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Fostering campus culture and creating professional development opportunitiesÌýfor full-time faculty

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This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under grant numbers 1937035 (Catalyst) and 2204125 (Adaptation)Ìý

ADVANCE AU's Adaptation grant has three distinct initiatives:Ìý

Ìý1) support faculty research and scholarship, with a particular focus on STEM; Ìý

Ìý2) improve campus climate by clarifying and executing new tenure promotion policies that integrate public impact, interdisciplinary collaboration, and inclusive practices in evaluations;

Ìý3) increase faculty members’ feelings of belongingness by providing professional development and mentoring, particularly those in STEM fields.

Current ADVANCE AU Activities:

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Term and Continuing Appointment Faculty Forum (February 20, 2025):

Pathways to Thriving for Term and Continuing Appointment Faculty will take place on February 20, 2025 from 1-5pm on AU’s campus. The objective is to celebrate and showcase Term and Continuing Appointment faculty achievements, initiatives, and contributions to AU.ÌýÌý

The goals are to highlight strategies and pathways to thriving for term and continuing appointment faculty and provide opportunities for all faculty to connect with one another and learn about each other’s work. The afternoon will feature panels focused on three key areas: research and scholarship, currency in the field, and leadership through service. Registration information to come!Ìý

Faculty Peer Mentoring Cohorts:

For the second year, ADVANCE AU is sponsoring three faculty peer mentorship cohorts to provide full-time faculty with access and professional support from colleagues across academic units along with guidance from administration leaders. This year there are three cohorts: tenured associate professors, term and continuing appointment faculty at any rank, and term and continuing appointment faculty who are research active. Each cohort is led by an experienced leader(s) who convene the groups and work with them on their mentoring and professional development needs. This year’s faculty peer mentorship cohorts were launched with an intensive retreat at Airlie, VA.

Career Development Mini-Grants:

For the second year, ADVANCE AU is also funding career development mini-grants available to all full-time STEM faculty. These grants will fund faculty research, scholarship, and networking with an emphasis on expanding career pathways in STEM. These grants will fund a variety of projects such as field work, lab supplies, publishing costs, and conference presentations. Ìý

The ADVANCE Catalyst project (20-22) was an intentional, inclusive and intersectional assessment of university full-time faculty, including the structures, policies and procedures that impede faculty retention in STEM fields. NSF’s broad definition of STEM includes physical sciences, life sciences and social and behavioral sciences.Ìý

The Catalyst project documented the institutional barriers full-time faculty of different backgrounds face at medium-sized, urban, private research universities. The need for this data was highlighted in AU’s Catalyst proposal. As a result, nine focus groups with a combined total of 36 faculty were conducted to fill this important informational void. Ìý

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