The Office for Faculty is pleased to offer the ALICE program, a leadership development opportunity for mid-career women faculty in the School of Medicine. ALICE – Academic Leadership, Innovation, and Collaborative Engagement – provides in-depth opportunities for leadership skill development, personal reflection and goal setting, peer-mentoring, and structured 360 feedback.

ALICE 2020 Participants

Applications for the 2024 cohort are now open.

Applications are due Friday, November 3, 2023.

This 9-month program includes a combination of full-day, half-day, and 1-2-hour sessions. Content focuses on continuous development of leadership, management, and communication skills needed to navigate leadership in academic medicine. The program provides participants with opportunities to connect with senior leaders and broaden their institutional awareness. Program activities will include:

  • Leading with Emotional Intelligence
  • Honing your leadership identity
  • Developing strategies to approach conflict with confidence
  • Negotiation techniques
  • Navigating change
  • Financial literacy
  • Fostering equity, diversity and inclusion
  • 360 Assessment, including a 1:1 session with an experienced Executive Coach to develop an action plan
  • Opportunities to interact with and learn from executive leaders at Duke
  • Robust peer mentoring opportunities

Faculty will engage with a range of leadership experts and will set and refine personal development goals as part of their participation in the program. Click here to see 2024 session dates and topics

ALICE is targeted toward mid-career women faculty. It is expected that most applicants will be associate or recently-promoted full professors, however, others will also be considered in special circumstances. Diversity is a priority for the program. The most competitive applicants will have a new or anticipated leadership role.

This program is designed to complement the national ELAM fellowship. Because ELAM nominations are limited to 1-2 per institution, faculty applying to ELAM this year are encouraged to apply to ALICE concurrently.

Participants will be competitively selected. The application is online and requests the following information:

  • Basic demographic information
  • CV/NIH Biosketch
  • Short essay describing why the applicant would like to participate in the ALICE program (<500 words). 
  • Letter of nomination from the applicant’s department chair, division chief, or center/institute director
  • Commitment to attend program meetings (see dates here)

Apply Now

Applications are due November 3.

Participation in the year-long program costs $2,250. Payment should be made via departmental fund code transfer (tuition cannot be paid with sponsored funds). This one-time payment will be used to cover all program expenses including the cost of materials, instruments, speaker fees, facility costs, and program evaluation.

I’ve already taken the LEADER program, ADVANCE UP or DCLP, can I apply for this program too?

Because there are some areas of overlap, it is suggested that alumni of LEADER, ADVANCE UP or DCLP wait 2-3 years before applying to the ALICE program. However, past participants from all programs are eligible for the ALICE program. ALICE is best suited to those at the mid-career level and will include material tailored specifically for a women faculty audience.

Who are the speakers for this program?

The program will be facilitated by the Office for Faculty, under the direction of Associate Dean for Faculty Development Cary Ward, MD. The program will utilize a number of internal and external experts in their fields. Some of the exceptional speakers include: 

Who has participated in the past?

See ALICE alumnae 

Who will pay the $2,250 tuition cost?

Tuition should be paid via transfer from a departmental or individual faculty member’s fund code. Tuition can not be paid using sponsored funds.

When will tuition be due?

The full program fee will be requested following successful acceptance into the program and prior to the start of the program sessions.  

When will I find out if I have been selected?

Applications will be reviewed in early December. Please hold all session dates while you wait to hear from the selection committee. Selection decisions will be announced before the end of the calendar year. 

Contact Jessica Schonberg in the Office for Faculty at jessica.schonberg@duke.edu