Mid-American Conference Academic Leadership Development Program (MAC-ADLP) Spring 2026 Workshop
Western Michigan University is honored to host the Spring 2026 MAC ALDP Workshop, April 13-15, in Kalamazoo. This workshop convenes more than 65 faculty from 13 MAC universities – including 52 MAC Faculty Fellows and their senior academic leaders – for three days of collaborative professional development.
The MAC-ALDP, sponsored by the MAC Academic Consortium and the MAC Council of Presidents, is a leadership development program that identifies and prepares academic fellows for leadership roles within MAC institutions and beyond. The Spring 2026 workshop held at WMU is organized by the WMU Office of Faculty Development and is open by invitation only to the 2025-26 MAC Fellows.
Workshop Theme: Well-being as leadership practice
This workshop provides space for emerging academic leaders to reflect on well-being as a leadership responsibility, explore current challenges in higher education related to well-being, and consider practical approaches to supporting well-being for themselves, their teams, and their campuses (faculty, staff, students).
Definition of well-being for the Spring workshop
"An optimal and dynamic state that allows people to achieve their full potential, where students, faculty, and staff are able to grow, thrive, live authentically, and support one another. By focusing on the whole — the whole person, the whole educational experience, the whole institution, the whole community — well-being becomes a multifaceted goal and a shared responsibility for the entire institution... [W]ell-being must consider both individuals and the systems and settings where those individuals exist."
This combines the Higher Education Inter-Association Well-Being Collaborative definition and the American College Health Association values.
Workshop Learning Objectives
- Self: How do I sustain myself to lead well?
- Learning Objective (LO1): Identify practical strategies to maintain their own well-being and leadership capacity.
- Strategy: How do I think strategically about wellbeing within my sphere of influence on my campus?
- Learning Objective (LO2): Consider and discuss well-being challenges and solutions from a strategic perspective.
- Community: How do I foster belonging and navigate conflict in ways that strengthen organizational well-being and trust?
- Learning Objective (LO3): Explore strategies for fostering belonging and navigating conflict in ways that strengthen organizational well-being and trust.
Contacts
2026 Workshop planning team
- Dr. Ramona Lewis
- Amanda Retherford
- Tonya Dean
- Emily Awe
WMU 2026 MAC Fellow cohort
- Dr. Lisa Coons
- Ed Eckel
- Dr. Kristina Lemmer
- Dr. Bianca Nightengale Lee