Mellon Foundation Grant to Enrich Faculty Career Options

Skidmore, together with three other upstate New York educational institutions — Union and Hamilton colleges and Colgate University — will share a $600,000 grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support faculty career enhancement.

Over the next two to three years the grant will help fund an assortment of new initiatives, including an innovative process for post-tenure faculty development to assist faculty at mid-career with their teaching and research; a program of faculty exchanges among the schools in the Mellon grant group; and the chance to implement other collaborative programs, including a speakers bureau.

In announcing the grant, Skidmore President Philip A. Glotzbach said, "This generous grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation offers an exciting opportunity to address the challenges faculty encounter as they seek career fulfillment. My colleagues at the other colleges and I are very pleased to be able to forge new collaborative links and to launch promising new programs in the service of maximizing the effectiveness of our faculties."

The $600,000 grant follows an $80,000 Mellon Foundation gift awarded in 2002. The earlier grant funded a yearlong study by the four schools in which a number of common concerns were identified. The new grant will help fund some of the key goals arising from that study, including planning and support for research and teaching after faculty receive tenure, which is typically at the start of their seventh year at a college or university.

The grant will also fund a faculty exchange initiative designed to revitalize faculty by allowing them exposure to a different set of colleagues and a different academic and institutional culture. Each year, two faculty members from each of the four schools will be able to teach a course at one of the other schools. Visiting faculty will offer new perspectives and perhaps a new course to the host institution, and will be expected to share their experiences with their home school upon returning.

Additionally, funds will be available for smaller-scale collaborations among the campuses, such as a four-college speakers bureau, seminars, and conferences.

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