Faculty Success
Supporting faculty in their teaching, research, clinical activities, engagement, outreach and extension efforts and professional development.
Celebrating Faculty Success
The Office of the Provost strives to support faculty excellence in all areas and at each stage of our faculty members’ development. We partner and collaborate with each of our colleges and schools to work with our faculty throughout their careers and enhance their success in all aspects of their work—teaching, research, clinical activities, engagement, outreach and extension efforts and professional development. We support and prepare faculty for success in the promotion and tenure process, as well as internal and external leadership roles in their fields and disciplines. Our faculty engage in a variety of programs and initiatives that help them innovate, lead and make lasting impacts in their fields and our state and communities. In 2024-2025 we celebrated faculty successes with several events including a welcome back faculty social acknowledging decades of service, a tenure and promotion celebration, and the William T. Kemper awards (shown on left).
Faculty Awards and Successes
5
Highly Prestigious Awards
26
Prestigious Awards
24
Faculty members won 17 campus awards
Programs for Early Career Faculty
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Attend New Employee Orientation
New Faculty Orientation events include both webinars and in-person sessions taking place at the Missouri State Historical Society located at 605 Elm Street. Register for this year’s sessions taking place August 19-20.
Resources for new faculty -
Apply for the LEAP Cohort
Learning and Expanding Abilities for Professoriate Cohort Fellows Program (LEAP) is a two-year cohort program designed to support assistant professors (TT and NTT) as they begin their academic careers as faculty members. Read what members of the first LEAP cohort had to say about the program.
More information about LEAP -
Attend the NCFDD Faculty Success Program
NCFDD offers many programs for faculty, such as the Faculty Success Program, a structured, 10-week virtual experience designed to help faculty members increase productivity, establish sustainable writing habits, and create work-life balance—all with the support of expert coaching and a dedicated community of peers.
Read about future dates
By the Numbers
68
New Faculty participated in orientation in August 2024
24
Faculty participated in the first LEAP cohort (2024-26)
16
Faculty were financially supported for NCFDD since spring 2024
Mid-Career to Full Professor Faculty Programs
Mid-Career Cohort
This is a partnership program between the Office of the Provost and the Office of Research, Innovation, and Impact, designed to provide development opportunities to associate professors (tenured and NTT faculty) prior to promotion to full professor.
Arts & Humanities Research and Creative Works Fellows Program
The Office of the Provost and Division of Research, Innovation & Impact offer this two-year research and creative works support program, which aims to create structures, supports, and mentoring for early and mid-career faculty members who engage in the arts and humanities.
Full Professor Sessions
Around 40 full professors attended various sessions offered on leadership, mentoring, well-being and a Q & A with the Provost.
12
Faculty members in the 2024-26 Mid-Career Cohort
171
Full professors attended sessions
8
Faculty members in the 2024-26 Arts & Humanities Fellows
"I was part of the 2023-2025 cohort, and I cannot express just how incredibly helpful programs like this are for us humanities faculty at MU. My participation in this program (particularly, the course release and grant stipend) enabled me to conduct vital research abroad in the United Kingdom that led to my completion of two book chapters, the submission of an article to a top peer-reviewed, international journal, and an invitation to a markedly important international workshop in the United Kingdom scheduled for this summer that will undoubtedly help push along my second book project."
Provost Great Books Program
The focus of the Great Books Program is to support mid-career faculty who are writing books. Faculty who have an advance contract (or strong letter of interest from a publisher or editor) to publish a book can apply for a course release to support the completion of the book.
- In 2024-2025, 19 faculty with received course releases to focus on publishing a book.
Provost Leadership Program Testimonial
“If you have any goals of being in leadership in academia, I think that this [Provost Leadership Program] is one of the better experiences you can have in terms of preparation for that.”
Creating supports for faculty
Councils to Support Faculty Success
Faculty Success Council —established to identify opportunities to support faculty success on campus. The council, which includes representatives from the leadership teams at each college and school, meets regularly during the academic year, engages in discussions with their unit’s leadership team and faculty members, and helps facilitate programming, initiatives, and/or supports in their unit related to faculty success.
Professional Development Council and Programs — comprised of representatives from units across the university to support faculty success and professional development. The PD Council provides a space for various units to share current and upcoming PD opportunities with each other, communicate to faculty about PD opportunities, and seek input on the changing topics and needs of faculty members to create PD opportunities that are relevant. On April 4, 2025, the PD Council hosted a showcase event focused on AI and Professional Development.
