Leadership Development

Leadership Development

Faculty at all ranks are called upon to lead. Whether running an academic department, serving as a graduate or undergraduate program director, chairing a committee, spearheading a working group, or running a lab, the OFD offers an array of programs designed to help faculty understand leadership styles, enhance leadership skills, and help explore pathways to future leadership roles.

Faculty Leadership Programs:

LEAD+ (Leadership Enhancement for Academic Departments) is a professional development and support program for heads/chairs and associate deans covering topics of common concern to department/unit leaders. It is offered jointly by the Academic Personnel Office and the Office of Faculty Development.

OFD coordinates a mutual mentoring "incubator" program for department chairs/heads and associate deans. The purpose of this program is to provide a forum for chairs/heads to meet to support each other and share their wisdom.

The Chancellor’s Leadership Fellowship program seeks to cultivate future campus leaders by offering a half-time, one-year temporary appointment to an administrative area on campus, and providing mentoring from the leaders of the host units.

UMass Amherst supports the development of women leaders by supporting their participation in the HERS Leadership Institute, a transformational leadership development program for women in higher education.

The Mellon Faculty Leadership Development Program provides intensive training and support for emergent and established leaders in the humanities. The Program prepares humanities faculty at Five Colleges' member institutions (Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, and Smith Colleges, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst) to take on leadership roles by developing their administrative leadership skills.

Leadership Essentials for All Faculty and Librarians is a workshop series for all faculty and librarians who are interested in learning more about leadership and enhancing their leadership skills.

An intensive leadership training for new departmental heads and chairs. This academy, offered by the Office of Faculty Development, the Provost's Office, and Workplace Learning and Development, occurs annually in August.

A practical overview of the resources that will be helpful in your first year as a UMass Amherst department Head/Chair and beyond

This series includes a combination of subject-area mutual mentoring (Research, Undergraduate, Graduate, DEI) and all-AD leadership trainings.


Other Leadership Programs:


Many UMass Amherst faculty have participated in the workshops and fellowships offered by these programs.

American Council on Education Fellows Program (ACE)
The nation’s premier higher education leadership development program preparing senior leaders to serve American colleges and universities.

Academic Impressions 
The Academic Impressions higher education training connects people, ideas, and solutions. 

Harvard Higher Education Leadership Programs
HIHE offer comprehensive leadership development programs designed for higher education administrators—from directors, department heads, and deans, to vice presidents, provosts, and presidents.