Faculty Aspiring Leadership Program

Project Overview

Charged by President Welsh, the Academic Roadmap Initiative is a partnership with colleges, schools, and remote campuses to create an academic strategic plan for Texas A&M University through 2030. Dr. Tim Scott, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, will lead the initiative. The initiative will focus on future innovations, trends, emerging opportunities, and the needs of our students and their prospective employers. The roadmap is intended to inform college and school strategic plans and program development.

Project Outcomes

• The Fellow will work closely with the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, stakeholders, and the Academic Roadmap committee to benchmark against our peers and examine our academic practices, processes, and constructs.
• The Fellow will gain valuable insight into guiding discussions and crafting a plan to shape disciplinary and curricular structures, competencies, and credentials.
• The Fellow will also study how colleges and schools work across fields through interdisciplinary programs and how we incorporate knowledge and skill demand across learning modalities and technologies. The ability to shape the academic and strategic trajectory of the university is a unique learning experience.
• The Fellow will be integral to providing an administrative and academic lens to the academic roadmap initiative.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Associate level or full level faculty in tenured or academic professional track titles.
• Experience with strategic planning or assessment.
• Faculty interested in university leadership and administration.

Mentors

Dr. Tim Scott, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs

Dr. C.J. Woods, Associate Vice President, and Chief of Staff

Project Overview

The US Surgeon General released a 2023 report “Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation”, highlighting the need for connection, community, and belonging across all aspects of American society, specifically focusing on caring for those who care for others. The rapid rise in attrition from medical practice as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic has emphasized the need for innovative methods by which we identify, select, educate, train, and support healthcare workers. More specifically, his task force emphasized the need to transcend a culture that traditionally holds this issue as a personal shortcoming and turn it into an opportunity for system-based quality improvement. A core source of distress among healthcare education teams is a progressive loss of professional community and connection in an increasingly digital professional environment.

One innovative opportunity to reverse that process is by applying appreciative inquiry principles to help create a coaching culture. According to the College of Executive Coaching, “Coaching is an ongoing relationship between the professional coach and the client, which focuses on the client taking action toward the realization of their vision, goals or desires. Coaching uses a process of inquiry and personal discovery to build the client's level of awareness and responsibility and provides the client with structure, support and feedback.” Professional coaching is distinct from counseling, mentoring, or psychotherapy and may provide benefits at each stage of their career.

 The Fellow would create a survey of national internal coaching programs in healthcare and develop an internal program proposal based upon the principles of executive coaching to build a coaching culture among Medicine’s learners, staff, and faculty.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Certification or interest in executive/leadership coaching
• Experience with healthcare professions and training, ideally MD
• Prior experience with developing professional development or well-being programs

Mentors

Terri Kurz, PhD, Assistant Dean for Professional Development

Cady Auckerman, MS, Chief of Staff, Certified Internal Coach, Hudson Institute

Project Overview

The current strategic plan for the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences (PBSI) was drafted in 2014 and adopted in 2015. This plan led to the introduction of several new research cluster hiring initiatives including human neuroimaging, affective science, and diversity sciences. The strategic plan was intended to be revisited in 2020-2021 but was repeatedly delayed due to the COVID-19 epidemic, The Path Forward, and changes in College and Department leadership. In the intervening years the Department and the field of psychology has changed significantly. PBSI would benefit from a self-study and strategic planning initiative to identify successes in implementing changes, shortcomings in implementing our previous plans, new opportunities for departmental growth and development, and alignment and misalignment with key stakeholders inside and outside the university.

The last strategic plan was largely driven by our hire of an external department head who came in with a new vision as well as pressure from the then-dean to identify research clusters. As the College of Arts and Sciences is settling into its mission and vision, now is the time for PBSI to align our next strategic plan with the new college, the university, federal agency priorities, and the field as a whole. We have been encouraged by college leadership to begin a strategic planning process. This strategic plan will be home grown, so we would benefit from having the assistance of a Fellow to lead our discussions and process, which will likely also include professional facilitators that the Fellow will coordinate with and supervise/lead.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Member of the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences
• Experience on the advisory committee in some capacity (Associate Head, area head) for at least two years

Mentors

Kevin Barge, interim Department Head, Department of Sociology, and Professor, Department of Communication

Simon North, Executive Associate Dean, College of Arts and Sciences

Christian Brannstrom, Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education, College of Arts and Sciences

Project Overview

We propose for the Fellow to work with the College of Engineering to evaluate options to revamp the PhD qualifying exams.  This will have an initial focus on Biomedical Engineering, since there is an acute need.  Specifically, the qualifying examination for the PhD in Biomedical Engineering is in need of revision, primarily as a consequence of the emergence of ChatGPT and other large language models that have forced reconsideration of the format and/or approach to grading. Further, the academic program review (APR) for BMEN in Spring 2023 resulted in a recommendation that they consider an oral component to the exam. 

Thus, this project proposes for the Faculty Aspiring Leadership program to work on a project aimed at reviewing the current qualifying exams, comparing to peer/aspirational peer programs, collecting input from local stakeholders, and working with a team of faculty and students (e.g., departmental graduate program committee and leadership team, BME graduate student association) to recommend a change to the qualifying exam and everything related to it (i.e., assignments, grading, faculty responsibilities). 

The project should result in a pre-vetted report that outlines the process used to collect information, description of the factors considered, and a convincing rationale for the change. It should also include a clear implementation plan with a timeline and assigned responsibilities with milestones as needed to complete the changeover. The changeover plan must include a careful communication with affected students currently in the program as well as incoming students. 

Preferred Qualifications:

• Familiarity with PhD programs in technical fields
• Track record of instructional excellence at graduate and senior undergraduate levels
• Pedagogical passion
• Strong interpersonal, organizational, and communication skills

Mentors

Dr. Hank Walker, Associate Dean for Graduate Programs

Dr. Harry Hogan, Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs

Dr. Mike McShane, Department Head, Biomedical Engineering

Dr. Mary McDougall, Associate Department Head, Biomedical Engineering

Project Overview

The Graduate & Professional School (Grad School) seeks a Faculty Fellow to provide leadership for the development of the My Grad Journey System. The My Grad Journey System is currently under development to replace the Doctoral Profile and Feedback System. This expanded project will serve all graduate and professional students, providing a platform for students to document their goals and activities related to their graduate journey, for faculty advisors/committees to provide timely feedback and evaluation, as well as for department/unit to gather data for reporting purposes.

The Faculty Fellow will provide leadership to the development of this project, working with an established steering committee as well as Technology Services staff. Additionally, the Faculty Fellow will assist in sharing this project with the broader campus community, ensuring that this final product best serves the needs of our stakeholders.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience in graduate education with a broad understanding of the diversity of graduate programs and needs of graduate and professional students across our institution
• Excellent written and oral communication skills with the ability to facilitate conversations with a broad group of faculty, staff, and student stakeholders
• Excellent organization and project management skills.

Mentors

Dr. Fuhui Tong, Interim Associate Provost & Dean

Dr. Charles Criscione, Associate Dean

Dr. Julie Harlin, Associate Dean

Project Overview

The Graduate & Professional School (Grad School) seeks a Faculty Fellow to provide leadership for the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL) local programming. CIRTL uses graduate education and postdoctoral training as the leverage point to develop a national faculty committed to implementing and advancing effective, evidence-based teaching practices for diverse student audiences as part of successful professional careers.

The CIRTL Faculty Fellow will engage with the CIRTL Steering Committee and with the CIRTL National Network. In addition, the faculty member will develop and lead programming locally that will benefit our students, post-docs, and new faculty at TAMU, the TAMUS, and potentially the CIRTL national network.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience in graduate education with a broad understanding of the diversity of graduate programs and needs of graduate and professional students across our institution
• Excellent written and oral communication skills with the ability to facilitate conversations with a broad group of faculty, staff, and student stakeholders
• Excellent organization and project management skills

Mentors

Dr. Fuhui Tong, Interim Associate Provost & Dean

Dr. Charles Criscione, Associate Dean

Dr. Julie Harlin, Associate Dean

Project Overview

The Graduate & Professional School (Grad School) seeks a Faculty Aspiring Leadership Program Fellow to develop, execute, and assess a multi-session GRAD Aggies Leadership Program for graduate & professional students as a part of the GRAD Aggies Professional Development Program. The Grad School would like to expand leadership professional development opportunities tailored to graduate and professional students, by leveraging the expertise of a Faculty Aspiring Leadership Program Fellow. For this project, the Fellow will collaborate with Dr. Morgan Schweller, Professional Development Coordinator for the Graduate & Professional School.

Project Outcomes

• Fall 2024: Development of multi-session GRAD Aggies Leadership Program designed for graduate and professional students. Successful completion of this program will earn students a GRAD Aggies Advanced Professional Development Certificate in Leadership. This program development should include:
  • Reviewing best practices and literature on advancing leadership skills, particularly those focused in graduate education
  • Cultivating a network of collaborators and mentors in leadership development through meetings with facilitators of other leadership training programs offered at TAMU (e.g., Leading Self, Maroon & White Leadership Program, Zachry Leadership Program, Aggie Research Programs, Graduate Mentoring Academy)
  • Developing graduate student-specific learning outcomes, facilitator guides, activities, and assessments, aligning with Graduate & Professional School’s strategic goals and the GRAD Aggies program’s mission and objectives. These objectives include promoting the importance of professional development and identifying and closing training gaps in university-wide professional development programming for graduate & professional students.
• Spring 2025: Execute a pilot offering of the multi-session GRAD Aggies Leadership Program (target: March 2025)
• Compile a summary report of the program and pilot with recommendations for improvements for the second interaction of the program in Fall 2025 (report target: April 2025).

Preferred Qualifications:

• Graduate committee faculty with experience in teaching and mentoring graduate and professional students
• Experience promoting professional development and training for graduate students beyond research and coursework
• Experience and foundational understanding of leadership skills and development
• Willingness and enthusiasm to further cultivate and enhance leadership expertise through active participation in meetings and training sessions within the Faculty Aspiring Leadership Program

Mentors

Dr. Shannon Walton, Assistant Dean for Student Development & Success

Dr. Fuhui Tong, Interim Associate Provost & Dean

Project Overview

This fellowship aims to foster transformative change within departments by conducting a holistic review of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) across units, benchmarking against best practices, and recommending enhancements. The College of Engineering values the creation of supportive and dynamic professional environments, facilitated through active engagement and the formalization of practices via SOPs. Additionally, evaluating existing SOPs can uncover the cultural dynamics of units, identifying both strengths and areas for improvement.

At its core, this initiative seeks to develop a workplace culture that empowers individuals, acknowledges contributions, and values each member, while also promoting workload balance, autonomy, and professional growth. To realize this vision, the College of Engineering proposes appointing a Fellow to undertake strategic activities, beginning with the analysis of SOPs from fifteen departments within the College of Engineering. This will involve a thorough assessment for consistency, effectiveness, and empowerment, complemented by faculty interviews to understand SOP application in practice. Expanding the scope, the Fellow may explore the College of Arts & Sciences, employing a similar approach to ensure an in-depth understanding of interdisciplinary best practices. A comparative study with external institutions will further enhance this analysis, aiming to identify and advocate for exemplary practices grounded in organizational and academic management literature.

A critical aspect of this fellowship is assessing how SOPs affect faculty across various roles, including lecturers, instructional professors, professors of practice, and tenure-track professors. The goal is to determine if current procedures disproportionately impact certain groups, aiming to foster success, empowerment, and community among faculty members. This reimagining of SOPs strives to not only support a more cohesive professional environment within the College of Engineering but also to encourage cross-departmental interactions and collaborations. Ensuring alignment with university-wide policies and administrative standards represents a key outcome of this initiative.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Proven Leadership Skills: Applicants must demonstrate a history of developing leadership skills through discovery and reflection. Experience in leading teams and/or projects and the ability to drive initiatives forward is essential.
• Effective Time Management: Candidates should possess strong time management skills, with a track record of efficiently balancing multiple tasks and deadlines.
• Adaptability to Perspectives: The ability to listen, understand, and respond to different perspectives to meet shared goals is crucial. Applicants must show competence in working collaboratively across diverse groups.
• Academic and Professional Excellence: A background in administrative or professional experience relevant to institutional structures. This includes familiarity with standard operating procedures, faculty roles, and academic practices.
• Analytical and Comparative Analysis Skills: Ability to collect, analyze, and compare standard operating procedures and practices, both within and across departments and institutions. Applicants should possess strong qualitative and quantitative research skills.
• Communication Skills: Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to conduct one-on-one interviews, present findings effectively, and write comprehensive reports.
• Commitment to Success and Empowerment: A demonstrated commitment to fostering an environment that promotes success, empowerment, and inclusivity among faculty and staff across various titles and roles.

Mentors

Jean-Francois Chamberland, Associate Dean for Faculty Success, College of Engineering

Jennifer Whitfield, Associate Dean for Faculty Success and Development, College of Arts and Sciences

Project Overview

Undergraduate advising within the College of Engineering faces a pivotal moment as it seeks to meet the diverse needs of a vast student body. The challenges of staffing, advisor retention, and student trust necessitate a comprehensive approach to reform. This faculty aspiring leadership fellowship (FALF) proposal outlines the current state of advising, identifies the challenges faced by the college, and proposes a plan to help enhance the advising experience through personalized, efficient, and empathetic engagement.

Effective advising must recognize the individuality of each student's journey. Some requests may focus on the logistics and requirements of a program; hence, they can be handled in a streamlined manner. However, challenges such as choosing the right major, anxiety over academic performance, and concerns about scholarship requirements often warrant in-depth, one-on-one consultations. Moreover, advisors frequently serve as a primary contact for students facing mental health issues, underscoring the importance of a sensitive and knowledgeable advising staff. To address these challenges, the College of Engineering, guided by a Fellow, will undertake a comprehensive review of the advising system using the SBAR framework (Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation). This review will inform the development of a strategic plan focusing on the following key areas:

• Building Trust: Encouraging regular feedback from students, faculty, department heads, and stakeholders to continuously improve the advising experience.
• Enhancing Staffing and Advisor Retention: Developing a supportive workplace culture that values the contributions and well-being of advisors.
• Personalization: Train advisors and empower them to deliver personalized guidance that acknowledges the unique circumstances of each student.
• Streamlining Advising Processes: Utilizing technology to efficiently triage advising requests, ensuring that logistical questions are quickly addressed while personal issues receive the necessary attention.

In addition, the fellow may review protocols for referring students to additional resources, particularly for mental health support. The faculty aspiring fellow will make recommendations, focusing on:

• Student-centered advising that is efficient yet personalized.
• Immediate steps to address staffing shortages and advisor retention.
• The introduction of technology solutions for request triage and referral processes.

The College of Engineering is committed to transforming its advising system to better meet the needs of its students. Through strategic planning, targeted investments in staffing and technology, and a commitment to personalized, empathetic advising, the college aims to provide an exemplary support system that contributes to the success and well-being of every student.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience in Advising or Counseling: Prior experience in academic advising, counseling, or a closely related role within an educational setting.
• Familiarity with Engineering Education: Knowledge of the engineering education, curriculum structures, and the unique challenges faced by engineering students.
• Empathy and Sensitivity: Ability to understand and empathize with students' diverse backgrounds, challenges, and needs, providing a supportive and inclusive advising atmosphere.
• Communication Skills: Exceptional listening, speaking, and writing skills to effectively communicate with students, faculty, and staff.
• Adaptability: Flexibility to adapt to changing circumstances and student needs, including the ability to handle high-stress situations with composure.
• Problem-Solving Ability: Strong analytical skills to recommend structural enhancement to advising structures, identify barriers to success, and develop tailored solutions.
• Technological Proficiency: Comfort with using and learning new technologies that assist in advising processes, such as student information systems, artificial intelligence (AI) & Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG), and digital communication tools.
• Organizational Skills: Excellent time management and organizational abilities.
• Cultural Competence: Awareness and appreciation of cultural differences, fostering an environment where all students feel valued and understood.

Mentor

Jean-Francois Chamberland, Associate Dean for Faculty Success, College of Engineering

Project Overview

The Fellow will focus on furthering best practices across the university in the recruitment, retention, and promotion of academic professional track (APT) faculty. Over the last several years, Faculty Affairs has made progress in clarifying the job expectations and promotion criteria, communicating the value and procedure of multi-year appointments, and encouraging recruitment practices that focus on the long-term support and development of APT faculty. The Fellow will build on this progress by defining a set of priorities to improve processes, guidelines, and structure for the support of APT faculty on campus. The specific focus of the project will be collaboratively determined based on strategic priorities and expressed faculty needs, as well as the interests and experiences of the Fellow.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Prior experience or interest in working with APT faculty development

Mentor

Dr. Heather Lench, Senior Associate Vice President for Faculty Affairs

Project Overview

The Fellow will focus on developing structure and support for external award nominations on campus, including working collaboratively with faculty and campus groups on process and priorities. The Office of Faculty Affairs has made progress in establishing campus relationships, identifying processes and structures that support external award nominations, and increasing successful nominations across the university. The Fellow will work with staff and faculty administrators to further this progress by building collaborations and working with faculty directly to support progress. They will also engage with a faculty-led taskforce focused on identifying practices that position faculty for highly prestigious awards. The specific focus of the project will be collaboratively determined based on strategic priorities and established areas of need, as well as the interests and experiences of the Fellow.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Interest in developing a faculty-focused awards and recognition strategy
• Interest in supporting faculty excellence and communicating their impact
• Excellent organization and project management skills

Mentor

Dr. Heather Lench, Senior Associate Vice President for Faculty Affairs

Project Overview

The Fellow will focus on improving support for faculty recruits during the hiring process, as well as reducing administrative burden associated with hires for departments/colleges. This will include dual career practices and structure, onboarding and welcoming procedures, establishing mentoring and networks on campus, and reviewing hiring procedures to identify areas that paperwork, administrative obstacles, and redundancy can be reduced. The Fellow will work with staff and faculty administrators, including department heads and deans, to develop best practices and procedures to implement them. The specific focus of the project will be collaboratively determined based on strategic priorities and established areas of need, as well as the interests and experiences of the Fellow.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience collaborating with staff and faculty in units across campus
• Excellent communication, organizational, and project management skills

Mentor

Dr. Heather Lench, Senior Associate Vice President for Faculty Affairs

Project Overview

The mission of the Texas A&M Foundation is to build a brighter future for Texas A&M University, one relationship at a time. As the steward of endowments across the University, we provide long-term financial security so that our educators can focus on their own mission: graduating well-prepared new Aggies. To that end, The Texas A&M Foundation would like to work with an aspiring faculty leader to increase faculty engagement in the development process across the University. Our professors are the storytellers of our university, from their successes in the classroom to their many research achievements across a wide range of disciplines. Donors (current and potential) represent a most interested and captive audience hungry for exactly the narratives that faculty members enjoy sharing. We propose that, given the input and attention of the right future faculty leader, we can identify specific methods by which we can 1) identify educators and researchers with an interest in our mission, 2) further inform, excite, and empower these individuals to engage with potential and current donors, and 3) build a community and culture that celebrates the strong commonality between the missions of the Texas A&M Foundation and our faculty at large.

Preferred Qualifications:

• History of engagement: Our team seeks a member of the tenured faculty who has some demonstrated history of engagement in the process of development and who believes in the importance of our mission to build a brighter future for Texas A&M University
• Experience with donor relations: Faculty members who have experience in the establishment of donor relationships and/or in the process stewarding endowments are considered especially well-suited for the proposed project.

Mentors

Tyson Voelkel ’96, President & Chief Executive Officer, Texas A&M Foundation

John Morris, Senior Vice President for Development, Texas A&M Foundation

Fellow: Lauren Coheley Spain, Ph.D., Instructional Assistant Professor and Associate Department Head for Undergraduate Programs, Department of Nutrition

Home Academic Unit: Department of Nutrition, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Project: Foundations for Student Success, AGLS 125; planning of the student success program in the Fall 2023 semester, and the execution of the program in the Spring 2024 semester

Sponsoring Academic Unit: College of Agriculture and Life Sciences – Student Success (AGLS 125)

Mentors:

• Dr. Craig Coates, Associate Dean for Inclusive Excellence 
• Dr. Jenna Kurten, Assistant Dean for Student Success 
• Dr. Patricia Klein, Executive Associate Dean

Fellow: Troy D. Harden, Ph.D., Professor of Practice, Department of Sociology

Home Academic Unit: Department of Sociology, College of Arts & Sciences

Project: Academic Freedom Task Force (View Project Preview)

Sponsoring Academic Unit: Faculty Affairs

Mentor: Dr. Heather Lench, Senior Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs

Fellow: David Jeong, Ph.D., Professor, Multidisciplinary Engineering, Construction Science

Home Academic Unit: Department of Construction Science, School of Architecture

Project: Exploring ways to provide better-defined directions, requirements and policies for the Department of Construction Science’s Ph.D. program and new online M.S. degree program

Sponsoring Academic Unit: School of Architecture

Mentor: Dr. Phil Lewis, Interim Department Head, Department of Construction Science 

Fellow: Verity McInnis, Ph.D., Instructional Associate Professor and Associate Director of Undergraduate Studies, Department of History

Home Academic Unit: Department of History, College of Arts & Sciences

Project: Improving curriculum and assessment practices within the college 

Sponsoring Academic Unit: College of Arts & Sciences

Mentor: Terri Pantuso, Ph.D., Instructional Associate Professor and Associate Dean, Assessment and Curricular Matters, College of Arts and Sciences

Fellow: Angela Mulcahy-Spence, Ph.D., RN, CMSRN, CHSE, Clinical Associate Professor, BSN Honors Program Coordinator, and BSN Program Coordinator

Home Academic Unit: School of Nursing

Project: Nursing education curriculum re-design and evaluation; revising the nursing curriculum and methods of assessment, particularly clinical competence, in accordance with the new updated American Association of Colleges of Nursing, Essentials of Nursing Education 

Sponsoring Academic Unit: School of Nursing

Mentor: Sharon Dormire, Ph.D., RN, Professor and Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education, School of Nursing

Fellow: Malini Natarajarathinam, Ph.D., Professor, Engineering Technology & Industrial Distribution and Program Coordinator, Industrial Distribution

Home Academic Unit: Department of Engineering Technology & Industrial Distribution, College of Engineering

Project: Explore ways to support faculty engaging with Industry partners and outreach 

Sponsoring Academic Unit: College of Engineering

Mentor: Jean-Francois Chamberland, Ph.D., Professor and Associate Dean for Faculty Success, College of Engineering

Fellow: Pablo Tarazaga, Ph.D., Professor, Mechanical Engineering and Associate Department Head of Research and Strategic Initiatives, Mechanical Engineering

Home Academic Unit: J. Mike Walker '66 Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering

Project: Develop a scaffolding program to onboard new faculty to a successful career 

Sponsoring Academic Unit: College of Engineering

Mentor: Dimitris Lagoudas, Ph.D., University Distinguished Professor, Aerospace Engineering

Fellow: Sara Zampierin, J.D., Instructional Associate Professor of Law and Director of the Civil Rights Clinic

Home Academic Unit: School of Law

Project: Develop next phase plan for experiential program 

Sponsoring Academic Unit: School of Law

Mentor: Luz E. Herrera, J.D., Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Experiential Education, School of Law