At the end of this summer, the three-year, part-time terms for Senior Fellows and Associate Directors Rebecca Dingo and Jason Hooper will come to a conclusion. The impact that these two faculty members have made on OFD’s programming and operations has been vast; and we are so grateful to have harnessed their insights, collaboration, and expertise for the betterment of OFD’s mission to ensure UMass Amherst is a place for all faculty and librarians to thrive.
Rebecca Dingo, Professor of English, came to our office in 2022 as a Chancellor’s Leadership Fellow with the goal of assessing faculty scholarly writing supports offered by OFD and making recommendations for further program development and sustainability. Through her CLF, she produced an impactful report detailing her findings and soon after stepped into the Senior Fellow & Associate Director role at OFD to lead the Scholarly Writing program. Under her leadership, OFD developed regular, monthly Write on Sites and Write Where You Ares, expanded our Writing Retreat offerings to twice per year, and streamlined the Scholarly Writing Fellows program that offers community-based Writing Circle supports for all faculty and librarians. Dingo has led helpful workshops for the office on publishing, planning your writing, and peer feedback. She also envisioned and led the OFD Scholars program, guiding three annual cohorts in unique writing and research support for their mid-career trajectories. During her time at OFD, she authored the Mentorship: COACHE 2024 Thematic Report and led the analysis of gendered differences across the faculty experience at UMass Amherst reflected in the COACHE 2024 data. And, Dingo conceptualized and led our Faculty Directors program, organizing monthly support sessions for faculty directors to connect them to each other and resources across campus.
Jason Hooper, Senior Lecturer II in Music, joined OFD in 2023 as a Senior Fellow & Associate Director to lead OFD’s Supporting NTT Faculty program. Hooper started his work by conducting a strategic qualitative research project on NTT faculty experience at UMass Amherst, bringing an essential data-driven approach to his leadership. Based on his findings, he developed successful community events for his NTT faculty colleagues, namely the “MeetUp” series. He has also organized popular annual spring gatherings for NTT faculty focused on community connections and celebrating NTT faculty research and creative activity. Also based on his research, Hooper developed mentoring groups to support the unique needs and challenges of NTT faculty at mid-career and support for NTT faculty seeking promotion or continuing appointment. Hooper’s commitment to positive, equitable, institutional change is demonstrated through his contributions to the recently published Equity for Continuing Stream Faculty tool through UMass ADVANCE and his service as a faculty advisor to the Faculty Success Project from the Office of the Provost. Beyond these contributions, his expert organization and thoughtful insights have been reflected in several refreshed OFD web resources (notably Equity & Inclusion, Well-Being, and Caregiving) and in the annual selection of Mutual Mentoring Grant award recipients. Also during his time with OFD, Hooper authored the Teaching: COACHE 2024 Thematic Report and led an analysis of NTT faculty experiences at UMass Amherst reflected in the COACHE 2024 data.
“If I were to draw a conclusion on the footprint of that this pair made at OFD and on our campus, I’d say they hold a lot of expertise and are really thoughtful team players, they both brought that collaborative spirit and concern for well-being and community-building to their programs,” shares Director of Faculty Development, Leyla Keough-Hameed. “Thank you Rebecca and Jason for your service; you will be sorely missed!”
“Jason and Rebecca brought OFD’s support for faculty and librarians to the next level through their experience, innovation, care, and advocacy. I am sorry to see them go, but I’m thankful for all that they have shared with the OFD team and the campus through their work as Senior Fellow and Associate Directors. I’m confident that their next endeavors will flourish,” shares Associate Provost for Faculty Development, Angela de Oliveira.
Thank you, Rebecca and Jason, for your service and lasting impact at the Office of Faculty Development. If you participated in any of the programming led by our Associate Directors over the years, we invite you to join us in thanking them for their contributions by reaching out via email (Rebecca Dingo, @email & Jason Hooper @email).
OFD is committed to continuing these successful programs for our faculty and librarian community at UMass Amherst. If you have any questions, please reach out to us at [email protected].