Faculty Affairs’ Winders Focusing Efforts on Faculty Professional Development, DEIA, Communication and Streamlined Workflows

Jamie Winders arrived at the University in 2004, a new faculty member right out of graduate school. Ten years later, as department chair, she began to think about how she could make a further impact, helping other faculty members reach tenure and mentoring and supporting faculty in her department.

Now in her role as associate provost for faculty affairs, Winders partners with the vice chancellor, provost and chief academic officer and other academic affairs leaders to support key faculty initiatives and advance the University’s vision for academic excellence and scholarly distinction.

“Being a faculty member has given me a knowledge base. I don’t always have the answers, but I have a good sense of what questions to ask. There are lots of moving parts in what we do, so we have to understand how the parts fit together as well as seeing the big picture,” Winders says. “It’s important to understand how to support faculty and support the work the deans are doing without getting in their way and without undermining the work of the schools and colleges. And it doesn’t hurt to have thick skin.”

Winders is also a professor in the Department of Geography and the Environment in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. She’s best known for her work on international migration and emerging technologies and as founding director of the University’s Autonomous Systems Policy Institute. Winders is associate editor of the international research journal Cultural Geographies and was editor-in-chief of the International Migration Review from 2017 to June 2022. She has served as department chair and director of undergraduate studies, faculty representative to the Board of Trustees, chair of the Arts and Sciences and Maxwell faculty councils and chair of the University Senate research committee. Winders began her new role as associate provost for faculty affairs in December 2021.

Winders answers some questions about how she approaches her role and implements its unique range of activities and perspectives.