ADVANCE Institutional Transformation Award: An Initiative for Transforming Climate and Opportunities to Foster Academic Diversity

得克萨斯大学埃尔帕索分校(UTEP)提议实施一项机构改革倡议，目的是为那些希望提高妇女在学术、科学和工程职业中的代表性和地位的其他机构树立榜样。由于其有才华的教员和以西班牙裔为主的学生人口，UTEP是创建、实施和记录相互关联的过程的理想场所，以实现学术队伍的多样化，并为在学术环境中创造积极和可持续的变化的国家目标做出贡献。为了增加终身教职和终身教职职位中女性教员的总数，特别是来自代表人数不足的群体的女教员，UTEP将建立一个包含三个综合和相互支持的组成部分的倡议：1)政策和招聘程序，制定教师支持和保留政策，支持招聘努力，并提供研究支持；2)教师发展程序，扩大现有的女性教员指导计划，推出一系列研讨会，帮助教员制定职业成功计划，并促进终身教员和终身教职教员之间的协同作用；3)协作领导流程，与各部门合作，通过评估部门氛围和分享鼓励多样性和促进领导力的最佳实践，消除招聘、留住和提升女性教师的障碍。为了维持这些组成部分并不断改进程序，机构行动委员会将发起和确定改革政策，并就赠款倡议提供咨询意见。一个多方面的评价过程将包括形成性和总结性自我评估以及外部咨询委员会的审查。这一创新的结构将各级教职员工和管理人员之间的流程、关系和多条沟通渠道编织在一起。五位共同绩效指标为该倡议带来了广泛的领导力和联盟建设经验：伊夫林·波西博士是负责学术事务的副校长，伊丽莎白·安东尼博士是前学院参议院主席，蒂娜·赖默斯博士是有效教学中心的联席主任，安·盖茨博士是计算机科学系副院长兼总统多样性咨询委员会主席，帕特里夏·威瑟斯彭博士是传播系主任和萨姆·唐纳森传播研究中心主任。通过对该倡议的实施、记录和持续评估，UTEP将有助于更好地理解如何创造能够带来更大多样性的协作环境。该倡议的学术价值在于其综合结构的广度，涉及大学行政以及个人、部门、学院和机构各级的改革推动者联盟。在这一过程中，“基层”决策者推动制度变革。该计划旨在促进对教师生活的整体看法，解决教师职业生涯从进入学院到晋升到领导职位的不同阶段，并为每个阶段培养教师。该倡议旨在产生广泛影响。这是一系列的过程，包括各级教员的参与以及机构最高层的个人参与。它建立在大学结构和相互关联的过程的知识基础上，这些知识可以很容易地适应整个德克萨斯大学系统和全国各地的大学。

The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) proposes to implement an Initiative for Institutional Change with the goal to serve as a model for other institutions that desire to increase the representation and advancement of women, including underrepresented minorities, in academic science and engineering careers. Because of its talented faculty and Hispanic-majority student population, UTEP is the ideal setting to create, implement, and document interrelated processes for diversifying the academic workforce and contributing to the national goal of creating positive and sustainable change in academic climates. To increase the total number of female faculty, in particular those from underrepresented groups, in tenure-track and tenured positions, UTEP will establish an Initiative with three integrated and mutually supportive components: 1) a policy and recruitment process that formulates faculty support and retention policies, supports recruitment efforts, and provides research support; 2) a faculty development process that expands an existing faculty mentoring program for women, introduces a seminar series to help faculty develop plans for career success, and fosters synergy between tenured and tenure-track faculty; 3) a collaborative leadership process that works with departments to remove barriers to recruitment, retention, and advancement of women faculty by assessing departmental climates and sharing best practices that encourage diversity and promote leadership. To sustain the components and provide for continuous refinement of processes, an Institutional Action Board will initiate and define change policies and offer advice on grant initiatives. A multi-faceted evaluation process will include both formative and summative self-assessments and review by an external Advisory Board. This innovative structure weaves together processes, relationships, and multiple lines of communication among all ranks of faculty and administration.The five co-PIs bring broad leadership and coalition-building experience to the Initiative: Dr. Evelyn Posey is Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Elizabeth Anthony is the past President of the Faculty Senate, Dr. Tine Reimers is Co-Director of the Center for Effective Teaching and Learning, Dr. Ann Gates is Associate Chair of the Computer Science Department and Chair of the President's Advisory Committee on Diversity, and Dr. Patricia Witherspoon is Chair of the Department of Communication and Director of the Sam Donaldson Center for Communication Studies. Through implementation, documentation, and on-going assessment of the Initiative, UTEP will contribute to a better understanding of how to create collaborative climates that result in greater diversity. The intellectual merit of the Initiative is the breadth of its integrative structure, involving university administration as well as coalitions of change agents at the individual, departmental, college, and institutional levels. In this process, decision makers at the "grass roots" drive institutional change. The Initiative is designed to promote a holistic view of faculty life, address the different stages of faculty careers from entrance into the academe to advancement to leadership positions, and to develop faculty for each of these stages. The Initiative is designed for broad impact. It is a series of processes that includes involvement of all ranks of faculty as well as participation by individuals at the highest level of the institution. It is built with knowledge of universities' structures and interrelated processes that can be easily adapted to universities throughout the UT System and those around the country.