WASHINGTON – The Howard University Office of Faculty Development (OFD), within the Office of the Provost, has been awarded its second consecutive four-year grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The OFD will receive $755,000 over the next four years in support of its many programs and initiatives for faculty members.

“Since 2015, the Office of Faculty Development has remained steadfast on its mission to be the hub of interdisciplinary collaboration that enhances scholarship at the University and fosters a community of committed and supportive scholars for faculty,” says Provost and Chief Academic Officer Anthony K. Wutoh. “We are honored to receive this continuation of financial support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to further enhance services for faculty.”

The first Mellon Foundation grant, awarded in 2016, helped to establish signature programs like the Chair Leadership Academy Series, with approximately 70 new department chairs, associate deans and interim appointments. It also established the Junior Faculty Writing & Creative Works Summer Academy, which has hosted nearly 80 junior faculty over the past four years. The latest grant allows the OFD to evolve and expand its programs to meet the demands of faculty who have shown a continued interest in utilizing the offerings provided by the office and its staff. 

“Thanks to the Mellon Foundation grant, we’ve been able to increase the number of cohort participants in the Junior Faculty Writing and Creative Works Summer Academy,” explains Associate Provost for Faculty Development Okianer Christian Dark, Esq. “The program is offered annually to junior faculty to support success with their scholarly publications and creative works.”

A convening of cohorts will be implemented to encourage relationships among junior faculty and mentors who have emerged from each cohort. 

The funding will also support the Scholarly Production Workshop Series, a monthly series throughout the academic year designed to encourage and support faculty in their scholarship efforts. The office plans to increase its outreach around the series to attract more mid-career faculty who may need assistance in reinvigorating their scholarly agendas.

Assistant Professor of Africana Studies Amy Yeboah, Ph.D., has participated in both the Junior Faculty Writing and Creative Works Summer Academy and the Scholarly Production Workshop Series. While she vividly remembers the first day, she received her Howard University faculty T-shirt as a first year professor, she says it wasn’t until she became a part of the OFD programs that she truly understood the meaning of being a faculty member of Howard University.

“Being one of the assistant professors amongst a group of tenured professors, professors who’d published books and done dynamic things within their disciplines and hearing how much work they put into developing themselves as scholars was transformative for me,” Yeboah explains. “Not only did we work with experienced, tenured professors, we were in the presence of a resident scholar, Joyce Ladner, the first interim woman president at Howard University, scholar of sociology and prolific writer. Hearing her speak about her journey at Howard, her pursuits for freedom and justice as an activist is something that I will forever be grateful for.”

Yeboah says Associate Provost Dark and the Office of Faculty Development team created a program that truly provided her with the essentials she needed to understand and comprehend the next steps of her career. 

For more information on the Office of Faculty Development and the programs featured above, visit https://www2.howard.edu/provost/faculty-development. 

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About Howard University

Founded in 1867, Howard University is a private, research university that is comprised of 13 schools and colleges. Students pursue studies in more than 120 areas leading to undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees. The University operates with a commitment to Excellence in Truth and Service and has produced one Schwarzman Scholar, three Marshall Scholars, four Rhodes Scholars, 11 Truman Scholars, 25 Pickering Fellows and more than 165 Fulbright recipients. Howard also produces more on-campus African-American Ph.D. recipients than any other university in the United States. For more information on Howard University, visit www.howard.edu.

Media contact: Ramzey Smith, Office of University Communications, ramzey.smith@howard.edu