Above: The 2023-25 Mellon Leadership Fellows with ACM Staffers
A generous grant from the Mellon Foundation will help develop a pipeline for academic leaders across the Associated Colleges of the Midwest (ACM). The $1.16 million in new funding extends the ACM-Mellon Academic Leadership Fellows Program through 2027. The program introduces humanities faculty at ACM colleges with the inner workings of academic leadership at the highest levels to prepare fellows to grow into future campus roles such as dean, provost, or even president.
“We are profoundly grateful to Mellon for its support of this work that holds so much promise to develop talented and inspiring future campus leaders,” said ACM president Lisa Jasinski. “Research shows significant turnover is coming to the leadership ranks of many of the nation’s colleges and universities, so it is vital for the ACM to help deepen the bench of academic leaders to ensure vibrant, inclusive, and effective educational environments for our students, faculty, and staff.”
Provosts or deans in the consortium may nominate tenured humanities faculty for the fellowship program by January 2025. A steering committee will select up to ten fellows to begin a two-year term in July 2025. Each faculty member in the cohort receives a $20,000 salary stipend, a reduced teaching load, extensive mentorship, and professional development. The program provides colleges with funding to offset the costs of replacing the fellows’ normal courseloads.
Brian Williams, ACM’s vice president for strategic initiatives, hailed the grant announcement as a positive boost for ACM’s mission to support its fourteen member colleges. Williams said feedback from top administrators about the inaugural cohort of ten ACM-Mellon fellows has been very positive.
“We’re confident this program is setting participants up for success,” Williams said, emphasizing how the ACM-Mellon Academic Leadership Fellows Program is committed to fostering diversity in key leadership roles. “As higher education institutions diversify in their student populations, faculty, and staff, leadership needs to reflect that growing diversity.”
Current ACM-Mellon Academic Leadership Fellow Ryan Raul Bañagale, an assistant dean and chair of the music department at Colorado College, praised the program for offering invaluable networking opportunities and knowledge about topics critical in higher education today. Professional development sessions have focused on crisis management strategies, effective communication, an overview of budgeting practices, and a deeper understanding of inclusive practices on college campuses.
“It has filled many gaps in my professional development as a leader,” Bañagale said about the program following an immersive summer 2024 gathering for ACM-Mellon fellows. “So many of the endeavors that ACM provides to the schools—to the students, to the faculty, to the staff—move all of our collective work forward at all of our different stages of work.”
The new $1.16 million Mellon grant reflects a total investment by the foundation of $2.66 million in ACM’s Academic Leadership Fellows Program. An earlier grant of $1.5 million funded the first cohort of ten fellows representing eight ACM colleges. Their two-year term concludes in June 2025.
For more information on the program, eligibility, and how to nominate a tenured ACM humanities faculty member for the ACM-Mellon Academic Leadership Fellows Program, visit this ACM page or contact Vice President for Strategic Initiatives Brian Williams or Senior Director of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Allen Linton II.
