Provost's Office: Memorandum
To: All Faculty
From: Janet Fleetwood, Ph.D., Associate Vice Provost for Faculty Development and Equity
Subject: Provost's Fellow
Date: 06 November 2008
Call for Applications
Due November 14, 2008
The Drexel University Office of the Provost is pleased to announce an opening for a half-time Provost's Fellow to start January, 2009. The Drexel University Provost's Fellowship is designed to develop faculty leaders by providing opportunities for mid-career and senior faculty to serve half-time in an administrative role in the Office of the Provost.
As the American Council on Education (ACE) has stated, "Few institutions think systematically about the development of administrative leadership. Yet the skills and qualifications necessary for success as a professor are not the same as those required for success as a department chair, dean, or president." While Drexel has a wealth of talent among its faculty, few faculty members have the opportunity to explore senior administration. Being selected as a Fellow will enable a faculty member to join the leadership team and gain skills and experiences necessary for administrative advancement at Drexel or elsewhere. All tenured faculty members with the rank of associate professor or professor at Drexel University are eligible to apply.
The purposes of the Provost's Fellow are to provide faculty members who have an interest in academic administration the chance to develop knowledge, skills and experience as an administrator; to increase the understanding of the faculty about the practices and procedures in academic administration; to extend and strengthen the administrative resources of the University; to assist in development and implementation of projects in current key areas; and to provide ongoing faculty involvement and input into the activities of the Provost's Office.
The Fellow will work with senior administrators on a range of new and ongoing initiatives. These might include:
- Program assessment in preparation for the Middle States accreditation process
- Collaboration with university leadership to develop and implement a national achievement award to bring highly respected innovators to our university
- Development and implementation of a mechanism to improve student advisor training
- Participation in various Strategic Plan Task Forces
- And others...
The Provost's Fellow will become a member of the academic administrative team. The Fellow will attend monthly meetings of the Drexel Academic Council and selected subcommittee meetings that are related to the Fellow's area of focus and will meet bi-weekly with the Provost or appropriate senior administrator.
The Fellow will have professional development opportunities supported by Drexel's Higher Education Program, will have access to professional development funds of up to $1,000 for books or travel, and will receive his or her regular salary and benefits. The faculty member's primary office space will remain in his or her home college or school, although limited space and staff support for administrative projects will be available.
The appointee will serve initially half-time from January 5, 2009 through June 30, 2009, with renewal by mutual agreement. The Provost's Fellow will continue to maintain a strong presence in his or her home department, fulfilling a teaching, research and service load in their home college or school to constitute at least half of his or her effort.
Application Process: Applicants should submit a curriculum vitae and 1-2 page letter addressed to Provost Mark Greenberg describing why he or she is interested in joining the team in academic administration and what he or she hopes to achieve. Applicants must also submit a letter, signed by their Department Head and Dean, that indicates their support for the faculty member's Fellowship application and the amount of support being requested to enable the college to hire an auxiliary faculty member to cover half the Fellow's previous teaching responsibilities. Colleges or Schools will be compensated per course to pay for a part-time faculty member to replace the Provost's Fellow and will be provided with a Faculty Development Incentive of $10,000 per term.
**Deadline: November 14, 2008.**
Applications should be submitted electronically to Janet Fleetwood, Ph.D., Associate Vice Provost for Faculty Development and Equity, via Rosemarie Betts at rosemarie.l.betts@drexel.edu. A senior advisory committee will select the Fellows and will notify all applicants by December 1, 2008. Questions may be directed to Janet Fleetwood at Janet.Fleetwood@drexelmed.edu or 215-895-2141.