The Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs (OVPFA) is dedicated to facilitating and promoting the success of all faculty members at Penn State over their careers.

We seek to facilitate Penn State’s attainment of its mission through the recruitment and retention of a diverse faculty, a commitment to shared governance, the development of guidance and implementation of policies that promote faculty success over the course of their careers, and the creation of programs and practices that enable and foster faculty development and success.

The OVPFA oversees academic policies including promotion and tenure, faculty development, leadership training, executive searches, performance reviews, and other issues related to academic personnel and their concerns.

The Vice Provost serves as the Provost’s contact person for the Big Ten Academic Alliance, the academic arm of the Big Ten Conference; the University Faculty Senate in issues relating to faculty affairs; and is the liaison for the Provost and President to University deans and chancellors.

Faculty Affairs Leadership

Kathy Bieschke, Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs	Abby Diehl, Associate Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs	Ann Clements, Associate Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs – Faculty Development

Primary Strategic Office Goals

Drive efforts that result in the recruitment, hiring, and retention of a diverse faculty and academic leader workforce.
Reconceptualize and expand the scope and impact of faculty development at Penn State.
Leverage data to drive decision making related to policies, programs, and resources that support faculty.
Foster equity among faculty via operational resilience.

New faculty may want to contact Faculty Affairs to:

Learn about the promotion and tenure process.
Find out about faculty development and leadership training opportunities.
Better understand academic policies and procedures.
Access resources, guidance, and news related to sabbaticals, hiring, appointments, and other topics.

The Top 5 Items Faculty Should Know about the Faculty Affairs Office

Relevant New Faculty Programming

Faculty Affairs Fun Facts

Fun Facts Alt Text

The image shows four fun facts for the Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs. 1. Penn State has more than 6,000 full-time faculty, 2. Penn State has it's own Laureate, 3. 12 PSU faculty received Fulbright Scholar awards for the 23-24 academic year, 4. Full-time faculty are evenly distributed in terms of age: under 30 = 1%, 30-39 = 23%, 40-49 = 30%, 50-59% = 25%, 60+ = 21%.

Additional Resources and Contact Information

Resources

Faculty Affairs Contact Information

Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs
205 Old Main
University Park, PA 16802
Phone: (814) 863-7494
Fax: (814) 863-8583
Email: vpfa@psu.edu