About Faculty Affairs
Faculty Affairs Staff
John Bertot is the Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs and a Professor in the College of Information Studies (the iSchool). Under Dr. Bertot, the Office of Faculty Affairs supports all aspects of faculty experience at the University, such as managing the APT process to ensure excellence and equity in tenure decisions, facilitating human resource functions, overseeing professional development opportunities for faculty, and advocating for faculty interests and perspectives in the leadership of the University.
He has been a Professor in the College of Information Studies (iSchool) since 2008, and has served as co-director of the Information Policy & Access Center (iPAC). John served as director of the iSchool’s Master of Library Science program from July 2011-July 2015. Prior to joining the iSchool, he was Professor in the iSchool at Florida State University. His research spans information and telecommunications policy, public service innovation, digital government, and library planning and evaluation. He received his Ph.D. from the School of Information Studies at Syracuse University in 1996.
Binsy Anil is the Coordinator for the Office of Faculty Affairs. She acts as first line of reception for the office, and supports all administrative functions. She has a Masters of Social Work from Mangalore University in India. She is passionate about music, nature and photography.
Dawn Culpepper
Assistant Research Professor and Director of ADVANCE
dkculpep@umd.edu | 703-401-7502
Dawn Culpepper is the Director of the ADVANCE program, where she leads faculty education and training efforts and coordinates ADVANCE Programs. She also contributes to research and evaluation of ADVANCE programs. She has a PhD in higher education from the College of Education. Dawn's research examines equity in faculty careers and graduate education with a recent focus on issues of work-life, workload, and hiring.
Follman manages websites for Office of Faculty Affairs, and also develops and maintains a suite of applications that facilitate business processes for Faculty Affairs. She has a bachelor's in English from Northwestern University and an MLS and PhD from UMD's iSchool. Prior to joining the Office of Faculty Affairs, Follman was a high school English teacher and webmaster. She is an amateur photographer, plays the flute and sings alto when she can make it to choir rehearsal.
Michele Frazier
Assistant Director for Faculty Development and Communications
mfraz@umd.edu | 301.405.9552
Michele manages various leadership and development initiatives including new faculty and new administrator orientations, and faculty workshops. She also directs marketing and communications for the office. Michele is a liaison to the University of Maryland Emeritus/Emerita Association and the Professional Track Faculty Symposium Committee. She received a Master of Tourism Administration from The George Washington University and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Maryland.
Ms. Goltz oversees several policy-related processes pertaining to faculty, including reviews, APT/AEP plans and appeals, fields PTK human resource requests, helps with development programming for faculty and administrators, and reports faculty-related data. She joined the Office of Faculty Affairs in 2010 while earning a Master of Library Science degree at the University of Maryland's iSchool. In addition, she holds a master's in Art History from Penn State, with an emphasis on late 16th-century Roman art. Goltz lives in Hyattsville with her husband and is an avid enthusiast of Maryland and DC culture and cuisine.
Sharon Goodall joined the Office of Faculty Affairs in 2018 to manage the implementation of the faculty data reporting system. She also is a project manager in the Administrative Modernization Program. She has a master's degree in Computer Science from the University of Maryland and was previously involved in research in the CS department.
Ursula Gorham is the Associate Director for Faculty Initiatives, overseeing policy and procedural matters governing PTK and other non-tenure-track faculty. Prior to joining the Office of Faculty Affairs, she was a Senior Lecturer in the College of Information Studies, serving as the director of the Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) program from 2018-2023. She is a proud alumna of UMD, having earned a PhD and MLIS from the iSchool, a law degree from the School of Law, University of Maryland, Baltimore, and a Master of Public Management from the School of Public Policy.
Umai Habibah joined the Office of Faculty Affairs (OFA) in 2023 as a program manager, supporting the Appointment, Promotion, and Tenure (APT) of Faculty and the Appointment, Evaluation, and Promotion (AEP) of Professional Track Faculty. In addition, Ms. Habibah facilitates the awards process for OFA.
Ms. Habibah graduated with a B.A. and M.A.A. in Anthropology from University of Maryland (UMD). Her graduate research focused on immigration and refugee studies and she has professional experience in the non-profit sector, federal government, and higher education. Ms. Habibah's skills include qualitative research, administration, and communications.
Laura J. Rosenthal is Director for Faculty Leadership and a Professor in the English Department. Her position in the Office of Faculty Affairs has two major components: development of stronger and more effective faculty mentoring programs, and development and support for academic leaders. She is a liaison to the Big 10 Academic Alliance Academic Leadership Program and Department Executive Officers Seminar. Dr. Rosenthal previously served as the ADVANCE Professor for ARHU.
Her research has been supported by fellowships from the Folger Shakespeare Library, the Newberry Library, and the NEH. She specializes in Restoration and eighteenth-century British Literature, with particular interests in drama, fiction, gender, sexuality, the Enlightenment, property, and empire. She also edits the journal Restoration: Studies in English Literature and Culture, 1660-1700. She is currently completing a project on theater and cosmopolitanism in the Restoration and eighteenth century.
About Faculty Affairs
The Office of Faculty Affairs exists to help faculty members achieve professional excellence as we build a world-class public research university. The Office of Faculty Affairs supports all aspects of the faculty experience on campus, from recruitment through retirement and emeriti engagement. Generally, we facilitate communication between faculty and administration.
The work of the office is focused on six main areas:
Promotion
The office provides staffing, guidance and oversight for promotion of tenure-track, tenured, and professional-track faculty, including facilitating changes to policy and procedures, and organizing the campus level committees that review promotion cases and make recommendations to the Provost.
Recognition
The office facilitates the nomination and consideration of faculty for such campus awards as Distinguished Scholar-Teacher, Professional Track Faculty Excellence, and the Distinguished University Professor title, along with University System of Maryland awards such as the Board of Regents awards and the Elkins professorship.
Development
The office presents workshops and materials for a number of different areas of the faculty experience, such as mentoring, aspects of leadership, and networking. The office also prepares and manages various orientation activities for faculty and regular forums for academic administrators. Participation in the Big 10 Academic Alliance programs overseen in this office exposes faculty and administrator fellows to leadership training and networking with peer institutions.
Procedures
The office manages documentation for many aspects of faculty worklife, such as leaves, sabbaticals, and tenure delays. The office also staffs various review committees, such as dean’s reviews, task forces and investigations, and appeals of the tenure process.
Reporting
The office develops, supports, and leads a number of data analysis and reporting efforts regarding faculty, including faculty achievement, demographics, leaves/sabbaticals, and promotion and tenure.
Research/Scholarly Misconduct
The Office of Faculty Affairs enforces the University’s policy and procedures governing research and scholarly misconduct, managing all phases of the process set forth therein. The Senior Vice President and Provost has designated the Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs to serve as the Designated Officer identified in the University’s Policy and Procedures. The Research Integrity Officer (RIO) in the Office of Faculty Affairs oversees inquiries and investigations into research and/or scholarly misconduct.
