Morehouse College Awarded $1M Faculty Development Grant

ATLANTA—Morehouse College has received a $1 million faculty development grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York to support professors in their pursuit of excellence as instructors, mentors, and researchers.

The grant funds will be used to launch the new program “Modeling 21st Century Faculty Development at HBCUs,” an initiative designed to help Morehouse become more competitive in its efforts to attract and retain top talent. The program will fund robust opportunities for faculty growth through critical stages of development, including sabbaticals for professors pursuing research.

"On behalf of the Morehouse College community, I would like to thank the Carnegie Corporation of New York for supporting our efforts to recruit top educators to the classrooms of Morehouse,” said Dr. David A. Thomas, President of Morehouse College. “Our mission to develop men who are academically excellent and committed to leadership and service can only be realized if the education that we offer is taught by professors who are innovators in their fields and are dedicated to helping our scholars to succeed.”

Morehouse will share best practices with administrators at fellow HBCUs, Spelman College, and Prairie View A&M University, which received similar faculty development grants. (Prairie View was awarded a $1 million from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Carnegie contributed $500,000 to Spelman, which also received $500,000 from The Rockefeller Foundation.)

Dr. Keith Howard, Dean of Faculty at Morehouse College and Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs, will oversee the College’s grant program. Howard believes the program will allow Morehouse to continue its tradition of excellence throughout the 21st century and beyond.

“Much of the success at Morehouse College can be attributed to maintaining a strong and diverse faculty who provide exceptional instruction, mentorship, and research experiences for African American and minority student populations. However, Morehouse is subject to competitive market forces, as are many HBCU’s that make it increasingly difficult to attract, develop, and retain high-quality faculty," Howard said.

Howard said the new faculty development funds will provide the flexibility necessary to begin reducing the teaching loads of some existing professors. The College will also offer start-up packages to professors, and other support throughout their tenure.

In addition, grant funds will be used to increase faculty research productivity. Seed funding will be offered, as well as time off and workshops to enhance research success. Morehouse will monitor the impact of the grant program using metrics such as the number of faculty applying for full professorships, applications received for posted job openings, credit hours taught, faculty satisfaction, and the frequency of grant and manuscript submissions.

Dr. Vartan Gregorian, president of the Carnegie Corporation, said the foundation is pleased to partner with Morehouse in this important endeavor and has a proud history of supporting excellence at HBCUs.

“Throughout its history, Carnegie Corporation of New York has continued to invest in a range of organizations serving African Americans, including historically black colleges and universities,” Gregorian said. “We are pleased to help ensure the future health and welfare of the faculties of our country’s HBCUs through these latest grants.”