Associated Colleges of the Midwest

ACM Mellon Academic Leadership Fellows Program Application

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ACM Mellon Academic Leadership Fellows Program Application

We invite the ACM colleges to submit proposals seeking funding to support the appointment of tenured Humanities faculty to two-year terms as ACM Mellon Academic Leadership Fellows through this form. Each college may propose the appointment of up to two tenured Humanities faculty for these appointments. A Steering Committee composed of academic leaders from each of the ACM colleges will review the proposals in late March 2023 and select those that will receive Academic Leadership Fellows appointments. The ACM will notify the colleges of those decisions in April 2023.

Additional information about the goals, eligibility criteria, and other terms of the ACM Mellon Academic Leadership Fellows Program are available here. Those who have additional questions about the program or any of the prompts below should contact Brian Williams, ACM Vice President for Strategic Initiatives, at 312.561.5922 or bwilliams@ACM.edu.

1. Host Institution

Principal Investigator Name(Required)

2. Name, Title, and Departmental Affiliation of Academic Leadership Fellow Candidate(s)

Candidate #1 Name(Required)
Candidate #2 Name

3. Institutional Process for Identifying Candidate(s) for Academic Leadership Fellow Appointment(s)

Describe the process and/or criteria senior leadership at your institution used to identify and select the candidate(s) you have nominated.

4. Evidence of Candidate(s)' Commitment to Advancing Institutional Diversity and Inclusive Equity

ACM Mellon Academic Leadership Fellow candidate(s) should be tenured members in the Humanities who have demonstrated leadership capabilities, demonstrated commitments to diversity and inclusive equity (whether through prior academic-administrative service or in other contexts within or beyond academia), and the potential for a transformative impact at their current or future institutions. Accordingly, describe in as much detail as possible each candidate(s)' commitment to advancing institutional diversity and inclusive equity at your institution or at a previous institution. If their commitments extend to higher education more broadly, please also describe those commitments.
What DEI initiatives have they led and/or participated in that demonstrate this commitment?
What were the outcomes of those initiatives and how did they advance DEI outcomes at their home institution?

5. Institutional Commitments to DEI and to the Intellectual and Professional Development of Humanities Faculty

Support through the ACM Mellon Academic Leadership Fellows Program is intended for institutions that have already made demonstrable commitments to the diversification of the academy and to the institutional strength of the Humanities. Accordingly, describe the following in as much detail as possible.
Describe your institution’s past and ongoing commitments to diversity and inclusive equity.
Describe the intellectual and professional development support your institution has provided, and continues to provide, to Humanities faculty.

6. Academic Leadership Fellow(s)’ Portfolio of Responsibilities/Institutional Project and Institutional Commitment to Integrate Fellow into Senior Leadership Team

The ACM Mellon Academic Leadership Fellows Program is meant to familiarize Humanities faculty with academic leadership at the highest level through immersion in the workings of upper-level academic administration on each host campus. This program is also experiential in nature in that each Academic Leadership Fellow will be assigned a portfolio of responsibilities or institutional project they will lead during their two-year appointment. Accordingly, describe the following in as much detail as possible.
Describe the portfolio of responsibilities and/or institutional project each Academic Leadership Fellow will lead and the desired outcomes for the initiative(s) they are assigned.
Describe the institution’s commitment to integrate each Academic Leadership Fellow into meetings and deliberations of the senior leadership team as is strategic in the context of the project/portfolio of responsibilities they are assigned.
Describe how each Fellow’s responsibilities will be reassigned or phased out at the end of their two-year appointment.

7. Mentorship Program for Academic Leadership Fellows

Institutions applying to appoint ACM Mellon Academic Leadership Fellow(s) are required to identify and assign both an internal and external mentor for each Fellow who will serve for the duration of the Fellow’s two-year appointment. Each mentor will be compensated at $2,000 per academic year, an amount set by the project design and funded through the grant award.
Accordingly, describe in as much detail as possible the process you used to select the internal and external mentors for each Academic Leadership Fellow candidate and provide their names, titles, and departmental and institutional affiliations.
Internal Mentor Name(Required)
External Mentor Name(Required)

8. Institutional Plan for Compensating Academic Leadership Fellow(s) and Commitment to Provide 50% Course Release during the Two-Year Appointment

Consistent with the terms of the grant award, each ACM Mellon Academic Leadership Fellow will receive: 1) A salary stipend (above and beyond the Fellow’s regular salary) consistent with the increase/stipend that faculty who are appointed to similar Associate Dean roles at the host institution receive. The ACM will reimburse this stipend up to $26,000. Each college is required to supplement this amount, if necessary, to ensure that the Fellow’s salary is consistent with similar roles at the host institution. 2) A 50% course reduction for the duration of their two-year Fellowship appointment. The ACM will reimburse participating colleges up to $26,000 to help cover the expense associated with hiring term faculty to teach the courses the Fellow will release.
Please use this space to specify the amount of the annual salary stipend each Academic Leadership Fellow candidate will receive above and beyond their regular salary
[The selected college/university] hereby affirms its commitment to provide each Academic Fellow nominated in this application a 50% course release for the duration of the Fellow(s)’ two-year appointment.
Institutional Applicant Agreement
The institutional applicant whose name and title is listed here affirms the above commitments for their institution.
MM slash DD slash YYYY

9. Plan for Assessing the Performance of the Academic Leadership Fellow(s) and the Efficacy of the Program in Preparing Fellow(s) for Future Leadership

At the conclusion of the two-year Fellowship terms, participating colleges and the ACM will conduct an evaluation of the program to assesses both institutional and consortial-level outcomes consistent with the goals of the grant award.
Accordingly, describe in as much detail as possible the institution’s plan for assessing both the performance of the Fellow(s) in their administrative roles and the efficacy of the program in preparing each Fellow for future leadership positions.

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