Call for UMD Breaking the M.O.L.D, Inaugural Cohort 2022-23

Call for UMD Breaking the M.O.L.D, Inaugural Cohort 2022-23

Deadline, Wednesday, May 4, 2022

Please send all materials to: arhu-breakingthemoldumd@umd.edu

In these difficult  times, colleges and universities need to transform themselves as they seek to have an impact on society’s contemporary challenges. Arts and Humanities scholars bring distinct knowledge, skills, orientations, and awareness of possibility as higher education designs next steps. As humanists and artists, we are highly prepared to make significant contributions as leaders in higher education by virtue of our scholarly worldviews, training, and modes of inquiry and analysis. We bring historical, humanistic, interpretive, or ethnographic approaches; explore aesthetic, ethical, and/or cultural values and our roles in society; and conduct critical and rhetorical analyses, all modes of analysis/integration that are both directly and indirectly applicable (and often lacking) in higher education leadership roles. Recognizing this dearth of faculty from these disciplines, and especially women from underrepresented minority groups, serving in leadership positions across higher education, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is generously supporting a collaborative, multi-year project between Morgan State University (MSU), University of Maryland-College Park (UMD), and University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), to create a pipeline to senior leadership in higher education for faculty members of color and women from the Arts and Humanities.

Breaking the M.O.L.D. (Mellon/Maryland Opportunities for Leadership Development) for Arts and Humanities Faculty, breaks new ground by creating possibilities for leadership by intentionally investing in the development of a diverse set of leaders from ARHU disciplines at mid-career; and, by creating a rich partnership between three very different public institutions in one state. By the end of the project, cohort participants will be versed in the ways each institution grows and develops its leaders and better prepared to enter leadership roles at different kinds of higher education institutions.

Application Process

Breaking the M.O.L.D-UMD is pleased to accept applications from faculty in the Arts and Humanities as well as the humanistic Social Sciences for the inaugural 2022–2023 academic year cohort. The fellowship is intended for faculty at the associate and full professor level from historically disadvantaged racial groups and women. Faculty with prior leadership experience, (e.g., chairing a department, overseeing a tenure review, running a faculty search, organizing major conferences, serving in leadership in professional organizations and/or with stated interest in campus leadership) are especially encouraged to apply.

To receive full consideration please complete the application by providing a statement of interest in the program that includes your understanding of impediments to success for faculty of color and women in leadership positions on UMD’s campus and strategies for addressing these (2 pages max); a one-page description of your current research; an endorsement letter from your chairperson/director; and a short CV (3 pages max.). Deadline, Wednesday, May 4, 2022.

Fellow Incentives

Breaking the M.O.L.D Fellows will receive:

• a stipend of research/scholarship support ($10,000) to be allocated to their specific needs, including  but not limited to course releases, summer stipends, subvention grants, or writing workshops;
• support for travel and attendance at administrative conferences as a means for participants to develop networks and enhance their understanding of leadership roles;
• the opportunity to apply for a competitive award of up to $50,000 (up to 6 faculty participants per cohort) to cover a teaching release or course buyout, travel expenses, research-related expenses, and/or hourly Graduate Student assistance, to help participants advance their research and  scholarship. (Faculty cohort members could receive up to two course releases during their participation through the research/scholarship support and the research award).
• access to senior faculty administrative leaders who will be responsible for facilitating key workshop sessions and providing one-on-one mentoring and coaching support to participants throughout the project.
• participation in a learning cohort of up to 8-10 faculty members composed of faculty from each institution. (All program activities will take place at and rotate among the three campuses however the locations are still to be determined.) 

About Cohort Activities

Program Duration. Fellows will participate in a 15-month program, from August 2022 - August 2024.  

Summer meeting (2022). The summer period will allow faculty participants to spend dedicated time attending skill building seminars, learning from experts who hold senior leadership positions at various types of universities, and participating in mentored applied leadership experiences. (All program activities will take place at and rotate among the three campuses.)

Monthly Meetings. These half-day monthly meetings will provide opportunities for faculty to learn the different organizational and governance structures of each campus (Morgan State and UMBC) and develop cross-institutional peer and mentoring networks. Topics will range from, “Developing and Honing Your Individual Leadership Style,” to “Understanding the University-wide Academic Enterprise.” Some sessions will focus on topics that pertain specifically to the participating university contexts.

A Shadowing Experience. In the final summer of your cohort experience, project leaders and faculty participants will identify a project for each faculty member that will provide them direct leadership experience in creating and implementing an initiative for their campus. Options may range from joining a search committee for an executive position to shadowing a senior-level administrator at key meetings on and off campus.

For questions or information about the initiative, please contact: Prof Psyche Williams-Forson or Dean Bonnie Thornton Dill at arhu-breakingthemoldumd@umd.edu. 

https://arhu.umd.edu/news/3m-grant-prepare-underrepresented-arts-and-hum...