Five months have passed since their initial meeting as a cohort, but the bond between the members of the ACE Fellows Program Class of 2015-16 has never been stronger.
Last month, 41 Fellows gathered in Miami for a mid-year retreat
designed to foster reflection on the fellowship experience, assess
progress on individual goals and create a post-Fellowship plan. This
mid-point “pause” from their campus-based experience is a critical
component of the Fellows’ overall experience as they continue to
integrate new knowledge and ways of practice.
During the retreat, Fellows were joined by the Program’s Presidential
Leadership Group Facilitators, also known as the “Sages,” distinguished
college and university presidents who advise Fellows individually, as
well as coordinate and convene small discussion groups throughout the
Fellowship year. ACE President Molly Corbett Broad also attended a
portion of the retreat to share an overview of national higher education
issues and participate in some of the discussion.
Fellows have observed and experienced many changes throughout the
Fellowship year thus far, and the retreat came at a critical junction
for them personally and professionally. Much of the conversation at the
retreat involved timely issues that are happening at many of the
Fellows’ home and host institutions, such as student activism
surrounding race and diversity across the nation. The trust and
confidence developed over time within the cohort and with the Sages
allowed for honest and candid conversations about a host of challenging
topics, which many Fellows said underscored the value of the in-person
retreat.
Fellows were also afforded the opportunity to hear from 1990-91
Fellows Program alum and current ACE board member Marie Foster Gnage,
president of Florida State College at Jacksonville’s Downtown Campus.
President Gnage shared a brief overview of the history of higher
education in Florida, highlighting the main issues faced by the state’s
institutions, and how the Fellows Program positioned her to become a
college president.
The Fellows continued work on a live case study started in August
2015 assisting Marygrove College’s (MI) contribution to urban renewal
and adaptation to changing circumstances in its hometown of Detroit.
With the participation of outgoing Marygrove Interim President James
Birge and incoming President Elizabeth Burns (a 2004-05 ACE Fellow), the
Fellows called upon their experience and skills to provide Marygrove
with suggestions and ideas to move forward. Marygrove’s senior
leadership team used many of these ideas as a point of departure and
benchmarking comparisons for their emerging strategic plan. The
Marygrove case study exercise was an intense learning and collaborative
experience for all who took part in it, and is a unique feature of the
Program.
Preparing for the next generation of ACE Fellows also is of critical
importance to each Class. While in Miami the Fellows engaged in a
“friendraising” drive as a practical application of one retreat session,
Friendraising and Fundraising in Higher Education, led by University of
Wisconsin-River Falls chancellor Dean Van Galen (a 1994-95 ACE Fellow).
The Fellows practiced “making the ask” to solicit funds through phone
calls to Fellows from earlier cohorts, and raised over $11,000 in
support for future Fellows.
The 2015-16 Class will conclude its Fellowship year with a closing retreat in June. In the meantime, many will gather at ACE2016, ACE’s 98th Annual Meeting, next month in San Francisco.