EXCEL Lab & Career Center

SMTD’s Home Base for Performing Arts Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Management, and Career Services

SMTD Student Programming Links

Departmental Policies

E&L Community Commitments

1. We commit to upholding our vision, mission, core values and strategic aspirations
2. We prioritize interpersonal relationships among faculty, staff, students, and community members based on equity, fairness, and mutual respect
3. We commit to using established professional standards and practices to inform and guide our operations
4. We commit to articulating departmental policies transparently and with prudent oversight
5. We commit to using collaborative decision-making processes that respect multiple points of view, personal experiences, and expertise
6. We commit to equitably fostering the aspirational potential of all the students we serve
7. As faculty and staff, we recognize, respect, and support individual areas of expertise represented among our colleagues
8. We commit to consistently using clear, respectful, and appropriate communication, and take the initiative to refer students with needs beyond our expertise to appropriate colleagues and campus resource centers
9. We will not use our power and agency as individuals to divert the department away from our shared vision, mission, core values, and strategic aspirations
10. We comply with all applicable local, state, and federal civil and criminal laws, as well as the U-M Standard Practice Guide (SPG), SMTD’s faculty handbook, and SMTD’s codes of conduct

Tenure Guidelines

The Department of Entrepreneurship & Leadership supports a rigorous, inclusive, and multi-disciplinary context for tenure and promotion, directly in accordance with the SMTD Faculty Handbook, the Office of the Provost – Tenure & Promotion Guidelines, and the Faculty Evaluation: Recognition of Entrepreneurial, Creative, and Outreach Activities.

Our faculty members’ activities span arts administration, arts entrepreneurship, arts leadership, arts management, and a variety of professional activities (from scholarly research to performance, commercial and nonprofit producing, invited speaking engagements, consulting, other entrepreneurial activities, etc.), and thus we encourage creative research activities both in the for profit and nonprofit sectors. Examples of such creative research includes, but is not limited to, speaking engagements (invited talks, plenaries, etc.), scholarly presentations and publications (on field research, theory, and pedagogy and curricular innovations), consulting, the development of hands-on entrepreneurial learning experiences, and multi-disciplinary professional activities (e.g. producing, performances, etc.).

For additional guidance, we follow the Association for Arts Administration Educators’ Standards for Scholarship in Arts Administration adopted in May 2025.