SHU Dean Michael Alfano Named ACE Fellow

Fellowship packs years of on-the-job experience and skills development into one year

Sacred Heart University’s Michael Alfano, vice provost for strategic partnerships and dean of the Isabelle Farrington College of Education & Human Development, has been named an ACE Fellow by the American Council on Education (ACE).

Alfano is one of 36 ACE Fellows selected this year, following a nomination by SHU President John J. Petillo and a rigorous application process. “I am incredibly thankful to President Petillo for nominating me and to Provost Robin Cautin for her ongoing support of my application. It’s an honor to have been selected to be part of the 2023-2024 cohort,” said Alfano.

Since the fellowship’s inception in 1965, the program has strengthened institutions in American higher education by preparing more than 2,500 faculty, staff and administrators for senior positions in college and university leadership through its distinctive and intensive cohort-based mentorship model. Of the fellows who have participated to date, more than 80% have gone on to serve as chief executive officers, chief academic officers, other cabinet-level members and deans.

“The ACE Fellows Program has a proven track record of developing agile leaders, and it fuels the expansion of a talented and diverse higher education leadership pipeline,” said ACE President Ted Mitchell, noting that the fellows “engage in unique learning experiences before returning to their home campuses, armed with a fresh outlook and distinct skill set.”

The program combines retreats, interactive learning, visits to campuses and other education-related organizations with placement at another higher education institution to condense years of on-the-job experience and skills development into a single year. “A year of working with higher education leaders from around the country promises to be a rigorous professional development opportunity. I look forward to applying all that I learn in the program to my work at Sacred Heart University,” Alfano said.

During the outside placement, fellows will observe and work with their host institution’s president and other senior officers, attend decision-making meetings and focus on issues of interest. Fellows also develop projects based on matters of concern for their home institutions and seek to implement their findings upon completing the fellowship placement.

When the program year ends, fellows return to their home institutions with new knowledge, skills and a network of peers across the country and abroad.