The Office of Faculty and Academic Staff Development welcomes a new group of faculty, academic staff and leaders to the five cohort programs our office oversees: The Lilly Teaching Fellows, the Walter and Pauline Adams Academy Fellows, the Academic Leadership Fellows (ALF), The Big Ten Academic Alliance Academic Leadership Program (ALP) Fellows, the Big Ten Academic Alliance Department Executive Officer (DEO) Fellows. We are pleased to announce the names of the 24 individuals taking part in these five prestigious programs for the 2024-25 academic year.
Adams Academy
This annual OFASD program brings together a cross-disciplinary group of faculty and academic staff for a year-long fellowship focused on advanced topics in teaching and learning. The Adams Academy is named in honor of former MSU President Walter Adams and his wife and MSU faculty member emerita, Pauline Adams, in recognition of their sustained commitments to promoting instructional excellence.
- Isola Brown, Assistant Professor, Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Osteopathic Medicine
- Rebecca Cifaldi, Assistant Professor, Art, Art History, and Design, College of Arts and Letters
- Laura MacDonald, Assistant Professor, Residential College in the Arts and Humanities
- Scott Matteson, Assistant Professor, Human Development and Family Studies, College of Social Science
- Nick Schumacher, Assistant Professor, Music Theory, College of Music
- Barret Wessel, Assistant Professor, Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources
Lilly Teaching Fellows
The program is intended to advance the University’s continuing efforts to support excellence in teaching and learning. The goal of the program is to develop academic leaders who will guide the University into the near future with regard to learning, teaching, educational programming, and change that supports educator and student success.
- Eddie Boucher, Assistant Professor, Integrative Studies, College of Social Science
- Crystal Eustice, Academic Specialist, Community Sustainability, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources
- Wenying Zhou, Assistant Professor, Linguistics, Languages, and Cultures, College of Arts and Letters
Academic Leadership Fellows (ALF)
This experience promotes the exploration of diverse leadership roles to help Fellows reflect on their own characteristics and career goals to determine if they would like to pursue administrative or other types of leadership roles. Fellows are paired with a current MSU administrator to gain first-hand exposure to academic administration, learning about operations, expectations, opportunities, and challenges related to administrative positions, as well as more general aspects of leadership.
- Brian Johnson, Assistant Dean of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, James Madison College
Mentored by Aron Sousa, Executive Dean, Health Sciences, Dean, College of Human Medicine - M. Emin Kutay, Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering
Mentored by Mark Largent, Vice Provost, Undergraduate Education and Dean, Undergraduate Studies - Ellen Moll, Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Studies, College of Arts and Letters
Mentored by Kendra Cheruvelil, Dean, Lyman Briggs College - Sarah Prior, Associate Professor, Sociology, College of Social Science
Mentored by Sonja Fritzsche, Associate Dean, College of Arts and Letters - Dodd Sledge, Academic Specialist and Section Chief, Anatomic Pathology, Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine
Mentored by Allyn Shaw, Assistant Vice President, Student Development and Leadership and Dean of Students, Student Life and Engagement
Big Ten Academic Alliance Academic Leadership Program (ALP)
The Big Ten Academic Alliance Academic Leadership Program (ALP) provides intensive leadership and managerial development, addressing the challenges of academic administration at major research universities, like tightening budgets, changing student populations, and increasing pressures from external sources. Many of the program’s nearly 1,000 fellows have gone on to serve as college presidents, provosts and deans.
- Soma Chaudhuri, Associate Professor of Sociology, College of Social Science, and Co-Director of Global Research, Outreach, and Engagement for the Center for Gender in Global Context, International Studies and Programs
- Alison Dobbins, Theatre, College of Arts and Letters
- Sarah Gretter, Director, Apple Developer Academy
- Senta Goertler, Linguistics, Languages, and Cultures, College of Arts and Letters
- Justin Micomonaco, Assistant Dean, Honor’s College
Big Ten Academic Alliance Department Executive Officer (DEO) Program
This development opportunity is specifically designed for department chairs, school directors, or associate deans with similar responsibilities. Participants focus on departmental leadership skills and problem-solving with a specific focus on case study analysis and peer mentoring.
- Hannah Burrack, Professor and Chairperson, Entomology, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources
- Andrea Case, Professor and Chairperson, Plant Biology, College of Natural Science
- Chad Cotti, Professor and Chairperson, Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources
- Olorunseun O. Ogunwobi, Professor and Chairperson, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Natural Science
- Minami Yoda, Professor and Chairperson, Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering
