The Office of Faculty Development (OFD) is happy to announce the award of 15 grants to faculty and librarians leading mutual mentoring projects in 2026-27.
OFD's Mutual Mentoring Grant Program aims to help faculty and librarians develop and deepen their mentoring networks and community and to grow as researchers, teachers, and leaders in their fields. This year's cohort involves faculty from a variety of career stages and from all parts of campus, including nine colleges, schools, and units.
Associate Provost for Faculty Development, Angela de Oliveira, shares, "The team at OFD is so excited to award this year’s grants to our impressive and collaborative faculty and librarian colleagues across campus. We know that mutual mentoring has been a huge benefit to this campus in helping individuals and communities build their career success, and we are elated to support another dedicated group of people to bring their ideas to life.”
2026-27 Team Grant Recipients
Beyond the Silo: Building Community for NTT Teaching Faculty in SPHHS
Team: Megan Patton-Lopez (nutrition & public health sciences), Elizabeth Martin (speech, language & hearing sciences), Ann-Marie Sylvia (epidemiology & public health sciences), Lorie Woodson (kinesiology)
Community-Engaged Scholars Mutual Mentoring Network (CES-MMN)
Team: Keisha Green (teacher education & curriculum studies), Lucinda Canty (nursing), Isabel Espinal (University libraries), Maria Galano (psychological & brain sciences), Adam Grabell (psychological & brain sciences), Megan Gross (speech, language & hearing sciences), Joseph Krupczynski (architecture), Shannon Roberts Henry (mechanical & industrial engineering), Risa Silverman (public health & health sciences), Lisa Troy (nutrition)
Course Community Organizers
Team: Adena Calden (mathematics & statistics), Jeff Beaulieu (mathematics & statistics), Garrett Cahill (mathematics & statistics), Chris Cox (mathematics & statistics), Eric Heinzman (mathematics & statistics), Joanna Jeneralczuk (mathematics & statistics), Caitlin Worth (mathematics & statistics)
Cultivating Mentorship, Joy, and Resilience: Writing and Wellness Retreats for NTT Writing Lecturers
Team: Shakuntala Ray (Writing Program), Anne Bello (Writing Program), Devin Day (Writing Program), Alina Parker (Writing Program), Aaron Tillman (Writing Program)
Fostering Community Leadership and Success: Mutual Mentoring for UMass International Faculty
Team: Richard Chu (history), Maria Correia (mathematics & statistics), John Francisco (teacher education & curriculum studies), Lara Matta (comparative literature), Krish Sharman (mechanical & industrial engineering), Yiran Su (sport management)
Fostering a Geospatial Governance Group
Team: Rebecca Seifried (Geospatial Information Librarian), Forrest Bowlick (Earth, geographic & climate sciences & environmental conservation), Joe Kopera (Earth, geographic & climate sciences), Alexander Stepanov (GIS Architect), Sarah Vitelli (Science & Engineering Librarian), Hongyu Zhang (Earth, geographic & climate sciences)
LABS: Learning Alliance for Bench Science Instruction
Team: Amanda Raimer (biology), Amanda Cass (biology), Jessica Rocheleau (biology), Jeremy Spool (psychological & brain sciences)
Librarians Leveling Up
Team: Maria Rios (Humanities Research Services Librarian), Jennifer Chaput (Data Services Coordinator), Libby Coyner (University Archivist), Therese Kaufman (UX & Web Services Librarian), Patrick Waite (Collections Analysis Librarian)
Preparing Educators Together: A Mutual Mentoring Partnership with School Districts
Team: Eirini Pitidou (teacher education & curriculum studies), Ysaaca Axelrod (teacher education & curriculum studies), Lesley Cogswell (teacher education & curriculum studies), Annie Foley Ruiz (teacher education & curriculum studies), Seon Yeong Yu (teacher education & curriculum studies)
Women and Gender Nonconforming Faculty in Music and Dance
Team: Lindsay Pope (music & dance), Michele Byrd-McPhee (music & dance), Molly Fletcher Lynch-Clark (music & dance), Catrina Kim (music & dance), Miriam Piilonen (music & dance)
Working Group on Carceral State Research
Team: Angela LaScala-Gruenewald (legal studies), John Clegg (economics), Kate Jaffe (health promotion & policy), Kelsey Shoub (public policy)
2026-27 Micro Grant Recipients
Building Sustainable, Collaborative University and P12 Partnerships
Sharon Kearney (teacher education & curriculum studies), Carie Ruggiano (teacher education & curriculum studies)
Mentoring Network for Research Faculty and Tenure-Track Collaborators
Emily Kumpel (civil & environmental engineering), Nelson da Luz (civil & environmental engineering)
Teaching China in Contentious Times: Interdisciplinary Pedagogy for Rigorous, Humane Classrooms
Yiyi Luo (East Asian languages & cultures), Christine Ho (history of art & architecture)
Women in Strategy and Entrepreneurship Research (WiSER) Conference at UMass Amherst
Ulya Tsolmon (management)
To learn more about OFD’s Mutual Mentoring Grant Program, visit OFD's website or contact Director of Faculty Development, Leyla Keough-Hameed ([email protected]).