Faculty Innovation Fellowship: Nomination Information

BHEF is now welcoming nominations for its 2025 Faculty Innovation Fellowship. Funded by the ECMC Foundation, the Fellowship experience will enrich, prepare, and support faculty as they design, develop, and lead innovations in establishing equitable talent pipelines that expand pathways to student success. All nominations are due by 5 p.m. local time on Friday, December 6, 2024. 

Key 2025 Nomination Period Dates and Deadlines

  • Wednesday, December 20, 2024 – Nominees Notified
     

  • Faculty Innovation Fellowship Virtual Kickoff for 2025 Cohort
    January 17, 2025

  • Faculty Innovation Fellowship In-Person Session #1 hosted by San Diego State University
    February 19 - 21, 2025
    San Diego

  • Faculty Innovation Fellowship In-Person Session #2 hosted by Accenture and Virginia Tech
    March 19 - 21, 2025
    Arlington, VA

  • Faculty Innovation Fellowship In-Person Session #3 hosted by State Farm Mutual Insurance Co.
    August 13 - 15, 2025
    Dallas-Fort Worth, TX

Opportunity

BHEF-member higher education institution executives may nominate up to two faculty members (see Nomination Process below for additional details). Accepted faculty will be part of an intimate cohort that participates in career-advancing, interactive, immersive, expert-facilitated leadership experiences. The Fellowship will prepare participants for innovation and change management in the academic ecosystem, engaging them as they identify and develop a novel project at their institution. Additionally, participating faculty will develop a network of peer leaders across institutions and gain visibility for their work within their institution.

As a result, institutions will also gain faculty champions poised to influence their peers around innovation and change, a proposed initiative ready to be implemented on campus and a demonstration of industry responsiveness and alignment.

Participant Experience

Professional Support

To enable faculty to address and achieve their individual project goals, the Fellowship has been designed to provide each participant with the time, professional support, and industry insights they need to introduce and undertake the integration of innovative practices. 

The selected faculty will be prepared to:

  • Design innovations based on High Impact Practices for student success and industry engagement,
  • Pursue new employer partnerships,
  • Employ leadership and change management skills to be champions of innovation on campus, and 
  • Introduce and implement novel initiatives, vetted by national experts and aligned with the institution’s mission and goals.

Program Components

Cohort-based learning: Fellows will be part of a cohort of up to 25 faculty led by experienced BHEF staff, senior advisors, and industry and academic experts. Over the course of approximately nine months, the Fellows will participate in:

  • In-person sessions: The Fellowship includes up to three, two-day, in-person sessions that cover leadership skills, change management principles, and developing an innovation mindset – with a lens toward applying these skills and principles to a workforce development or industry alignment challenge or setting. The sessions, facilitated by industry and academic experts, will be immersive skill- and capacity-building experiences designed to prepare each Fellow for his or her specific project goals, and to build a lasting network of collegial relationships.  Sessions will take place at BHEF member institutions or companies. All expenses for travel and participation in the in-person sessions will be covered by the Fellowship.
  • Moderated virtual sessions: In between the in-person sessions, BHEF will moderate virtual conversations with the cohort, BHEF staff, and national experts. These virtual sessions (1-2 hours each) will focus on tactical areas, such as: project-based learning; competency-based education; credit for prior learning; articulation and transfer; building strong and sustainable employer partnerships; aligning programs with state workforce development initiatives, and learner-centered design. Fellows may be asked to present their challenges as peer learning for the cohort to discuss and problem solve.
  • Office hours: Between sessions, BHEF will offer office hours to Fellows for individualized consultation on their projects. 

Final Capstone Project

A key requirement for acceptance is that each Fellow identifies and works on an authentic and meaningful project aligned with institutional mission and strategies. This project should be determined in concert with the executive sponsor (president, provost, dean, or chair) at the institution and support must be explicitly acknowledged in the application. Proposed projects may encompass a wide range of campus-specific needs, but all should include meaningful actions that increase employer engagement in academic offerings. Examples of possible projects could be, but are not limited to:

  • Develop a common language among partners through consensus-building activities, such as competency mapping, to translate, clarify, and align expectations, responsibilities, and outcomes to ensure a mutually beneficial partnership.
  • Restructure a business advisory committee for increased impact.
  • Develop a new mechanism for bringing employers into the classroom.
  • Implementation of one or more High-Impact Practices that support student success.
  • Develop or enhance a credit for prior learning or a credit to non-credit model aligned with learner and employer needs.
  • Translate employer-led partnerships into transformative metrics-driven change.
  • Review company human-resource strategies and human-capital planning to effectively recruit diverse STEM and digital-skills talent.

Institutional Commitment

BHEF will cover many the expenses associated with participation in the in-person sessions, experts, and the fellowship curriculum. For a faculty member to be considered, the institution must demonstrate its commitment to supporting the time and work of the nominee by agreeing to provide a minimum of one-course release during the Fellowship period and/or an equivalent stipend direct to the faculty member. Low-resourced institutions may apply to BHEF for a limited number of scholarships available to offset release and/or stipend costs. 

Nominations must also include executive sponsorship and meaningful support of faculty members’ participation in the Fellowship, including input on final projects.

Nomination Process

Eligibility: BHEF’s member institutions are each eligible to nominate up to two faculty members. 

All nominees must: 

  1. Have status as a full-time faculty member teaching credit-courses in any discipline within a two- or four-year degree program;
  2. Have three or more years' experience at their current institution by the end of academic year 2024-2025, and  
  3. Be able to attend each of the three in-person and three virtual sessions of the Fellowship. 

The 2025 Fellowship experience is expected to follow the following cadence: 

  • Virtual Kickoff Webinar: January, 2025 
  • In-person Session 1: February 19-21, 2025; San Diego
  • In-person Session 2: March 19-21, 2025; Washington DC
  • In-person Session 3: August 13-15, 2025; Location TBD 

The Application Process

Step 1: Identify a faculty member and a project for nomination.  Institutions may use whatever process is appropriate to their needs e.g., nominations from peers, selection by institution leadership, or self-nomination. Nomination criteria may include:  

  • Faculty interest in implementing innovative practices within higher education.
  • Faculty interest in increasing student success and industry alignment.
  • Faculty commitment to learning, sharing insights with colleagues.
  • Project alignment with institutional strategies and goals.

Nominating institutions are responsible for establishing their own processes for identifying the proposed slate of final nominees. Nominating institutions, particularly systems with multiple institutions, are strongly encouraged to designate a “nominations coordinator” to assist with identifying prospective Fellows, reviewing prospective Fellows, and sending BHEF the final proposed slate of two or four nominees (depending on institution type) from their administration’s office.  

Step 2: Complete the Nomination Form. Executive sponsorship is essential to successful innovation. Both the executive sponsor and the faculty nominee must complete their respective portions of the form.

Step 3: Submit Nomination Forms and required attachments or links to fellowship@bhef.com by Friday, December 6, 2024.

Step 4: Review and selection. A selection committee, made up of BHEF membership and staff, will review applications and select candidates.

Step 5: Notification of faculty selection by Friday, December 20, 2024.

Point of Contact

For more information on the Fellowship, please contact Frank Avery, Managing Director, at frank.avery@bhef.com.

Special thanks to the following members of the initiative's advisory committee:
Terrence Cheng, Chancellor, Connecticut State Colleges & Universities
Marty Martin, President, Drake University
Michele Masucci, Vice Chancellor, University System of Maryland
Christopher Reber, President, Hudson County Community College