Skidmore receives $750K Mellon Foundation grant

Funds to be used for faculty "bridge" appointments

Skidmore has received a grant totaling $750,000 from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support faculty bridge appointments over the next three years.

The grant will allow the College to sustain the excellence of the faculty in the face of anticipated retirements. Susan Kress, vice president for academic affairs at Skidmore, said, "We are grateful for this support from the Mellon Foundation, which has been a generous and committed friend of the college, particularly in its support of faculty. This grant will allow us to invest in the future of Skidmore's faculty and ensure stability and smooth transitions over a period where there may be clusters of retirements."

Kress added that the current faculty demographics, especially a large cohort of baby-boomers, prompted the bridge-appointment initiative. "The demographics of our faculty, and the degree to which we can expect transition, are similar in many organizations at this time ," said Kress. "Our goal is to sustain the strength, leadership, and distinction of our faculty." She explained that the bridge grant will allow the college "to hire ahead of retirements to ensure mentorship of new faculty members and stabilize departmental leadership."

The Mellon award will support the recruitment of three faculty members over the next three years. Skidmore also will provide funds to support the bridge appointments. The positions are expected to be tenure-track and not limited to entry level. "Good planning dictates that we hire some people who are closer to the mid-level of their careers, to ensure the overall strength of a department and avoid clusters of faculty at the same level of experience," said Kress in the grant application.

The key challenge, she said, "is preserving institutional memory and mentorships and keeping departments strong while balancing institutional needs for change and innovation."

Of Skidmore's 135 tenured faculty, more than half are eligible to retire within the next decade. The College has taken several steps to help smooth these transitions. Currently, nine faculty members are in phased retirement (which involves teaching half-time for anywhere between one and five years). The College has also converted some non-tenure-track positions to tenure-track lines as a way to strengthen departments. In addition, Skidmore has created a year-long "learning communities" seminar to mentor new faculty regarding their roles as teacher-scholar-citizens at a liberal arts college.

Planning now for upcoming retirements will make it possible for Skidmore to take advantage of the opportunity to maintain the quality of the faculty in ways that pay attention to diversity, to student needs, and to the ways that disciplines (and interdisciplinary programs) have evolved. Kress called the Mellon Foundation grant "a powerful investment in the future of our faculty."