Jillian McLeod, ACE Fellow, Explores Racial Equity at UMass Amherst

Jillian McLeod, associate professor of mathematics at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, is spending the spring 2022 semester at UMass Amherst as an American Council on Education (ACE) Fellow.

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As a fellow, McLeod is working closely with the Office of the Chancellor and the Office of Equity and Inclusion to design and execute a Racial Equity Inquiry and Report on Faculty Advancement.

“Professor McLeod’s project will help us to better understand patterns of inequity in our processes and policies, especially as they relate to advancement and promotion of Black faculty,” says Nefertiti Walker, vice chancellor for equity and inclusion. “Her work will feed into efforts already underway on campus to address bias and to better inform our policies and practices.”

Best known for its immersive cohort model for leadership development, the ACE Fellowship Program is an in-depth learning experience and leadership development program for faculty and administrators in higher education. Since 1965, it has prepared more than 2,000 faculty and administrators for senior positions in higher education.

“The ACE program has a track record of selecting excellent fellows, and Professor McLeod is no exception,” says Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy. “Diversity, equity and inclusion are central values on this campus, and Professor McLeod’s work will push us to live those values and make important changes.”

Speaking of her semester thus far, McLeod says, “It's such an opportunity to collaborate with the chancellor and vice chancellor on the urgent work of illuminating and ultimately eradicating systems of racial inequity embedded in practices and policies at UMass Amherst.  It's a chance to develop and model anti-racist leadership within higher ed.”