In 2006, the Mellon Foundation awarded the Mellon 23, a group of twenty-three liberal arts colleges a Faculty Career Enhancement Program grant. This grant was used to fund collaborative initiatives to support faculty in their scholarly and creative work and to aid them in gaining a broader view of their institutions and of the pressing challenges facing American liberal arts colleges. Between 2008 and 2011, thirty-four multi-institution faculty development workshop proposals were funded. In January of 2011, the Mellon 23 was renamed the Alliance to Advance Liberal Arts Colleges to acknowledge the commitment of most of the member colleges to continue their collaborative work after the completion of the Mellon 23 grant. Twenty-four schools are now part of AALAC, which is supported entirely with funding from these institutions.

This initiative provides funds to support workshops that enable faculty members from AALAC liberal arts colleges to gather and work together on a subject of mutual interest. Priority will be given to proposals that are planned jointly by several faculty members from three or more (ideally, at least five) of the AALAC institutions. It is hoped that the workshops will foster collaboration among these institutions and might lead to sustained interactions in scholarship or pedagogy among faculty.

Member Institutions:
Amherst College, Barnard College, Bryn Mawr College, Carleton College, Colorado College, Davidson College, Denison University, Furman University, Grinnell College, Haverford College, Macalester College, Middlebury College, Mount Holyoke College, Oberlin College, Pomona College, Reed College, Rhodes College, Scripps College, Smith College, Swarthmore College, Vassar College, Wesleyan University, Wellesley College, and Williams College