The award recognizes individuals whose efforts have resulted in significant impact in their institutions and beyond and is conferred by the Network for Change and Continuous Innovation: Higher Education’s Network for Change Leadership (NCCI).
NCCI’s board implemented the Leaders of Change Recognition Program in 2013 as part of its vision to serve as a catalyst for change in higher education. “This program is part of a broader strategic effort to identify those individuals who are leading change on their campuses and to grow the network of change leaders within higher education,” said NCCI President Catherine Lilly, senior adviser to the executive vice president and chief financial officer at U-M Ann Arbor.
Davy said, “It’s gratifying to be recognized for work related to innovation and change in higher education. The award is a testament to the collaborative, innovative work of faculty and staff at UM-Dearborn. Working alongside such talented colleagues is a joy; success is all about the team.”
Under Davy’s leadership, UM-Dearborn has undertaken both academic and administrative initiatives that include: an alternative budget model designed with incentives to reduce costs and increase revenues; a revised, cross-discipline, outcomes-based general education program called the Dearborn Discovery Core; a new College of Education, Health, and Human Services; two successful shared services projects; an honors program for transfer students called Honors Transfer Innovators; and the Talent Gateway, a student-driven professional development program that starts in the first semester and puts students on a path to make “entrepreneurs of themselves.”
“Kate pushes and drives efforts forward, but she combines that with a willingness to listen and shift when the case is made for a different approach,” wrote one nominator. “There is a shared sense of urgency and broader, deeper knowledge about critical aspects of our viability as a regional public university—simply put, Kate’s leadership has shifted the energy of the university.”
Davy’s contributions in her previous position at Bentley College (now University) brought about fundamental changes in the institution’s business-school focus. She facilitated the development of viable new programs that made the arts and sciences the engine of institutional change and the envy of the business departments. She established and secured the funding for a multi-million-endowed Arts & Sciences Center in the business university.
Davy will receive the award at the NCCI Annual Business Meeting/Awards Luncheon on July 17.
