ADVANCE Partnership: Appalachian Colleges Association

阿巴拉契亚大学协会(ACA)将领导一个高级合作伙伴项目，以应对招聘和留住STEM教师的重大挑战，特别是在阿巴拉契亚地区的小型农村机构。该项目旨在促进变革性的制度变革，以支持教师。虽然已经做出了一些努力来解决这些问题，但在实现所有教职员工的公平方面仍然存在差距。该项目旨在通过提供专业发展计划、同行指导和针对小型农村机构的独特需求定制的学术领导力培训来解决这一差距。该项目将帮助参与机构为所有STEM教职员工创造公平和欢迎的工作环境。该项目将导致机构政策和程序的系统性变化，创造一种重视该国各种可用观点的文化，并确保所有教职员工公平地获得机会和资源。该项目将成为阿巴拉契亚地区STEM教育变革的催化剂。该项目的目标是加强STEM教师职位中代表性不足的教职员工的留任和职业发展轨迹，并促进机构政策和程序的系统性变化。为了实现这些目标，该项目将以积累的关于公平和欢迎学术工作场所的有效做法的证据为基础，实施一种多方面的方法。将为招聘委员会和学术管理人员举办学术领导力研讨会，以改进招聘、晋升、终身教职和评估程序。该项目将使用协作方法，将教职员工和管理人员团队聚集在一起，参加共享的治理研讨会。这些讲习班将促进审查和修订政策和程序，使之与机构目标保持一致。通过解决小型农村机构STEM教师职业生涯中的平等障碍，该项目将通过创造一个更具包容性和支持性的学术环境来推动该领域的发展，使教师和学生都受益。NSF高级计划旨在通过专注于识别和消除阻碍不同教师充分参与和提升学术机构的组织障碍来促进性别平等。阻碍公平的组织障碍可能存在于政策、流程、实践以及组织文化和氛围中。先进的“伙伴关系”奖为更广泛的适应和采用循证战略提供支持，以改善所有教师的学术工作场所。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The Appalachian College Association (ACA) will lead an ADVANCE Partnership project to address the significant challenge of hiring and retaining STEM faculty, particularly at small rural institutions in the Appalachian region. This project aims to facilitate transformative institutional changes to support faculty. While there have been some efforts to address these issues, there remain gaps in achieving fairness for all faculty. This project aims to address this gap by offering professional development programs, peer mentoring, and academic leadership training tailored to the unique needs of small rural institutions. The project will help participating institutions create workplace environments that are fair and welcoming for all STEM faculty. The project will lead to systemic changes in institutional policies and procedures, creating a culture that values the full range of perspectives available in the country and ensures fair access to opportunities and resources for all faculty members. This project will serve as a catalyst for transformative change in STEM education in the Appalachian region.The goals of the project are to enhance the retention and career trajectories of faculty members that are underrepresented in STEM faculty positions and promote systemic changes in institutional policies and procedures. To achieve these aims, the project will implement a multifaceted approach grounded in the accumulated evidence about effective practices for fair and welcoming academic workplaces. Academic leadership workshops will be conducted for search committees and academic administrators to improve the hiring, promotion, tenure, and evaluation processes. The project will use a collaborative approach, bringing together teams of faculty and administrators to participate in shared governance workshops. These workshops will facilitate the review and revision of policies and procedures to align with institutional goals. By addressing the barriers to equity in STEM faculty careers at small rural institutions, this project will advance the field by creating a more inclusive and supportive academic environment that benefits both faculty and students.The NSF ADVANCE program is designed to foster gender equity through a focus on the identification and elimination of organizational barriers that impede the full participation and advancement of diverse faculty in academic institutions. Organizational barriers that inhibit equity may exist in policies, processes, practices, and the organizational culture and climate. ADVANCE "Partnership" awards provide support for the broader adaptation and adoption of evidence-based strategies that improve academic workplaces for all faculty.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.