As part of its GLCA Academic Leadership and Innovation (GALI) programming, the GLCA applied for and received a $1.5 million grant from Mellon to launch the GLCA Academic Leadership Fellows Program. 

GLCA Academic Leadership Fellow candidates should be tenured Humanities faculty with demonstrated leadership capabilities, a commitment to Humanistic educational values, and the potential for transformational leadership in higher education. 

Application

Through a process administered by the Chief Academic Officer’s office, each GLCA institution may nominate up to two candidates. Up to ten Fellows will be selected from the twelve GLCA institutions. Evaluation criteria may be found in the Application Details document. Applications should be sent via email to Mickey McDonald, President, GLCA, at [email protected]. The deadline for applications is October 31, 2025. Selections will be announced by late November or early December.

Fellow Appointment

Fellows will be appointed to a titled senior leadership position at their home institution and hold the Fellowship from July 2026 through to the end of June 2028. During the two years of the fellowship, each Fellow will:

• • Lead a portfolio of responsibilities or a discrete project or projects identified in consultation with their institution’s senior leadership team; examples include:
    • A two-year Associate Provost appointment in the Provost’s Office with a specific set of responsibilities
    • A “Director of …” title with a two-year time frame to work on a large institutional project (e.g., working with faculty and departments to implement a general education reform, the development of a new Center, the development and launching of a new role such as Director of Student Academic Success)
    • A two-year Faculty Associate Dean of Admission appointment reporting to the VP of Enrollment to enhance ways faculty can best support the work of enrollment
  • Be given access to meetings, people, and resources consistent with their assigned responsibilities and expectations
  • Receive a course reduction of at least 75% (or an amount commensurate to that given to faculty in similar leadership roles and with similar portfolios/project(s) on the Fellow’s campus)
  • Receive an annual administrative salary enhancement (above and beyond their regular salary) of $20,000

Institutional Support

Participating institutions will receive $25,000 each academic year for each Fellow to offset the expense of hiring term/adjunct faculty to teach some or all of the Fellow’s course reduction. Additionally, the institution will receive a one-time $4,000 project fund for each Fellow to support the Fellow’s work on a specific project or projects.

Mentors

Each institution is responsible for identifying two mentors to support each Fellow’s professional growth – one from the Fellow’s home institution (someone other than the Fellow’s direct report), and one from another institution (which may or may not be another GLCA institution). Each mentor will receive an annual stipend of $2,000.

Professional Development and Expectations

During the grant term, GLCA will offer cohort-based leadership development workshops and retreats to build community and Fellows’ leadership capacities, beginning with an introductory in-person spring 2026 retreat. Each Fellow will take the nationally normed Hogan Assessment in spring 2026 with the results utilized throughout the program. The following outlines the expectations of all Fellows through the program:

April 10-12, 2026	Opening Retreat (in-person)
Spring 2026	Fellows complete the Hogan Assessment
June 22-25, 2026	GLCA Academic Leadership Fellows Workshop (in-person), includes a full-day Hogan interpretation and application session
July 2026-June 2028	Two-year Fellowship on home campus; monthly virtual check-ins and/or “just in time” leadership and professional development sessions
Summer/Fall 2026	Virtual one-on-one Hogan follow-up session with consultant
Spring/Summer 2027	Virtual one-on-one consultation with consultant
Summer 2027	GLCA Academic Leadership Fellows Workshop (in-person)
Spring/Summer 2028	Closing Retreat (in-person)

 

Campuses commit to providing their Fellow(s) with regular and ongoing feedback about their learning and growth, including the use of a mid-program and end-of-program evaluation provided by the GLCA. At the end of the program participating institutions and the GLCA will evaluate the impact and success of the overall program.

Humanities Definition

Academic Leadership Fellows should be appointed in a department within the institution’s humanities division. Mellon has offered the following list as a guide.

American Studies	Film, Cinema and Media Studies (theoretical focus)
Ancient Civilizations	Fine Arts
Architecture (historical or theoretical focus)	Foreign Languages and Literatures
Area Studies (humanistic focus)	Gender and Sexuality Studies
Art History	History (including History of Science)
Classics	Medieval Studies
Communication (theoretical focus)	Musicology, Ethnomusicology and Music Theory
Comparative Literature	Performance Studies (theoretical focus)
Comparative Religion	Philosophy and Political Theory
Cultural Studies	Religion and Theology
English and Literature	Rhetoric
Ethics	Theater (theoretical focus)
Ethnic Studies

 

Please contact Mickey McDonald at [email protected] if you have additional questions about the GLCA Academic Leadership Fellows Program or questions about the application details.