| NSF Org: |
EES Div. of Equity for Excellence in STEM |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | September 10, 2012 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | December 30, 2016 |
| Award Number: | 1209115 |
| Award Instrument: | Cooperative Agreement |
| Program Manager: |
Jessie Dearo
jdearo@nsf.gov (703)292-5350 EES Div. of Equity for Excellence in STEM EDU Directorate for STEM Education |
| Start Date: | September 15, 2012 |
| End Date: | August 31, 2018 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $3,186,639.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $3,324,439.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2013 = $744,843.00 FY 2014 = $1,060,662.00 FY 2015 = $282,716.00 FY 2016 = $676,800.00 |
| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
1 LOMB MEMORIAL DR ROCHESTER NY US 14623-5603 (585)475-7987 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
1 Lomb Memorial Drive Rochester NY US 14623-5603 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): |
ADVANCE, ADVANCE, ADVANCE - INSTITUTIONAL TRANSF, CLB-Advance-IT |
| Primary Program Source: |
01001314DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01001415DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01001516DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01001617DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 04001314DB NSF Education & Human Resource 04001415DB NSF Education & Human Resource 04001516DB NSF Education & Human Resource 04001617DB NSF Education & Human Resource |
| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.076 |
ABSTRACT
The Rochester Institute of Technology ADVANCE Institutional Transformation grant seeks to improve conditions for women STEM faculty with a particular emphasis on women of color and women who are deaf and hard of hearing. Utilizing the theoretical foundation of Social Networking Behaviors, they have organized their initiatives in areas consistent with their theory. The first area, Structural, will include the analysis, modification, and clarification of policy and practice such that there is policy alignment and awareness throughout the system. The second area, Human Resources, will include professional development strategies, targeted mentoring, including mentoring specifically designed to address the unique concerns of women who are members of underrepresented groups (e.g., women of color, women who are deaf and hard or hearing), and work/life balance initiatives. The third area, Political/Strategic, will include purposeful methods to engage campus leaders in the process of institutional transformation including integration of proposed initiatives into existing campus structures and selective data-driven outreach to leader groups. The final area, Symbolic, will include broad within campus dissemination of the activities and outcomes of the initiatives as well as deliberate, high-level, and public endorsements of the ADVANCE initiatives and goals. Evaluation is thoughtfully intertwined throughout the programming allowing a robust test of the usefulness of this approach to institutional transformation. Their initiatives are also firmly rooted in their understanding of their particular institutional context which was revealed, in part, through the use of NSF ADVANCE Catalyst funds. All indications suggest that the institution is poised for the kinds of transformations sought through this grant including; strong letters of support from the administration, specific intentions to address gender equity in their most recent strategic plan, and clear integration of proposal initiatives into the existing university structures. The strength of the PI team, rigor of their social science project and well-conceived evaluation plan make the broad dissemination of their results highly probable increasing the broader impacts of the grant.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
The AdvanceRIT project (NSF ADVANCE 1209115) goal was to increase the representation, retention, and career advancement of women faculty in STEM. The project team examined the unique challenges experienced by women faculty of color and Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing faculty, and refined interventions to address the needs of these key sub-populations.
The project influenced long-term changes that will transform RIT’s culture, promote inclusion, and expand the representation of women on campus and among leadership. Program objectives were to refine and strengthen institutional structures; improve the quality of women faculty’s work life including reward structures; align systems of power and resources to support and sustain progress; and enhance the working environment using symbolic measures which emphasize issues of meaning and significance within the organization.
RIT has established a permanent ADVANCE office in Academic Affairs with a director and staff. Achievements below with an asterisk will continue through this office and other University units.
Key Project Achievements:
1) Promote Faculty Advancement and Research Success – Following Programs Institutionalized
a) Created Connect Grants* program to support career development and progression by funding faculty projects consistent with the goals of AdvanceRIT. Six rounds of grants were awarded ($300K overall with average award of $6.3K) with 49 awards supporting 91 unique faculty members. Dozens of scholarly products resulted including funding proposals, publications, short animations and films.
(b) Created Connectivity Series* program with 162 professional development events offered over the grant period. A majority of attendees each year have been women from STEM fields with growing participation from all faculty and staff. Offerings focused on unconscious bias education and workshops covered the recruitment, retention, and advancement of faculty. Over the grant period, the Connectivity Series reached a total of 904 individuals (523 women and 371 men). The tenured or pre-tenured (TT) faculty attendees represent 100% of women TT faculty (259/247) and 54% of men TT faculty (266/491). [These are estimates as the denominator is total faculty count in the final year of the grant and the numerator is an unduplicated count across all grant years.]
(c) Established mentor access initiatives and the faculty-driven creation of mentoring clusters through Mentoring Workshops*. Piloted multi-level Women Leadership Development Program utilizing external and internal facilitators and experts as well as best practice benchmarking.
(d) Addressed length-in-rank issue at the associate professor level, conducted detailed data analysis and developed white paper and initiatives, including the Promotion Package Preparation (P3) Group* workshops and program to address this long-standing issue. Over 100 faculty have participated in a P3 Workshop since 2016.
2) Recruit and Retain Top-Tier Faculty – Focus on Culture Change Efforts – Following Programs Institutionalized
To support faculty retention, we focused on culture change initiatives*. Through carefully crafted workshops, AdvanceRIT has led efforts which promote culture change towards a more inclusive and vibrant learning and work environment. This culture aligns with our university’s core values and strategic plan and will enable RIT to attract, retain, and advance top-tier faculty.
Since 2012, AdvanceRIT has hosted 39 events on enhancing and improving campus culture including: unconscious bias education workshops, bystander awareness workshops using interactive theater, and ground rule discussions. Audiences have reached 628 unique participants (62% women, 38% men) and have included campus leaders, members of RIT’s Academic Senate, promotion/tenure committees, staff, department chairs, and faculty.
Faculty retention efforts have resulted in the development of Connectivity Series for Women of Color, the successful P&T SMARTS* program designed for faculty of color with broad offerings to all faculty, the recently launched allofus@RIT* organization which hosts events which engage thoughtful campus change agents, and the successful Connectivity Series for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Women Faculty* which has been expanded to include offerings for all members of the National Technical Institute for the Deaf.
3) Policies, Practices, Structures, and Supporting Research
The project team worked closely with key administrative partners on faculty evaluation, compensation, and data analysis. The team developed an important knowledge base of topics through the creation of tip sheets and white papers reflecting relevant research, benchmarking, and faculty data.
Notable policy changes include: the complete rewrite of RIT’s tenure policy E05.0 which incorporates an automatic tenure-extension provision; conducting benchmarking research which informed expansion in 2015 of the parental leave benefits to all university members; conducting research to inform campus dialogue concerning key topics while considering work-life integration.
4) Institutional Collaboration
Several elements related to AdvanceRIT are integrated within the university’s newest Strategic Plan. The team engaged in productive collaborations resulting in new institutional practices, such as faculty exit interviews*; COACHE climate survey*; dual career program*, gender-equity salary study*; and NSF Indicator data*. The project has consistently worked towards increased transparency regarding resource allocation through the creation of the Resource Allocation Committee*.
A list of project related publications can be found at https://www.rit.edu/nsfadvance/.
Last Modified: 01/11/2019
Modified by: Margaret B Bailey
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