University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Assistant Vice Chancellor for Academic Support of Inclusive Excellence Dr. Sylvia Carey-Butler has been named an American Council on Education (ACE) fellow for the 2016-2017 academic year.
Carey-Butler is one of 33 to be named a fellow–each were selected following a rigorous application process. Fellows are nominated by senior administration from their institutions.
Carey-Butler said the fellowship opportunity is a chance for her to connect with others in leadership roles from universities across the country–something she is excited about.
“It’s an opportunity to look at academic enterprise from a holistic perspective–a chance to look at the ‘whys,'” she said. “I’m excited because this is an opportunity to engage with and learn from colleagues across the country in a variety of roles from a variety of institutions.”
Established in 1965, the ACE Fellows Program is designed to strengthen institutions and leadership in American higher education by identifying and preparing faculty and staff for senior positions in college and university administration. Nearly 2,000 higher education leaders have participated in the ACE Fellows Program over the past five decades, with more than 80 percent of fellows having served as senior leaders of colleges and universities.
“The ACE Fellows Program cultivates leaders prepared to meet the constantly evolving challenges of today’s higher education landscape,” said ACE President Molly Corbett Broad. “The diverse and talented 2016–2017 Fellows class demonstrates why the program has been such a vital contributor for more than a half-century to expanding the leadership pipeline for our colleges and universities.”
Carey-Butler joined UW Oshkosh in November 2013.
“UW Oshkosh is competitive–we have a lot of wonderful practices and programs and we’re doing some innovative things. We are really trying to take a proactive approach,” Carey-Butler said about the institution’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.
Prior to her time at UW Oshkosh, Carey-Butler served as interim executive director of the United Negro College Fund’s (UNCF) Institute for Capacity Building and as director of UNCF’s enrollment management program. During her career, she has addressed issues of diversity and inclusiveness within college and university communities and established corporate, foundation, secondary and higher education partnerships to support access to higher education. Prior to joining UNCF, Carey-Butler served as assistant provost and dean of honors at Dillard University in New Orleans. She also served as associate dean of studies at Lafayette College in Easton, PA; she has also held numerous positions in higher education in New York State.
Carey-Butler is a strong and passionate advocate for education. She earned a doctorate in higher education administration from Vanderbilt University; a master’s degree from Binghamton University and an undergraduate degree from the State University of New York at Oneonta.
Carey-Butler is the recipient of numerous awards, including an honorary doctorate from the State University of New York at Oneonta, her undergraduate institution in May 2014, the SUNY Oneonta Alumni of Distinction Honor in 2014 and the 2006 Alumnae of the Year Award at SUNY-Oneonta, the first African American to receive the award. In 2005, she received the Provost’s Extra Mile Award at Dillard University. Carey-Butler was the 1996 recipient of Lafayette College’s People Choice Award, an honor she is very proud of to this day because she was overwhelmingly selected for the award by students. Carey-Butler was inducted into the Schenectady, New York School District Hall of Fame in June 2014.
Carey-Butler has researched and presented extensively on minority student recruitment and retention and African American women administrators in the academy. Most recently, she has been engaged in research on African American male students in the academy.
Through the fellowship opportunity, Carey-Butler said she hopes to continue to learn–each fellow is charged with completing a project. Carey-Butler said she’ll work on a plan to develop a faculty of color fellowship at UW Oshkosh.
She also hopes to grow her knowledge in the area of recruiting and retaining African American faculty, build skills to grow the UW Oshkosh Titan Advantage Program (TAP) and refine her ideas for developing a student of color leadership institute.
The fellowship will formally kick off in June, although Carey-Butler has been engaged since March in preparation for her August departure; she will spend the fall semester immersed in the fellowship.
UW Oshkosh Director of Achievement Services Irma Burgos will serve as the interim leader of UW Oshkosh’s Office of Academic Support of Inclusive Excellence while Carey-Butler is away.
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