Modernizing Academic Appointment & Advancement

Outmoded incentive structures are among the most persistent barriers to a more transparent and engaging research environment.  To begin addressing this systemic blocker, ORCA is partnering with the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Aspen Institute Science & Society Program to run the Modernizing Academic Appointment and Advancement (MA3) Challenge. The MA3 Challenge provides $1.5 million in funding to U.S.-based colleges and universities—including their departments, centers, and institutes—to reimagine hiring, review, promotion, and tenure (RPT) processes. We intend to identify and nurture 6-12 bold, creative strategies to develop academic reward systems that foster a collaborative, responsive, and transparent research environment.

ORCA is thrilled to announce the inaugural MA3 awardee cohort:

• Columbia Climate School

• Michigan State University 

• Philander Smith University

• Stanford University School of Medicine

• University of Northern Colorado

• University of California, Santa Cruz

These six institutions form a community of practice that will meet during the two years of their grant lifecycle to exchange experiences, troubleshoot challenges, and share lessons learned. ORCA oversees this collaborative structure designed to accelerate learning within the cohort and ensure that emerging insights can be efficiently disseminated to the broader higher education community. Read more about the six awardees.

The MA3 Challenge is supported by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Dana Foundation, the Rita Allen Foundation, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to help institutions implement policy changes,  build capacity for lasting reform, and provide actionable blueprints that can be adopted and adopted by other institutions.