Wellness at the root of Naaborle Sackeyfio’s faculty fellowship
Inclusive Excellence Faculty Fellows program is joint effort between Office of Transformational and Inclusive Excellence and Provost’s Office
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Published
Naaborle Sackeyfio is part of the Inclusive Excellence Faculty Fellows program, a partnership between the Office of Transformational and Inclusive Excellence and the Provost’s Office.
Wellness at the root of Naaborle Sackeyfio’s faculty fellowship
•
Published
When Naaborle Sackeyfio initially learned of the Inclusive Excellence Faculty Fellows program, she immediately saw the possibilities.
An associate professor of Global and Intercultural Studies, Sackeyfio is dedicating her time, expertise, and effort to centering Faculty and Staff Wellness in support of building an inclusive Miami as a faculty fellow. This undertaking is expected to have both short- and long-term benefits for the university, said Cristina Alcalde, vice president for Transformational and Inclusive Excellence.
This is the second year of the faculty fellows program, which is a partnership between the Office of Transformational and Inclusive Excellence and the Provost’s Office.
“This is an excellent opportunity for faculty members to lead, create, or develop a project that centers their interests while enhancing their leadership and professional development, whatever those may be,” Sackeyfio said. “Since the pandemic, well-being for me has been so important and a central anchor for engaged presence in a world of rapid transformation. Knowing so many of our faculty and staff navigate a plethora of tasks that require skillful engagement amid the elusive objective of life work balance, I wanted to explore with others different practices that enhance mindful communication and well-being. I’m hoping to rethink and re-energize wellness at Miami as we do important work, and take on greater responsibilities in our various roles.”
The Inclusive Excellence Faculty Fellows program serves as a professional development opportunity for faculty and is a chance to deepen their knowledge and expertise as leaders in actively advancing change within an inclusive excellence framework.
Proposals for the program should build on, move forward, or otherwise contribute to ongoing efforts to enhance Miami’s inclusive excellence approach, as well as benefit students, faculty, and/or staff.
Faculty fellows serve one-year terms, from August to May. During this fellowship, Sackeyfio has led several workshops throughout the academic year, including during the recent Reimagining the Academy conference.
“Wellness is central to an inclusive community,” Alcalde said. “I am very excited about how she is bringing together aspects of collective community care and individual care practices that contribute to well-being at Miami. Faculty and staff can benefit not only from individual sessions and practices but from the resources she is putting together to ensure our focus on wellness is both accessible and sustainable.”
For the spring, Sackeyfio is working to develop a framework for inclusive wellness and collective wellbeing indicators to consider how we can meet our ‘growth edge,’ at Miami. This includes providing retreat experiences and a benchmarking project to explore what other similarly oriented institutions are doing and to potentially expand Miami’s offerings. Sackeyfio also wants to ensure the Miami community is aware and has access to existing wellness resources, including the mindfulness space located in McGuffey Hall.
“We all struggle with the question of how do we get everything done in 24 hours and how to avoid burnout? How do we meet competing obligations or deadlines? My own journey luckily intersected with this opportunity,” Sackeyfio said. “I thought, ‘I would love to share, to grow, to lead, to learn, and to engage with faculty and staff on how we can create resources and draw from restorative practices including mindfulness to center collective wellbeing.’ This is so very exciting and speaks to the thrust of what inclusivity means. In doing so, we can create new narratives about wellness, restorative practices, and collective care.”
An associate professor of Global and Intercultural Studies, Sackeyfio is dedicating her time, expertise, and effort to centering Faculty and Staff Wellness in support of building an inclusive Miami as a faculty fellow. This undertaking is expected to have both short- and long-term benefits for the university, said Cristina Alcalde, vice president for Transformational and Inclusive Excellence.
This is the second year of the faculty fellows program, which is a partnership between the Office of Transformational and Inclusive Excellence and the Provost’s Office.
“This is an excellent opportunity for faculty members to lead, create, or develop a project that centers their interests while enhancing their leadership and professional development, whatever those may be,” Sackeyfio said. “Since the pandemic, well-being for me has been so important and a central anchor for engaged presence in a world of rapid transformation. Knowing so many of our faculty and staff navigate a plethora of tasks that require skillful engagement amid the elusive objective of life work balance, I wanted to explore with others different practices that enhance mindful communication and well-being. I’m hoping to rethink and re-energize wellness at Miami as we do important work, and take on greater responsibilities in our various roles.”
The Inclusive Excellence Faculty Fellows program serves as a professional development opportunity for faculty and is a chance to deepen their knowledge and expertise as leaders in actively advancing change within an inclusive excellence framework.
Proposals for the program should build on, move forward, or otherwise contribute to ongoing efforts to enhance Miami’s inclusive excellence approach, as well as benefit students, faculty, and/or staff.
Faculty fellows serve one-year terms, from August to May. During this fellowship, Sackeyfio has led several workshops throughout the academic year, including during the recent Reimagining the Academy conference.
“Wellness is central to an inclusive community,” Alcalde said. “I am very excited about how she is bringing together aspects of collective community care and individual care practices that contribute to well-being at Miami. Faculty and staff can benefit not only from individual sessions and practices but from the resources she is putting together to ensure our focus on wellness is both accessible and sustainable.”
For the spring, Sackeyfio is working to develop a framework for inclusive wellness and collective wellbeing indicators to consider how we can meet our ‘growth edge,’ at Miami. This includes providing retreat experiences and a benchmarking project to explore what other similarly oriented institutions are doing and to potentially expand Miami’s offerings. Sackeyfio also wants to ensure the Miami community is aware and has access to existing wellness resources, including the mindfulness space located in McGuffey Hall.
“We all struggle with the question of how do we get everything done in 24 hours and how to avoid burnout? How do we meet competing obligations or deadlines? My own journey luckily intersected with this opportunity,” Sackeyfio said. “I thought, ‘I would love to share, to grow, to lead, to learn, and to engage with faculty and staff on how we can create resources and draw from restorative practices including mindfulness to center collective wellbeing.’ This is so very exciting and speaks to the thrust of what inclusivity means. In doing so, we can create new narratives about wellness, restorative practices, and collective care.”
Established in 1809, Miami University is located in Oxford, Ohio, with regional campuses in Hamilton and Middletown, a learning center in West Chester, and a European study center in Luxembourg. Interested in learning more about the Office of Transformational and Inclusive Excellence? Visit the website for more information.
