Office for Faculty Excellence

Higher Education Academic Leadership (HEAL) Program

Overview

The HEAL Fellowship program provides opportunities for faculty to identify and study an important problem or challenge facing higher education and propose a scalable and impactful intervention that ultimately supports the success of students, faculty, staff, or the university.

This program is focused on executing a high-impact project and on developing the fellow as a leader in higher education. Through structured reflective exercises, readings, meetings and other experiences, fellows will connect their growth as leaders to successful implementing their projects. Fellows will work with on-campus mentors and foster and develop relationships with external mentors.

Montclair State University strives to be at the forefront of public higher education. By focusing on student success, engaged scholarship and research, involvement and service to the community, and leveraging its strengths, the university continues advancing its mission for higher education leadership. Today’s leaders in higher education are challenged by financial constraints, demographic changes, evolving student needs, rapid changes in technology, and political and public scrutiny. Our success has been and remains dependent on innovation and creativity, and faculty have been and are essential not only through their traditional roles but also, increasingly, through their intentional and informed leadership. Successful leaders in higher education are strategic thinkers, strong collaborators who are flexible as they engage and inspire others, and excellent in planning, communicating, and executing. This program seeks to develop faculty leaders.

The Program supports faculty members interested in exploring leadership in higher education. In the Provost’s Faculty Fellowship Program for Higher Education Academic Leadership (HEAL), a small group of faculty come together to explore and learn about academic leadership while they work individually on a problem or project they are uniquely equipped to address. The HEAL Fellowship program provides space and support for thoughtful innovation and action, supported by collaboration. Fellows propose and pursue their projects to make a measurable, lasting impact on Montclair.

Support

In this program, a faculty member can be released for up to 4 credits of on-load activity for two semesters to focus on an issue of importance to higher education, with the potential for an extension if the project is expanded. Fellows will be provided with financial support for travel or other expenses related to higher education leadership and the needs of the Fellow’s project. During the year, fellows will meet twice a semester with the Provost and the HEAL leadership team for leadership and project development.  In addition, over the year, fellows will meet with all of the University’s leaders to expand fellows’ understanding of how universities work and to gain access to diverse perspectives on higher education leadership.

The successful fellow will be mentored and supported by the Provost’s office (and other parts of the University), completing the program with their proposed plan achieved.

The successful fellow is highly organized, proactive, and interested in learning more about “how universities work.”