The new academic year is percolating like a pot of fresh coffee welcoming us back. The sounds bring anticipation of both drudgery and cheer. Yet here, at the crisp rise of the year ahead, we’ll enjoy our coffee and share some...
Archived News
The calendar may say classes are starting up and fall has arrived, but no doubt many are trying to cram in one last get-away, time together with family and friends before launching into a busy new year. The anticipation of things...
The 2021-22 All-University Awards recipients selected for the William J. Beal Outstanding Faculty Awards, Teacher–Scholar Awards, Distinguished Academic Staff Awards, Excellence-in-Teaching Citations, Community Engagement Scholarship Award, Donald F. Koch Award for Quality in Undergraduate Teaching, President’s Distinguished Teaching Award have been...
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...
By Emma Kolakowski
The Faculty Emeriti Awards honor faculty members who have made notable contributions to a university unit while in retirement, as well as units that have made opportunities available for retired faculty to remain involved. The individual award acknowledges substantial...
By Emma Kolakowski
The Office of Faculty and Academic Staff Development has announced the winner of the 2022 Simmons Chivukula Award of Academic Leadership. Dr. Victor J. DiRita has been recognized for his work as the chairperson of the Department of Microbiology...
The month of May is fast approaching. Debating whether spring is here to stay or if we may continue to have reminders of a long winter. Trying to figure out how to get all the big and little things on our...
Spartan weathervane in the MSU Radiology Garden.
We have been immersed over the last several months in numerous discussions, small and large group meetings organizing and visioning into the strategic planning efforts represented in MSU 2030. Two central themes, closely connected in...
Interview with Ann Crain, Academic Specialist-Advisor, College of Arts and Letters
By Emma Kolakowski
Ann Crain knows firsthand the difficulties faced by women in higher education. The Detroit-born advisor has overcome traditional mores about what a person in leadership should look like —...
In the world of leadership scholarship, “leaders” and “managers” are both necessary, complementary roles. An extremely concise summary of the difference might be: leader = vision, manager = order. It’s a simple enough model, and it has real implications for how...
For the last two years during the pandemic, we have had a monthly gathering called, “Starting a Career in Unusual Times” recognizing that taking on a new position at any time can be a bit overwhelming even if exciting; during a...
By: Maranda Holtsclaw
Are you looking to advance your career, boost your professional development and/or take on some new leadership roles? Did you know that the Higher Education Recruitment Consortium (HERC) has free resources to assist individuals working in higher education like...
Our kindergarten lessons can still apply if we choose to use them. It just gets a little awkward to approach someone and ask them to be your friend — or for the purpose of this article — your mentor.
Won't you be...
Explore possibilities within and beyond your academic role at the university. The Office of Faculty and Academic Staff Development (formerly the Academic Advancement Network) works with all faculty, academic staff, and academic administrators at Michigan State University as they join the...
It’s already late January so a “Happy New Year” wish almost seems obsolete.
Looking forward brings much more optimism and potential than reflecting back on the year that was, so keeping that sense of well-wishes is useful especially since we have...
It’s a time when we often reflect on what has been happening in our lives personally and professionally, as we recognize the seasons also changing around us. This combination of reflection and change is often what we think about when characterizing...
Our first teachers are the village of people that surrounded us growing up. Our own world in higher education is constructed on the history of our education as much as it is based on our identity within our families, our culture,...
Teaching and Learning are core features of any postsecondary institution, closely tied to student success in so many ways. Yet, it is an aspect of academic work for which most have little real training before assuming their position at a research...
Fellowship programs provide opportunities to expand leadership, teaching, learning, and research in different ways with the support of facilitators and a network of colleagues in each cohort. Below are this year's fellowship participants including information on the programs and projects for...
As educators at MSU you are invited to participate and contribute to an array of opportunities. Consider the options below as ways to integrate with the university and collaborate with colleagues.
Learning Communities
Learning Communities at MSU are free to select their own...
John Hannah Statue dons a Spartan Face Mask, during the Coronavirus Pandemic.
Whether this is the first time you are setting foot on the MSU campus or whether this is the first time you are doing so after an 18 month hiatus,...
Each spring, we celebrate the outgoing cohort of the Big Ten Academic Alliance Academic Leadership Program (ALP) Fellows while welcoming a newly selected cohort for the coming year. While we are unable to host an in-person celebration this spring, we would...
“It’s been a long year.” How many times have we said this to ourselves, to our colleagues, to our students, to our families…? There’s no denying it! And yet, as the academic year draws to a close, as graduations are upon...
It is so wonderful to see the sun shining and the weather turning to spring, even if we know that, living in Michigan, winter is likely not fully behind us. But, since we did not have spring break this year, anything...