The provost’s office welcomes Michelle Payne as the new assistant provost for academic leadership and faculty affairs, effective July 1. She will be responsible for coordinating the development and implementation of programs and services related to academic leadership development, faculty recruitment and retention, faculty career development (career progression; promotion and tenure; evaluation), and faculty data analytics. She will serve as the provost’s office liaison for policies, systems and processes related to faculty, coordinating with other units across campus to support faculty success and retention.
In her position as assistant provost, Payne will work with faculty and leadership to provide resources and training for department chairs and academic leaders to be successful in their roles.
The position of assistant provost for academic leadership and faculty affairs was developed in response to recommendations from the Boise State Leadership Development Task Force and the recommendation of the provost to re-describe the former director of professional development position in the provost’s office with a broader focus on faculty affairs and leadership development.
“Michelle is ideally suited for this newly revised position,” said Interim Provost Tony Roark. “With a dozen years at the helm of a department with over 120 faculty and staff, she brings deep practical experience to the role. But as an academic, she also has subject matter expertise in many of her areas of responsibility. We’re very excited about the programming and support she’ll be delivering out of our office.”
Prior to being department chair of English, Payne served as the assistant director (1998-2003) and then the director of the First-Year Writing Program (2003-2006). She received the English Major Association’s Outstanding English Faculty Award in 2002, was awarded the Larry Selland Humanitarian Award in 2004 from the Boise State University Women’s Center, and was a finalist for the Foundation Scholar Award for Service in 2012. In 2010- 2011 she participated in the President’s Leadership Academy at Boise State, where she designed a project to focus on recruiting and retaining department chairs that later was incorporated into the university’s strategic plan (Goal 5: Transform our operations to serve the contemporary mission of the university). In 2012 she was invited to be a keynote speaker and facilitator for the Oregon University System Department Chair Leadership Program (sponsored by ACE). She is the author of “Bodily Discourses: When Students Write About Abuse and Eating Disorders” (Portsmouth: Boyton/Cook, Heinemann, March 2000); “The Curious Reader: Exploring Academic and Personal Inquiry” (New York: Pearson Longman, 2005) with Bruce Ballenger; as well as “The Instructor’s Manual to Accompany The Curious Writer” (2017), in addition to various articles and book chapters. She teaches courses in writing arguments, theories of rhetoric and composition, nonfiction writing, the teaching of writing, and special topics courses in literacy and faith-centered students.
Payne earned a Ph.D. in English, Composition and Literature from the University of New Hampshire in 1997. She has an M.A. in Composition and Rhetoric from Florida State University, and a B.A. in English Literature, with a minor in Creative Writing, from Miami University in Ohio
* The Boise State Leadership Task Force is a grassroots faculty team created in September 2016 to address the need for greater clarity and inclusivity in administrative academic searches and appointments (including interim appointments), and the need for an ongoing institutional commitment to developing a diverse group of faculty leaders.