Provost Hecker selected for ACAO Digital Fellows Program
The Association of Chief Academic Officers (ACAO) announced Jeffrey Hecker, the University of Maine’s executive vice president for academic affairs and provost, is among 32 provosts and chief academic officers nationwide who have been selected to participate in the ACAO Digital Fellows Program.
Supported by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the ACAO Digital Fellows Program is designed to provide critical information, effective resources, and tested strategies to help chief academic officers and their faculty understand and adopt high-quality digital courseware, according to an ACAO news release.
The goal of the project is to explore ways to use digital technology to increase the retention and graduation rates among undergraduates, especially those who are first generation, low income, or students of color.
The ACAO Fellowship Program also aims to curate a public archive of resources on digital learning and related issues for chief academic officers to foster student engagement and enhance learning at their institutions.
The yearlong program includes four meetings of the fellowship recipients for workshops on digital learning. The Gates Foundation grant also includes support for individual campus projects focused on digital learning.
The full ACAO news release, as well as a complete list of fellowship recipients, is online.