The Provost’s Faculty Fellows Program engages U-M faculty in shaping university-wide academic strategy, policy, and innovation. Faculty Fellows lead projects that advance U-M’s scholarly, educational, and operational priorities, while deepening their own understanding of university leadership and governance.

In addition to leading a project connected to their expertise and interests, fellows have the opportunity to meet and shadow members of the Office of the Provost, connect with senior administrators and campus leaders across the university, and participate in other leadership development opportunities.

Program Structure

The Provost’s Faculty Fellows Program supports faculty leadership development by bringing faculty expertise directly into the work of the Office of the Provost. Over the course of their fellowship, Fellows lead a strategic project aligned with university priorities and promote cross-campus partnership and interdisciplinarity.

Each Fellow is supported by one or more Vice Provosts who serve as their mentor(s). Fellows have access to relevant institutional data and systems, subject to appropriate governance approvals. For the pilot initiative, fellowships are for the Winter 2027 semester and may be eligible for an extension depending on project scope and outcomes. The fellowship provides a 20% appointment effort.

Faculty Fellows will also have the opportunity to attend leadership meetings, engage with leaders in the provost’s office, meet with the provost, and engage with office-wide activities.

Winter 2027 Fellowships

Academic & Faculty Affairs

The Academic and Faculty Affairs Fellow will assist the Faculty Affairs Cluster (FAC) in developing and supporting the initial implementation of an assessment of our faculty recruitment and retention programs, including routine recruitment and retention, special initiatives (such as the Faculty Expansion Program), and Dual Career support. Recruitment and retention of outstanding faculty is a critical need, with evolving challenges and pressures, and we are especially interested in articulating the value of these programs to schools, colleges, institutes, academic departments, and the university community writ large. The project will enable the FAC team to identify programs that best advance the academic mission and institutional needs, as well as identifying potential adjustments and/or additions to our programming and funding strategies.

After a thorough orientation to the programs, the Fellow would be charged with conferring with internal (Provost Office) and external (schools/colleges) constituencies to identify potential indicators that reflect desirable impact and to outline a data collection strategy and schedule. The proposal would be reviewed and discussed by the Vice Provosts.

How will we support the Fellow?

Fellows would join our FAC team huddles to glean insights into the broader Faculty Affairs portfolio. In addition to strategy time with the Vice Provosts, the Fellow would partner closely with the Associate Vice Provost and Assistant Vice Provost, as well as Office of Budget and Planning colleagues, and would have opportunities to learn about the process for developing and sustaining initiatives within the provost’s office in service of the academic mission. The faculty fellow would be encouraged to disseminate the evaluation plan, as appropriate, and would be cited for their contributions to this important work.

Undergraduate Education

The Undergraduate Education faculty fellow will assist the Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education (OVPUE) in refining and finalizing our “Quality Initiative” as part of the Higher Learning Commission’s (HLC) Accreditation process. The HLC expects that institutions are always engaged in quality improvement. Those of us on the Open Pathway fulfill this expectation by designing and implementing projects — referred to as Quality Initiatives (QI)  — to improve aspects of their organization or pursue strategic initiatives. HLC encourages us to use the Quality Initiatives to take risks, innovate, take on a tough challenge, or pursue a yet-unproven strategy or hypothesis. Working within the broad category of “Student Success,” we intend to select “World Readiness & Experiential Learning as Pathways to Student Success” as our QI.

Our Faculty Fellow will:

  • Work with an OVPUE and Institutional Research (IR) team to finalize and submit the Quality Initiative Proposal by June 2027.
  • Assist us in planning for implementation of the QI over the next 1-2 years.
  • Assist us with devising strategies to involve more faculty colleagues in both the accreditation process and student success work broadly.
  • Help us define and measure key student success metrics related to world readiness.
  • Explore ways to integrate experiential learning inside and outside of the classroom.
  • Explore the role of faculty advising and mentoring in preparing students for life beyond college.

How will we support the Fellow?

The Faculty Fellow will have the opportunity to learn more about the HLC accreditation process in general and will work alongside representatives from OVPUE, IR, and the Center for Research on Learning & Teaching, as well as a team within the Student Success Initiative dedicated to expanding world readiness and experiential learning as a cross-campus effort. The Fellow will be mentored by VPUE Angela Dillard and Hilary Zimmerman, Director of Accreditation; integrated into the OVPUE and IR teams; and embedded in relevant projects. They will add a critically important faculty perspective to the Student Success Initiative and accreditation efforts.

How to Apply

The Provost’s Office is accepting applications for the Winter 2027 Faculty Fellows program. To apply, please send a cover letter (maximum of two pages) and CV to [email protected]. Please indicate which fellowship you are applying for and include confirmation that your dean supports your application. There is no set format for this confirmation – it can be a brief email, a counter-signature from the dean on your cover letter, etc.

The Faculty Fellows program is open to associate and full professors on the tenure track, clinical track, and research professor track on the Ann Arbor campus.

Applications are due by no later than Friday, November 20, 2026. Selected applicants will be contacted to schedule interviews.

Please contact [email protected] with any questions.