Trim Selected for Inaugural Cohort of the Mid-American Conference Academic Leadership Development Program Fellows
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Michelle Trim, senior teaching faculty in the Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences (CICS), is one of four faculty to be selected for the inaugural cohort of Mid-American Conference Academic Leadership Development Program (MAC ALDP) Fellows by the Office of Faculty Development.
Launched in 2017, the mission of the MAC ALDP is to identify, develop, prepare, and advance faculty as academic leaders in the Mid-American Conference universities. Each year, up to four faculty members are selected to serve as UMass Amherst MAC ALDP Fellows under the mentorship of Associate Provost of Faculty Development Angela de Oliveira.
“This inaugural cohort of MAC ALDP Fellows is incredibly impressive. Their individual projects will advance career readiness and job placement of our students, contribute to AI literacy, and enhance faculty well-being. Each of these projects will tangibly support our campus’s work for the common good. I’m excited to partner with each of these exceptional faculty leaders to foster their growth, development, and success, as well as the success of their projects,” shared de Oliveira.
With over 20 years in higher education, Michelle Trim’s career has included faculty appointments at small, selective private, rural public, and research-focused public institutions. She is a broadly trained academic with degrees in technical communication and computational social science.
At UMass, she was among the first class of Teaching for Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity (TIDE) fellows in 2016 and of the Public Interest Technology (PIT) fellows of 2022, was awarded the College Outstanding Teaching Award in 2019-2020, and the Faculty Peer Mentoring Award in 2021. She most recently served at UMass Amherst as Chair of the Faculty Senate Rules Committee and as a Chancellor's Leadership Fellow focused on AI Education on campus. She teaches courses in informatics and on the social impacts and ethical considerations of computing in the Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences. Her scholarship focuses on the impacts of computers on society and interdisciplinary approaches to teaching data literacy. She is the current chair of the Association of Computing Machinery Special Interest Group on Computers and Society (ACM SIGCAS).
As a MAC ALDP Fellow, Trim will work to identify a shared understanding of what is meant by “AI Literacy” at UMass Amherst through a collaborative approach. As various generative AI tools and techniques continue to proliferate, we can work together to recognize the knowledge, critical reasoning, and practical awareness required for graduates to engage with these new tools in effective and ethical ways. Beginning with the shared principles identified by the Joint Task Force on Generative AI, this project will culminate in a working description of AI Literacy along with associated examples that various disciplines can use to build from in setting their own expectations for AI literacy in their programs.
Trim shares, “Generative AI may have disrupted higher education across the globe, but it does not have to determine what education means at UMass. We can choose to shape our engagement with this technology in ways that embody our shared values of mutual respect, academic integrity, responsible practices, and excellence in education and research. I look forward to engaging the diverse energy of our campus community in this project.”
The MAC ALDP nomination and application process will commence annually in January. More information on the fellowship can be found on OFD’s website.
This article was adapted from a story originally published by the Office of Faculty Development.
