Interest Council I Chair, and Engineering Management Division Chair. She has received numerous awards for teaching, service, student mentoring at the unit, university and national level. Consulting experiences include: diversity and inclusion, leadership development, evaluation, strategic planning, team building, recruitment and retention of both undergraduate and graduate students, and proposal writing.

P.K. Imbrie, Ph.D.

P.K. Imbrie, Ph.D., has 30 years of experience in higher education and consulting, in roles including: faculty member, department head, mentor, facilitator, and evaluator. P.K. has served in numerous Boards such as ASEE, WEPAN, and NAMEPA and is a fellow of the American Society for Engineering Education. He helped establish the scholarly foundation for engineering education as an academic discipline through lead authorship of the landmark 2006 JEE special reports “The National Engineering Education Research Colloquies” and “The Research Agenda for the New Discipline of Engineering Education.” P.K. is internationally recognized for his work in active/collaborative learning pedagogies and is a co-author of a text on teaming called Teamwork and Project Management (3rd edition). He is an advocate for research-based approaches to engineering education and his engineering education leadership has produced fundamental changes in the way physical learning spaces are designed, as well as the way students are educated around the world.

Teri K. Reed, Ph.D., M.B.A.

Teri K. Reed, Ph.D., M.B.A., spent seven years in the petroleum industry and now has over 20 years of experience in higher education and consulting, in roles including: faculty member, inaugural research institute executive director, associate/assistant dean, assistant vice chancellor, assistant vice president, faculty senate committee leader, and evaluator. She is a member, Fellow, EAC Commissioner of ABET, and past-Board and Executive Board Member of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), member and former President of the Women in Engineering ProActive Network (WEPAN), and Distinguished Member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers. Her awards include the ASEE William Elgin Wickenden Award, ASEE Sharon Keillor Award for Women in Engineering Education, and Purdue University’s One Brick Higher Award. An advocate for research-informed approaches to engineering education and administration, her consulting experiences include: faculty research development, leadership development, evaluation and assessment training and program review, and undergraduate recruitment and retention.

Carmen K. Sidbury, Ph.D.

Carmen K. Sidbury, PhD, is a seasoned professional with over 36 years of experience in industry, government, and higher education institutions in roles including: lead design engineer, Program Director, Associate Dean, Assistant Dean, Associate Provost, entrepreneur and Center Director. As a longtime champion of inclusive excellence in STEM, she has developed strong relationships with local and national programs to promote the participation of underrepresented minorities in science and engineering. As a small business owner, she provides evaluation and consulting services to minority serving institutions to build research capacity and increase extramural funding. She has served on the Board of Directors for the Women in Engineering ProActive Network (WEPAN) and the National Association of Multicultural Engineering Program Advocates (NAMEPA). She currently serves on the advisory committee at Xavier University for the NSF ADVANCE project , the advisory board for the Emerging Researchers National Conference in STEM and is a founding member of the Society of STEM Women of Color.

Dr. Bevlee A. Watford, P.E.

Dr. Bevlee A. Watford, P.E. is a Professor of Engineering Education, Associate Dean for Equity and Engagement, and the Founding Executive Director of the Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Diversity for the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech. A Professor of Engineering Education since 2005, she served as Interim Department Head from 2010-2011. From 2005-2007, she served as a program manager in the Division of Undergraduate Education for the National Science Foundation, returning from 2013-2015 to serve as the program director for broadening participation in the Division of Engineering Education and Centers. In 2010, she was elected as a Fellow of ASEE. She served as ASEE President for the 2017-2018 year. Watford was the 2004-2005 President of (WEPAN) and has served on the Board of Directors of NAMEPA. She has secured more than $12 million dollars in funding and support for CEED and other undergraduate initiatives.

Karan L. Watson, Ph.D., P.E.

Karan L. Watson, Ph.D., P.E., has 40 years of experience in higher education and consulting, in roles including: faculty member, dean, provost, mentor, facilitator, and evaluator. Dr. Watson is a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), the American Society for Engineering Education, and the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). Her awards include the U.S. President's Award for Mentoring Minorities and Women in Science and Technology, the American Association for the Advancement of Science mentoring award, and the IEEE International Undergraduate Teaching Medal. She served in numerous elected leadership roles such as President of ABET, Chair of the ECE division of ASEE, President of the Education Society of IEEE, and Treasurer of WEPAN. A trained mediator, Karan's consulting experiences include: conflict management, cultural and organizational change, diversity and inclusion, leadership development, program accreditation, evaluation, strategic management, difficult dialogues, and research methods and funding.

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