Support faculty with targeted strategies that foster engagement, grow leadership, and strengthen long-term institutional capacity.
We help institutions take a holistic approach to faculty success—tailoring strategies for newly hired faculty, those preparing for promotion, and everyone in between. But our deepest focus is on mid-career faculty: the group most underserved, overextended, and at risk of disengagement.
Mid-career faculty often carry significant teaching, service, and research responsibilities—yet many lack clear support structures. As they navigate questions of direction, identity, and impact, institutions often struggle to meet them where they are.
At Academic Impressions, we help institutions re-engage, retain, and advance mid-career faculty. Our approach centers on individual transformation and sustainable development infrastructure—supporting faculty as scholars, leaders, and community members.
We partner with faculty affairs leaders to design development approaches that meet faculty where they are—and move them forward with intention. These strategies help faculty:
- Advance their careers with purpose and clarity
- Expand their skillsets to meet the demands of mid-career
- Develop the leadership capacity to thrive in their roles and contribute more fully to institutional goals
Through these efforts, we help institutions foster clarity, confidence, and long-term contribution among a critical segment of their faculty.
Connect with a Faculty Development Partner
Get guidance on how to design or enhance your strategy for supporting mid-career faculty growth, engagement, and leadership.
What Makes Our Approach Unique
We Design Practical Models That Guide Faculty Development
We believe faculty development should be flexible and strategic—not one-size-fits-all. Drawing from years of partnership with institutions, we prioritize helping you tailor support to address the challenges and aspirations faculty face.
We Build Lasting Capacity for Faculty Success
We believe sustainable faculty development comes from building internal systems and leadership capacity—not relying on external programs alone. That’s why we work side-by-side with your team to co-create programming tailored to your unique context and equip you to deliver and sustain it confidently.
We Center Our Approach on Faculty Realities
We believe meaningful engagement requires an understanding of faculty’s complex roles and pressures. Our offerings are designed by higher education professionals who prioritize trust, flexibility, and practicality—meeting faculty where they are.
A Framework Grounded in Faculty Needs
Our work is organized around four interconnected focus areas that reflect what mid-career faculty need to thrive—both individually and within their institutions. This model anchors our approach and guides how we design, prioritize, and deliver support across campuses.
Supporting the Full Faculty Lifecycle
Our focus on mid-career faculty reflects a critical gap—but it's just one part of a broader commitment. We partner with institutions to build faculty development strategies that span the full academic career—from onboarding new hires to preparing future leaders. If you’re seeking to better support early-career faculty, we can help you lay a strong foundation for long-term vitality.
Gain Insight to Strengthen Your Strategy
Many of our partner institutions choose to incorporate our validated Faculty Retention Diagnostic as they deepen their efforts. This easy-to-deploy, research-backed tool reveals how faculty are experiencing key drivers of engagement—like workload, belonging, and leadership support—and provides a segmented dashboard to guide focused, data-informed action.
How We Help: Outcomes We Support
We organize our support around four focus areas—each addressing a key set of faculty challenges. Institutions can choose to invest in one area or build a comprehensive strategy across multiple domains.
1. Advancing Faculty Careers with Clarity and Confidence
Mid-career faculty often feel stuck between roles. We help institutions reignite engagement by supporting faculty in clarifying their purpose, planning their next move, and preparing for promotion.
We help you:
- Support faculty in mapping their career vision
- Increase promotion readiness across departments
- Provide space for reflection, planning, and accountability
We offer:
- Individual and group coaching
- Vision-setting and prioritization workshops
- Career advancement curriculum and toolkits
2. Reinvigorating Research Leadership and Identity
Mid-career is a turning point in a scholar’s research trajectory. We help faculty reset their scholarly agenda, pursue big ideas, and step into research leadership.
We help you:
- Reconnect faculty with their research identity
- Support interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation
- Position scholars as leaders in their fields
We offer:
- Coaching on research direction, interdisciplinary collaboration, and scholarly identity
- Curriculum focused on research planning and leadership
- Facilitated workshops for developing and communicating big ideas
3. Developing the Next Generation of Faculty Leaders
Many institutions are struggling to fill formal leadership roles or cultivate informal leadership on campus. We help faculty build the awareness, skills, and confidence to step forward.
We help you:
- Create a pipeline of internal leadership talent
- Cultivate shared leadership language and skills
- Equip aspiring chairs, directors, and deans
We offer:
- Individual and group coaching
- Multi-session faculty leadership programs
- Tools and training on managing up, building teams, and leading with purpose
4. Supporting Faculty Well-Being and Leadership in Place
Faculty vitality isn’t just about advancement—it’s about thriving in one’s current role. We help institutions foster environments where faculty feel grounded, confident, and equipped.
We help you:
- Support work-life integration and sustainable practices
- Build interpersonal and management skills
- Strengthen confidence and agency in complex roles
We offer:
- Group coaching focused on sustainable practices, balance, and agency
- Workshops on workload, writing, and navigating competing demands
- Modular content on mentoring, publishing, teaching, and confidence-building
Examples of Our Impact
Mid-career faculty at a large urban college of education built clarity and confidence through personalized coaching, with 100% reporting a strong fit with their coach. The engagement helped participants prepare for leadership roles, reconnect with purpose, and increase their sense of agency across roles.
Faculty at a private, research-intensive university reset their scholarly agendas and reignited their research identity through group coaching. Participants explored interdisciplinary collaboration, clarified their long-term direction, and began pursuing high-impact projects aligned with institutional goals.
Scholars at a public land-grant university strengthened their research leadership, developing collaborative strategies and gaining visibility as thought leaders. Programming supported both individual direction and departmental innovation.
Faculty navigating career transitions at a regional public university and a medical school gained new clarity and momentum through short-term coaching and cohort experiences. Participants reported stronger interpersonal skills, more intentional goal setting, and renewed engagement with their work and community.
Let’s Design a Faculty Strategy That Lasts
Whether you’re starting from scratch or scaling an existing program, we can help you build a faculty development strategy that drives outcomes—not just activity.