UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA) Academic Leadership Program (ALP) will include five new fellows from Penn State in 2021-22.
The BTAA is the academic consortium of the Big Ten universities and the United States’ preeminent model for effective collaboration among research universities.
The ALP focuses on addressing the challenges of academic administration at major research universities. Through the program, participants who have demonstrated exceptional ability and administrative promise can further develop their leadership and managerial skills. Fellows are appointed to one-year terms, and funding is provided by the participating institutions.
Penn State’s participants for the 2021-22 program were selected based on their significant contributions and further potential for University leadership. The participants are:
- Luis F. Ayala H., professor of petroleum and natural gas engineering and associate department head for graduate education, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences
- Aquila Kikora Franklin, associate professor of theatre/dance and associate director of equity, diversity and inclusion, Penn State School of Theatre, College of Arts and Architecture
- Carrie Jackson, professor of German and linguistics, College of the Liberal Arts
- Maureen Connelly Jones, associate teaching professor of health policy and administration, College of Health and Human Development
- Amit Sharma, professor of hospitality management; associate director and professor-in-charge of undergraduate programs, School of Hospitality Management; and director of the Food Decisions Research Laboratory, College of Health and Human Development
The fellows will participate in five synchronous virtual seminars and an in-person capstone event at the Big Ten Conference Center in Chicago during the spring of 2022. Virtual seminars will focus on contemporary issues in higher education and other topics.
More information about the Academic Leadership Program is available here.