Digital Fellows Program

In January 2017, the Association of Chief Academic Officers (ACAO) launched the 18 month ACAO Digital Fellows Project.  This fellowship program, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is designed to provide senior campus leaders (i.e., Chief Academic Officers or CAOs) the critical information, resources, and support they require to help their faculty understand and adopt high quality digital courseware that personalizes learning and leads to significant gains in undergraduate engagement, retention, and graduation. 

Specifically, the project will provide a unique professional opportunity for 30 provosts/CAOs (“ACAO Digital Fellows”) that focuses on the adoption and deployment of courseware and digital learning resources intended to enhance student learning, increase retention and degree completion, and improve institutional outcomes.

The major project activities include:

• Creating a professional development program on digital pedagogy for the 30 ACAO Fellows;
• Curating an online archive of resource materials to support this and related digital pedagogy initiatives for ACAO and other organizations collaborating with ACAO;
• A national survey of provosts/CAOs, scheduled to launch in spring 2017;
• Four major convenings/retreats for the project fellows;
• Periodic webinars featuring experts on digital pedagogy;
• Site visits to the campuses of the 30 ACAO fellows;
• Dissemination activities (including reports, conference presentations, campus case studies, webinars, and web resources), which will extend the reach and impact of the ACAO Digital Fellows Program.