Non-tenure-track faculty, including clinical faculty, extension faculty, lecturers, and research faculty, make vital contributions to UMass Amherst’s core mission of education, research, and public service. On OFD’s Supporting NTT Faculty page you will find professional development programs and opportunities to connect with colleagues, such as mutual mentoring incubators, support for completing the AFR or applying for a Professional Development Fellowship, and a promotion writing community. This page also includes resources, such as campus academic personnel policy and the 2020 COACHE Special Focus Report on NTT Faculty, and information about upcoming and past events. In addition, NTT faculty members are invited to participate in the other Sustainable Careers programming relevant to their career stage, as well as our Leadership Essentials, Scholarly Writing, and Mutual Mentoring Programs. Set your own course with the wind in your sails.
Upcoming Events
Mutual Mentoring Incubators for NTT Faculty
A supportive network of mentors is vital at every stage of a sustainable faculty career. OFD’s mutual mentoring incubators for non-tenure-track faculty provide a unique opportunity to build a new network of colleagues for support. Groups meet regularly throughout the fall semester and often continue to meet in later semesters. Together at each meeting members check in, describe challenges, solve problems, and share strategies for professional development.
Faculty interested in joining a mutual mentoring incubator should fill out the Incubator Interest Form. For further information, please contact OFD senior fellow and associate director Jason Hooper at @email.
Professional Development at UMass Amherst
- AFR Workshop
- Professional Development Fellowship
- Promotion Writing Community
- Academic Personnel Action Deadlines & Policy
Are you new to completing the Annual Faculty Report and Evaluation (AFR) and curious about its structure and purpose? Have you ever wondered about how to document an achievement? Would you like an opportunity to ask questions in a supportive space with other faculty? These workshops, held annually in late September and early October, provide both guidance and time to begin working on your AFR.
Although completing the AFR might feel like a chore, it serves important goals. Your AFR showcases your accomplishments over the last year. It's an opportunity for self-reflection and a basis for discussion among departmental and other colleagues during annual review, contract renewal, and promotion.
All faculty members with an appointment at 50 percent FTE or greater must complete the 2023–24 AFR in the Academic Personnel Workflow System (APWS) by the October 15, 2024 deadline. Faculty document their teaching, student advising, research and creative activities, and service as appropriate to their appointment.
Are you considering applying for a Professional Development Fellowship? In this workshop, held each spring semester, you will learn about the application process and characteristics of what makes a successful application. A panel of recent fellowship recipients will share their application tips and strategies and there will be time for questions. A video of the spring 2024 workshop is provided below.
Professional Development Fellowships provide a paid one-semester release for non-tenure-track faculty (not including those with access to sabbaticals or those who are funded entirely on grants or contracts) who have completed six years of service. Professional Development Fellowships support professional development activities that directly relate to the faculty member’s job responsibilities and/or advance important initiatives for their department or college.
View the Zoom recording of "Planning for a Non-Tenure-Track Professional Development Fellowship" originally delivered on May 2, 2024.
Beginning in mid-January, the Office of Faculty Development offers a series of events to support eligible non-tenure-track faculty who are preparing their portfolio for continuous appointment or promotion. This supportive writing community typically includes both online and in-person events to share goals, discuss the writing process, engage in focused writing, and celebrate progress. Meetings are facilitated by OFD senior fellow and associate director Jason Hooper (@email).
Typically, portfolios for these personnel actions are due in APWS no later than the first day of the spring semester. Individual faculty members should consult their department head/chair if they have questions about their eligibility.
Faculty are welcome to register for one or more of these events depending on their unique interests. Register here!
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Wednesday, January 15: NTT Promotion Writing Community: Write Where You Are No. 1, Zoom, 1:00–2:30 p.m.
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Tuesday, January 21: NTT Promotion Writing Community: Write Where You Are No. 2, Zoom, 9:30–11:00 a.m.
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Wednesday, January 22: Writing Retreat, Old Chapel, 9:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m.
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Monday, January 27: NTT Promotion Writing Community, Faculty & Librarian Commons, Du Bois Library, room 2604, 9:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
For more information on promotion for non-tenure-track faculty, please visit the MSP's webpage for workshops and relevant resources: https://umassmsp.org/workshops/
For more information regarding academic personnel action deadlines and academic personnel policy, including the collective bargaining agreement with the Massachusetts Society of Professors (MSP), please see the links below:
COACHE Survey Results & Special Reports
OFD's Supporting NTT Faculty programming was originally developed by Christiane Healey, senior lecturer II in biology, as a part of her Chancellor's Leadership Fellowship with OFD. This work was inspired by the experiences of UMass Amherst non-tenure-track faculty who shared their thoughts in focus groups and through the Collaborative on Academic Career in Higher Education (COACHE) survey in 2020, including a Special Focus Report on Non-Tenure-Track Faculty.
The Delphi Award
The University of Massachusetts Amherst was selected as a winner of the 2024 Delphi Award by the Pullias Center for Higher Education at the University of Southern California's Rossier School of Education, in partnership with the American Association of Colleges & Universities. The University's administration and the Massachusetts Society of Professors (MSP) collaborated to create comprehensive policies, practices, and programming supporting non-tenure-track faculty. The application was led by Christiane Healey, senior lecturer II of biology and student success leadership fellow.
"It is an incredible honor for UMass Amherst to receive the Delphi Award," said Fouad Abd-El-Khalick, provost and senior vice chancellor for academic affairs. "This recognition truly reflects the importance of bolstering programs and policies that support inclusion and success for non-tenure-track faculty, who make significant contributions to our core mission of teaching, research, and/or service." Read the complete 2024 Delphi Award announcement here.
UMass Amherst was also recognized as a 2023 Delphi Award finalist. The 2023 case study is available here: “The University of Massachusetts Amherst Model: A Comprehensive Strategy for Enhancing Non-Tenure-Track Work Environments and Student Outcomes.”
Recent News
Senior Fellow and Associate Director, Senior Lecturer II, Department of Music and Dance