PACE – Post-Promotion Advancement and Career Exploration

The PACE Pilot Program is open to associate professors who were promoted at U-M from assistant to associate professor with tenure effective fall 2022, fall 2023, and fall 2024 who are based in schools/colleges that do not already provide coaching resources. (Note: Because the College of Engineering and the Medical School already provide such services, those schools/colleges are not part of this pilot.) If you have additional questions about your eligibility for the PACE Pilot Coaching Program, please reach out to us at [email protected].

Eligibility for the program may be expanded to include additional groups beyond its initial pilot phase, which serves faculty promoted to associate professor with tenure effective fall 2022, fall 2023, and fall 2024, in schools/colleges that do not already offer coaching resources.

• Taubman College of Architecture & Urban Planning
• Stamps School of Art & Design
• Ross School of Business
• School of Dentistry
• Marsal Family School of Education
• College of Engineering
• School for Environment and Sustainability
• School of Information
• School of Kinesiology
• Law School
• College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
• School of Music, Theatre & Dance
• School of Nursing
• College of Pharmacy
• School of Public Health
• Ford School of Public Policy
• School of Social Work

Yes, if you are promoted to associate with tenure effective FA24 and you are based in a school/college that does not already provide coaching resources. U-M assistant professors who are promoted to associate professor with tenure effective fall 2022, fall 2023, and fall 2024 are eligible to participate.

The PACE Pilot Coaching Program works with external coaches to identify matches based on your interests and capacity of coaches. Once you have been matched, your coach will reach out to you, typically within a week.

You will receive an invitation letter from the provost that contains a link to the registration site to request coaching. You’ll be prompted to provide your CV and some additional information about your goals, values, and communication style that will help your coach orient to your career and interests.

Unfortunately, program capacity means that we are unable to allow you to select your own coach. If you indicate your interest in the program by submitting a request, you will be matched with a coach. That said, if you feel the coach assigned to you is not a good fit, contact us promptly at [email protected] and we can identify a coach whose style may be better suited to your needs.

The following are examples

Career exploration

• What do I want to stop, start, or change in my research?
• Do I want to be a researcher first and foremost, a public intellectual, get involved in tech transfer, move into leadership, or something else?
• Do I want to pursue leadership roles, either at Michigan or elsewhere (e.g., nationally, internationally, etc.)?
• Writing (i.e., doing, not doing, collaborators, changing directions, etc.)
• Giving voice to your value

Work plans, habits, and mindsets

• Prioritizing people, tasks, projects, requests, etc.
• Freeing up time and space to pursue new interests
• Feeling overwhelmed
• Shifts in perspective, reframing
• Energy management
• Setting boundaries

Work relationships

• Working with challenging colleagues (faculty and/or staff)
• Navigating departmental or unit politics
• Building effective collaborations
• How to handle collaborations that aren’t working

Leadership goals

• Building an effective team
• Strategic planning
• Strengthening my professional presence
• Job offers (i.e., accepting, pursuing, negotiating, refusing, timing, etc.)

Personal and life management

• Work/life balance
• Mindfulness, wellness
• Traveling logistics
• Household management

Every coaching relationship is different. Coaches will tailor the sessions based on the topics and issues participants wish to discuss. Outside assignments, readings, or tasks may be assigned to reinforce discussions. Such work will be developed in consultation with participants.

Subject to the exception below, the content of all coaching sessions is considered confidential and will not be reported to anyone (including program administrators and school/college leadership) except in the aggregate. Coaches will inform the program administrators of general themes or issues that arise during the coaching process and will make recommendations regarding the evaluation of the program.

Please note that any information learned during coaching about illegal or life-threatening activities will be exempt from confidentiality restrictions.

While this will be for you and your PACE coach to determine, coaching sessions should optimally occur monthly. The cadence of coaching sessions will be a little different for everyone, but you might expect to have your initial 2-3 sessions fairly close together, with later sessions a little further apart.