NSF Award
1936141
An NSF ADVANCE Adaptation grant will support the creation of a supportive campus community for STEM faculty at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE). SIUE is a doctoral and professional university with over 13,000 students. The project will implement three components: recruitment and hiring: Progressive Recruitment Initiatives Mark Excellence (PRIME); improving departmental climate and support for female faculty Keeping Educators through Equity Programming (KEEP); and mitigating bias in the tenure and promotion review processes University Promotion (UP). This project builds on work from a previous ADVANCE IT-Catalyst grant which resulted in some changes at SIUE such as stop the tenure clock and family leave policies. This project will target persistent issues with climate and culture at SIUE. <br/><br/>SIUE will implement projects to enable search committees to conduct better searches with equity advisors, create an advocates and allies program, create dean and department chair toolkits and implement equity scorecards, train tenure and promotion committees on un-conscious bias, coordinate with dual career staff, and create leadership opportunities for STEM faculty. The Adaptation project aligns with and supports the institutional strategic plan and mission of the institution. SIUE anticipates that the ADVANCE Adaptation project will result in changes in the culture and climate of the organization which will enhance the recruitment, retention, promotion and success of all STEM faculty.<br/><br/>The NSF ADVANCE program is designed to foster gender equity through a focus on the identification and elimination of organizational barriers that impede the full participation and advancement of diverse faculty in academic institutions. Organizational barriers that inhibit equity may exist in policies, processes, practices, and the organizational culture and climate. ADVANCE "Adaptation" awards provide support for the adaptation and adoption of evidence-based strategies to academic, non-profit institution of higher education as well as non-academic, non-profit organizations.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
