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UMass ADVANCE, in collaboration with the Office of Faculty Development (OFD), will host “A Conversation with Provost Fouad Abd-El-Khalick, Michelle Budig, Wilmore Webley, Lupe Davidson, Michael Fox, Sanjay Raman, Karl Rethemeyer,” a faculty online listening and open discussion session, on Monday, May 12, from 11 a.m.- noon via Zoom.

The session will connect faculty with Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Abd-El-Khalick, senior vice provosts Michelle Budig and Wilmore Webley, and deans Davidson, Fox, Raman, and Rethemeyer, to provide faculty and academic leadership the opportunity to have open discussions on current emerging and evolving impacts on their work and academic lives.

In April 2025, the Provost’s Annual Tenure and Promotion Memorandum included guidance on expanded “impact statement” and options for requesting tenure-year delays, in response to impacts related to federal actions regarding sponsored research, and the wider range of challenges faculty may experience.

Such impacts may include interruptions, recissions, slowdowns and curtailed opportunities for federal funding that support faculty research, difficulties with travel and visa status, and supporting students navigating difficult circumstances.

Input and feedback from the session will inform the development of guidance to Personnel Committees and external letter writers, approaches to documenting impacts on faculty careers, and equity-minded approaches to addressing these impacts.

For session registration and to submit questions in advance, visit the Provost's Office/ADVANCE Impact Statement Listening Session form.

For more information and questions about the session, contact the UMass ADVANCE program at advanceprogram@umass.edu.