ADVANCE Institutional Transformation Award: The University of Maryland Eastern Shore ADVANCE Program

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The goal of the UMES ADVANCE Program is to make major changes at the University which will increase the number of women in STEM disciplines, help women within these disciplines earn promotion, gain tenure, transition to leadership roles and reduce isolation within their departments. The three objectives are to: Increase the percentage of tenured women faculty in the STEM disciplines at UMES from 9% to 21% by enhancing the academic infrastructure at UMES to promote career advancement for women faculty in STEM disciplines. Change administrative policies and procedures at UMES and add new administrative programs topromote career advancement for women faculty in STEM disciplines. Develop the UMES ADVANCE Women's Center which will utilize a holistic approach toward women faculty career development.There are many barriers and obstacles that must be overcome by women in academia especially minoritywomen, and this is most pronounced in the STEM disciplines. Through institutional transformation, andorganizational commitment, the UMES ADVANCE program will remove these barriers by developing methods and broadening the knowledge base to address the under-representation of minority women in STEM disciplines. The program will introduce both novel strategies and modified existing approaches outlined by organizations such as the Association of Women in Science and other ADVANCE programs. Such activities will increase opportunities that will address women's development, advancement and increased productivity by focusing on a combination of activities including sabbatical leave for UMES women faculty in the STEM disciplines, establishment of a joint UMES/UMBC ADVANCE Academic Exchange Program, revision of the UMES leave policy for dependent care, establishment of an Administrative Fellowship Program, revision of tenure and promotions criteria in the STEMdisciplines to reflect a broader definition of scholarship and development of the UMES ADVANCE Women's Center using a holistic approach.The goal of the UMES ADVANCE Program is to make major changes at the University which willincrease the number of women in STEM disciplines, help women within these disciplines earn promotion, gain tenure, transition to leadership roles and reduce isolation within their departments. As such, UMES will serve as a model for developing academic and administrative infrastructure for promoting the advancement of women careers.While the UMES ADVANCE Program will address the needs of women in STEM disciplines, it will also provide the much needed expansion of the research on underrepresented minority women in STEM disciplines at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Since a major activity of the UMES ADVANCE Program is to convene a conference on underrepresented minority women in STEM disciplines, a wide audience of stakeholders will benefit from the circulation of the proceedings of the conference.