Vice President for Student Affairs Mamta Accapadi will join 32 other emerging college and university leaders to participate in a higher education leadership development program.
Vice President for Student Affairs Mamta Accapadi has been named an ACE Fellow by the American Council on Education (ACE) for the 2016–17 academic year.
Established in 1965, the ACE Fellows Program is designed to strengthen institutions and leadership in American higher education by identifying and preparing faculty and staff for senior positions in college and university administration. Thirty-three Fellows, nominated by the senior administration of their institutions, were selected this year following a rigorous application process.
Nearly 2,000 higher education leaders have participated in the ACE Fellows Program over the past five decades, with more than 80 percent of Fellows having served as senior leaders of colleges and universities.
“The ACE Fellows Program cultivates leaders prepared to meet the constantly evolving challenges of today’s higher education landscape,” said ACE President Molly Corbett Broad. “The diverse and talented 2016–17 Fellows class demonstrates why the program has been such a vital contributor for more than a half-century to expanding the leadership pipeline for our colleges and universities.”
During her time at Rollins, Accapadi has focused on developing strategic alignments of core student affairs areas in student care, community, and career and life planning in order to develop stronger functional alignments in support of Rollins students, the College’s retention efforts, and mission of educating students for global citizenship and responsible leadership.
Prior to Rollins, Accapadi served as the Dean of Student Life at Oregon State University, worked in multicultural affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, and has held faculty appointments in women’s studies, ethnic studies, education, and educational psychology.
Accapadi received a Ph.D. in higher education administration with a concentration on Asian American identity and social justice education. She also has served as a postdoctoral fellow in women’s studies at the University of Houston. Accapadi also holds a M.Ed. in higher education administration and B.A. in microbiology, all from the University of Texas at Austin.
“We are so proud that Dr. Accapadi has been recognized as an ACE Fellow,” said Rollins College President Grant H. Cornwell. “Mamta is a leader within the Rollins community who has spent the last several years strengthening our students’ learning experience and campus engagement, and this opportunity will only further enhance her leadership among her Student Affairs colleagues nationwide.”
The ACE Fellows Program combines retreats, interactive learning opportunities, campus visits and placement at another higher education institution to condense years of on-the-job experience and skills development into a single semester or year. Each Fellow will focus on an issue of concern to Rollins while spending the next academic year working with a college or university president and other senior officers at a host institution.
Throughout their placement, ACE Fellows will develop a network of higher education leaders from across the country and abroad through the Program’s three retreats on higher education issues organized by ACE. Fellows will also read extensively in the field and engage in interactive learning opportunities to increase their understanding of higher education challenges and opportunities.