Diane Kelly Assumes SEC Academic Leadership Development Program Liaison Role for Tennessee

September 30, 2020

Dr. Diane Kelly, Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs at the University of Tennessee

By: SEC Staff
SECU (Twitter: @TheSECU)

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (September 30, 2020) — Dr. Diane Kelly, Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs at the University of Tennessee, has become the university’s SEC Academic Leadership Development Program (SEC ALDP) liaison, the SEC announced on Wednesday.

Kelly was recently appointed vice provost at Tennessee after serving for nearly four years as a professor and director of the School of Information Sciences. As vice provost, she will oversee recruitment, retention, evaluation and professional development of all faculty.

“Investing in the development of early career administrators is essential at this time,” Kelly said. “We have to focus on developing leaders who have skills, talents and abilities to serve in the post-pandemic world when the needs of faculty, students and staff will be vastly different than they are right now. It is critical that we have leaders who will be able to transform our institutions in ways that were not possible in the past.”

As an SEC ALDP liaison, Kelly will work with Tennessee’s provost and senior vice chancellor to identify individuals from the university to participate as fellows in the program. She will also partner with liaisons from other SEC member universities to administer the multi-faceted endeavor. Kelly’s tenure as SEC ALDP liaison for Tennessee is effective immediately.

“The SEC Academic Leadership Development Program’s success is tied directly to the commitment and support it receives from the individual university liaisons,” said Dr. Torie A. Johnson, SEC Associate Commissioner for Academic Relations. “We look forward to welcoming Dr. Kelly as a liaison and to learning from and with her in the future.”

The SEC ALDP seeks to identify, prepare and advance academic leaders for roles within SEC institutions and beyond. It has three components, a university-level development program designed by each institution for its own participants (i.e., fellows); two SEC-wide three-day workshops held on specified campuses for all program participants; and a competitive fellowship designed to provide administrative growth opportunities for former fellows.

Click here to learn more about Dr. Diane Kelly.