Assistant Director of Honorifics
The Assistant Director of Honorifics advances Michigan State University’s national and global reputation by developing, managing, and scaling a comprehensive institutional strategy for faculty honors and awards. This role ensures execution excellence across the full honorifics lifecycle, from talent identification and pipeline development to nomination submission and outcome analysis.
Serving as a connector, strategist, and operational lead, the Assistant Director builds institutional capacity across colleges and partnering units to identify, prepare, and successfully nominate faculty and academic staff for high-impact internal and external recognition, to increase engagement with highly prestigious national and international awards. The position works in close partnership with the Office of the President, Office of the Provost, Institutional Research, Research and Innovation, University Communications, colleges, and external stakeholders to cultivate a sustained culture of faculty recognition and distinction.
Job Duties and Percentages:
The responsibilities of this position have been identified in the priority areas below:
- Oversight of Internal and External Awards/Honorifics Strategy and Support - 70%
- Leadership – 15%
- Reporting and Communication – 15%
Duties and Responsibilities:
Honorifics Strategy & Pipeline Development
- Develop and manage a proactive, multi-year, institution-wide pipeline of faculty candidates across career stages (early, mid, late career).
- Establish systematic processes for talent identification, readiness assessment, gap analysis, and coordinated nomination planning.
- Conduct environmental scans and peer benchmarking in partnership with Institutional Research and Office for Research and Innovation to identify strategic opportunities.
- Align faculty honorifics strategy with institutional priorities, faculty lifecycle milestones, and institutional reputation-building goals.
Nomination Process Management
- Lead end-to-end coordination of nomination processes, including timelines, eligibility tracking, and submission logistics in coordination with college or other sponsoring units
- Develop and maintain standardized templates, toolkits, and submission protocols to ensure consistency and competitiveness.
- Coordinate letters of support, nomination materials, and final submission packages.
- Interface with external award sponsors, foundations, and professional organizations as appropriate, and in partnership with Research and Innovation.
Faculty & Nominator Support & Mentoring
- Serve as a critical point of contact for faculty, nominators, and college partners pursuing awards.
- Offer coaching and consultation to strengthen nomination quality and alignment with award criteria.
- Coordinate internal review and feedback processes to enhance competitiveness.
- Integrate honorifics strategy into faculty career progression, including promotion and tenure, annual review, and leadership development frameworks.
- Develop and facilitate mentoring and coaching programs connecting award recipients, senior faculty sponsors, and emerging nominees.
- Offer workshops, consultations, and resources on building national visibility, positioning scholarly impact, and crafting competitive dossiers.
- Track participation and outcomes of mentoring and development initiatives.
Cross-Unit Coordination & Partnerships
- Collaborate with associate deans, faculty affairs leaders, research development offices, and communications teams across colleges.
- Build internal and external partnerships to expand nomination opportunities and strengthen institutional visibility.
- Partner with University Communications, University Advancement, and Provost’s Office Communications to amplify faculty achievements and support strategic narrative development.
- Establish a coordinated strategy to highlight and leverage faculty achievements as a catalyst for philanthropic engagement.
Data Management, Reporting & Continuous Improvement
- Maintain a centralized institutional database of awards, nominations, pipelines, and outcomes.
- Analyze performance metrics and trends to inform strategy and improve success rates.
- Prepare regular reports and executive summaries for senior leadership on program effectiveness and institutional benchmarking.
- Recommend and implement process improvements to enhance efficiency, engagement, and outcomes.
Hybrid Position Information: This position will be expected to maintain a regular schedule working on campus a minimum of 3 days per week.
Knowledge equivalent to a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Management, Higher Education, or a related field. Three to five years of progressively responsible experience in project management, program coordination, research administration, or strategic initiatives; or an equivalent combination of education and experience. Experience managing complex workflows and cross-functional collaborations.
- Master’s degree in Business Administration, Management, Higher Education, or a related field.
- Experience developing and managing datasets and using data to inform strategy.
- Strong written, communication, interpersonal, and organizational skills.
- Demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities and operate both independently and collaboratively.
- Experience in faculty affairs, research development, research administration, and/or higher education administration.
- Ability to provide consultation and strategic guidance across diverse stakeholder groups.
- Experience with benchmarking, process improvement, and institutional strategy implementation.
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, citizenship, age, disability or protected veteran status.
Applicants should submit a resume or CV, cover letter, and contact information for three reference.
STANDARD 8-5
https://fasaffairs.msu.edu/
MSU strives to provide a flexible work environment and this position has been designated as remote-friendly. Remote-friendly means some or all of the duties can be performed remotely as mutually agreed upon.
