Building Academic Leaders in the Humanities

Currently, humanities faculty are under-represented in academic leadership. Through a 4-year $1.6 million Mellon Foundation grant, the Building Academic Leaders in the Humanities Program aims to build a pipeline of humanities faculty into leadership roles by providing targeted workshops, opportunities to practice leadership skills, space for reflection, and community. This grant-funded program is currently entering its fourth year. 

The program offers a chance to connect with peers across the consortium and hear from leaders and experts in key areas of academic administration. In order to get the most from this selective program, participants are asked to dedicate a significant amount of time to attending and reflecting on the group sessions over the course of a full academic year. In recognition of this time commitment and to support participants’ full engagement with the program, all attendees will receive participatory stipends.

• September 19:    What is Academic Leadership?
• October 10:         Collaborative Decision-Making
• November 14:     Positionality and Power
• December 5:       Preventing and Resolving Conflict
• January 30:         Supporting Faculty and Staff
• February 13:       Supporting Students
• March 6:             Understanding Higher Education Budgets
• April 10:              Using Data and Budgets in your Unit
• May 8:                 Closing Retreat, Reflecting on Institutional Change 

The Building Academic Leaders program is directed collaboratively by the Leadership Team, with administrative support from Five Colleges Inc. This team, listed below, includes members of all five campuses, as well as Five Colleges staff:

• Principal Investigator: Sarah Pfatteicher - Executive Director, Five Colleges, Inc.
• Leah Schmalzbauer - Associate Provost and Associate Dean of the Faculty, Amherst College
• Yaniris Fernandez: Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs, Hampshire College
• Elizabeth Markovits: Associate Dean of Faculty and Director of the Teaching and Learning Initiative, Mount Holyoke College
• Justin Cammy: Associate Dean of the Faculty and Dean for Academic Development, Smith College
• Angela de Oliveira: Associate Provost for Faculty Development, UMass Amherst
• Ray Rennard: Director of Academic Programs, Five Colleges, Inc.
• Administrative Assistant: Sloan Friedhaber, Five Colleges, Inc.

Please contact Five Colleges staff (fcisponsoredprogs@fivecolleges.edu) with any questions.