Faculty Leadership Programs
Building faculty leaders is important to NIU's future. To focus on this task, NIU's president and the Board of Trustees agreed to a set of goals . The first goal is "empowerment and shared responsibility" which includes building capacity for shared leadership across the university. The provost oversees two key faculty leadership programs: Emerging Faculty Leadership Program (EFLP) and the MAC Academic Leadership Program (ALDP).
Emerging Faculty Leadership Program (EFLP)
Identifying and developing future leaders is important to the success of NIU and higher education more broadly. With that in mind, the Provost's Office is inviting you to participate in the Emerging Faculty Leaders Program, an intensive professional development experience for faculty seeking to expand their capacity for leadership in higher education. Eight to 10 faculty members are selected annually to participate in the program, which includes regular cohort meetings, assigned readings and panel discussions, with feedback and mentorship provided throughout. Fellows should expect a commitment of four to six hours per month outside of meeting times.
Eligibility: all full-time faculty (tenured, tenure-track, clinical, research and instructors) are eligible for the program, with priority given to tenured faculty. Faculty members do not have to be in an administrative or titled position to participate. The program aims to have a diverse cohort with representation across NIU's colleges.
Requirements: in-person meetings are held about every three weeks during the fall and spring semesters to discuss leadership topics and meet with faculty leaders from across campus.
To apply: a call for applications is sent out by the Provost's Office to all eligible faculty each spring.
2023-2024 Participants
- Omar Chmaissem, Presidential Teaching Professor, Department of Physics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
- Nicholas Grahovec, assistant professor, Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education, College of Education
- Liping Guo, professor, College of Engineering and Engineering Technology
- Andrea Guzman, associate professor, Department of Communication, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
- Carrie Kortegast, associate professor, Department of Counseling and Higher Education, College of Education
- Daniel McConkie, associate professor, College of Law
- Ismael Montana, associate professor, Department of History, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
- Christine Mooney, associate professor, Department of Management, College of Business
- Henna Muzaffar, associate professor, Division of Health Studies, College of Health and Human Sciences
- Pallavi Singh, assistant professor, Department of Biological Sciences, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
2022-2023 Participants
- Abdoulaye Diallo, associate professor, Rehabilitation Counseling, College of Health and Human Sciences
- Eric Jones, associate professor, Department of History, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
- Jessica Labatte, associate professor, School of Art and Design, College of Visual and Performing Arts
- Anita Maddali, associate professor, College of Law
- Charles Petersen, professor, Department of Operations Management and Information Systems, College of Business
- Jim Ressler, associate professor, Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education, College of Education
- Alecia Santuzzi, professor, Department of Psychology, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
- Ursula Sullivan, associate professor, Department of Marketing, College of Business
- Jui-Chang Wang, professor, School of Music, College of Visual and Performing Arts
- Bradley Wiles, associate professor, University Libraries
2021-2022 Participants
- Christina Abreu, associate professor, Department of History and Director of the Center for Latino and Latin American Studies
- Dawn Brown, clinical assistant professor and director of clinical education, Allied Health and Communicative Disorders
- Bill Cassidy, professor, Department of Communication
- Peter Chomentowski, associate professor, Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education
- Melani Duffrin, professor, Interdisciplinary Health Professions
- Mya Groza, associate professor, Department of Marketing
- Courtney Hughes, associate professor, Division of Health Studies
- Christine Nguyen, associate professor, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
- Alan Polansky, associate professor and Chair, Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science
- Bart Sharp, Mike and Kristina McGrath professor of entrepreneurship, Department of Management
- Simon Weffer, associate professor, Department of Sociology and Center for Latino and Latin American Studies
MAC Academic Leadership Development Program (ALDP)
Since 2017, Northern Illinois University has joined the other colleges and universities in the Mid-American Conference in participating in the MAC Academic Leadership Development Program (ALDP). The program's goal is to help faculty from MAC member institutions develop and advance as academic leaders. By collaborating with faculty and administrators from other MAC institutions, ALDP fellows build advanced skills in academic leadership.
Eligibility: all tenured faculty are eligible for consideration. Faculty are nominated by the dean of each college each spring for participation in the following academic year. Two to three fellows are chosen for each cohort.
Requirements: the program has two components: participation in a university-level leadership development program at NIU led by the vice provost for faculty affairs and participation in monthly development meetings with other MAC fellows. These components may be supplemented with meetings at other MAC schools as allowed.
2023-2024 Fellows
- Kari Hickey, chair, School of Nursing, College of Health and Human Sciences
- Bess Wilson, chair, Department of Special and Early Education, College of Education
- Abu Bah, chair, Department of Sociology, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
- Roxanna Conner, director, School of Theatre and Dance, College of Visual and Performing Arts
2022-2023 Fellows
- Mark Frank, professor and chair, Department of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
- Yolanda King, associate dean for Academic Affairs and associate professor of Law, College of Law
- Reinaldo Moraga, interim associate dean and associate professor, College of Engineering and Engineering Technology
- Garry Sunter, professor and chair, Department of Biological Sciences, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
2021-2022 Fellows
- Amanda Durik, professor and chair, Department of Psychology
- Joseph Flynn, associate professor, Curriculum and Instruction and associate director, Center for Black Studies
- Daewoo Park, associate dean and professor, Department of Management
- Matt Wilson, associate professor, School of Allied Health and Communicative Disorders
2020-2021 Fellows
- Mary Lynn Doherty, assistant director, School of Music and associate professor/coordinator of music education
- Gwen Gregory, associate dean, Collections Management
- Jamie Mayer, associate professor, Speech-Language Pathology/Allied Health and Communicative Disorders
- Jessica Reyman, professor, Department of English, acting director of the Center for the Study of Women, Gender, and Sexuality
2019-2020 Fellows
- Lara Crowley, associate professor and chair of the Department of English
- Laurel Rigertas, interim dean and professor of Law
- Shanthi Muthuswamy, associate professor, Department of Technology
- Wesley Swingley, associate professor, Department of Biological Sciences
2018-2019 Fellows
- Steven Howell, associate professor, Kinesiology and Physical Education
- Vijaykumar Krishnan Palghat, associate professor, Marketing
- Alicia Schatteman, associate professor, Public Administration and the Center for Nonprofit and NGO Studies
2017-2018 Fellows
- Jessamine Cooke-Plagwitz, associate professor and coordinator, World Languages and Cultures
- Sarah See Geiger, associate professor, Public Health
- Leanne VandeCreek, social sciences librarian and associate professor, University Libraries
Department Leaders Program
The Department Leaders Program is a training and networking initiative designed to assist new and seasoned leaders at the Department/School level. The program serves chairs and directors and involves monthly topical meetings. In the future, we plan to add an immersive one-day program for new chairs and directors, as well as a peer mentoring component.
This program was initially developed by Mark Frank, Reinaldo Moraga and Garry Sunter as part of their participation in the EFLP and currently is led by Bárbara González and Ursula Sullivan. The program aligns with NIU’s strategic theme and guiding principle of empowerment and shared responsibility, with a design to specifically support the development of leaders.
- Sept. 12, 2023: Inaugural Meeting - collection of topics of interest from participants
- Oct. 23, 2023: Dealing with Difficult Faculty
- Nov. 13, 2023: Building External Relationships with Various Stakeholders
- Jan. 22, 2024: TBD
- Feb. 19, 2024: TBD
- March 18, 2024: TBD
- April 22, 2024: TBD
In The News
- Courtney Hughes named winner of 2024 MAC Outstanding Faculty Award for Student Success
- Henna Muzaffar receives distinguished alumni award
- Associate Professor Ursula Sullivan named 2023 Provost Fellow
- Jessica Labatte to become director of the School of Art and Design
- M. Courtney Hughes named NIU Faculty Athletics Representative
Contact
Bárbara González, vice provost for faculty affairsbgonzalez4@niu.edu
Ursula Sullivan, provost fellow
usullivan@niu.edu