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NSF-ADVANCE Mission
To increase the representation and advancement
of women in academic science and engineering
careers, thereby contributing to the development
of a more diverse science and engineering
workforce.
NSF-ADVANCE Site.
The MU-ADVANCE Program Mission
To increase recruitment and retention of female
STEM faculty at Marshall through faculty
development initiatives, enhanced recruitment
efforts, and improved institutional
climate.
MU-ADVANCE Program Summary:
The Marshall University (MU) ADVANCE Program’s
goal is to empower a strong core of
administrators and female science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics (STEM) faculty to
initiate and maintain institutional climate
change, and to improve the recruitment and success
of female faculty.
The Program provides a unique setting in which
to test an important model of
faculty-administrator partnerships for
implementing change at a primarily undergraduate
institution and within the West Virginia (WV)
higher education system. The MU-ADVANCE Program
will impact STEM faculty in four of Marshall's colleges
through an integrated approach comprised of:
1) The Recruitment and Networking Initiative applies aggressive strategies to increase the
number of female STEM faculty;
2) The Faculty Development Initiative provides
several methods to help new faculty
balance and integrate teaching, service, and research
responsibilities, and also fosters collaboration
among STEM faculty; and
3) The State and Institutional Policy
Changes Initiative specifically focuses on
changing university and state policies
identified as significant barriers to the
advancement of female STEM faculty at Marshall.
Intellectual Merit: The data collection
and analysis involved in MU-ADVANCE's evaluation
of Marshall represents a creative research activity that
will contribute new knowledge relevant to
effecting a campus climate change and improving
recruitment and retention. Several methods are used to
collect data from MU faculty and administrators,
as well as from other relevant individuals and
organizations (e.g.,
local and national chapters of professional
organizations, WV Higher Education staff, as
well as other Appalachian institutions).
Research results and best practices will be
disseminated via the MU-ADVANCE website,
publications, state and regional workshops,
presentations, and through the distribution of
announcements to campus, local, and WV interest
groups. In addition, the enhanced research success
of STEM female faculty fostered by the MU-ADVANCE
Program will provide greater scientific
contribution to their respective fields.
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Broader impact: The MU-ADVANCE
Program is designed to spark
institutional transformation.
Although funded by NSF and targeted at
the STEM disciplines, the goals of the
Program, if successful, will create
institutional change that will benefit
all faculty, men and women, across
disciplines and colleges.Marshall predominantly
serves WV residents (~83%), many of whom
are first generation college students
from Appalachia. Of Marshall’s student
population, 53% of undergraduates and
69% of graduate students are female.
According to the Institute for Women’s
Policy Research, “WV women are among the
least likely to work as professionals
and managers, have the lowest levels of
educational attainment in the country,
and are much more likely to live in
poverty than women nationally.”
Therefore, increasing the number and
success of female faculty at Marshall
will provide greatly needed role models.
Overall, the MU-ADVANCE Program will
have a far-reaching impact,
strengthening the infrastructure for
integrating research and education at
Marshall and within WV. Participating
faculty will benefit from
professional development
activities, such as fellowships,
mini-grants, and grant-writing workshops. Appalachian STEM students
will benefit from interactions with
female STEM faculty, both in the classroom and in the research lab.
Faculty CoPIs will benefit
through their partnerships with MU
administrators in overseeing the
Program, while being empowered by
effecting change at Marshall.
Marshall as a whole
will benefit from the campus-wide
activities to help new faculty balance
and integrate their teaching, service, and
research, build competitive research
programs, and form interdisciplinary
collaborative networks, as well as from
best practices for improving
recruitment, retention, and campus climate.
Statewide higher education institutions
will benefit from new policies, which
are more flexible regarding family
issues and are compatible with research
productivity. Furthermore, these
policies have potential to help increase
the number of female faculty at those
institutions as well, subsequently
increasing much needed female role
models.
Increasing the number of female faculty
at Marshall will increase the number of
female professionals, thus improving the
status of women in WV. Also, as Marshall
transitions into a more
research-oriented institution, with successful, consistent externally funded
research, the transition will provide the
state of WV, and the
metropolitan area of Huntington,
desperately needed economic development
opportunities.
The Appalachian Region, as a whole, will
benefit from best practices developed by
the Program. Masters-granting colleges and
universities can use MU-ADVANCE's
successful practices and outcomes as a
model for positive change. The region
will also benefit from potential
economic impact of the local research,
and from successful female role models.
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