Melissa Sortman is the Assistant Provost of Faculty and Academic Staff Affairs within the Office of the Associate Provost and Associate Vice President for Faculty and Academic Staff Affairs at Michigan State University. Sortman serves as a strategic partner on the leadership team in the Office of the Provost developing and implementing strategic plans for the University, academic human resources policies, and negotiating academic labor contracts. She collaborates with leadership across the university to improve the organizational culture of the working and learning environment with college, department, and unit leaders across the university on all academic human resources-related functions for 5,700 faculty, academic staff, and executive management. Prior to coming to MSU, she worked at the University of Michigan as the Associate Director of Academic Human Resources. Melissa holds a B.A. in English and Communications from Western Michigan University and an M.A. Degree in Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education from Michigan State University.