UAB/TU FIRST Evaluation Core

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The overall goal of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)/Tuskegee University (TU) Faculty Institutional Recruitment for Sustainable Transformation (FIRST) Partnership is to capitalize on the complementary strengths of both partners to create systemic and sustainable cultural change to further support inclusive excellence at both institutions. The goal of the Evaluation Core is to clearly and objectively demonstrate the impact and effectiveness of UAB/TU FIRST Partnership activities as well as collaborate with the FIRST Coordination and Evaluation Center (CEC) and other funded grantees to identify and harmonize a set of common data elements informing the transformation of “culture at NIH-funded extramural institutions by building self-reinforcing community of scientist committed to diversity and inclusive excellence.” Given the complexity of this initiative, the evaluation will be conducted by two Co-Leads with extensive experience in the evaluation of large collaborative initiatives. They will bring this history and a successful integrated approach to assess achievement of programmatic goals. The specific aims of the Evaluation Core are: 1) to conduct ongoing process evaluations to track the UAB/TU FIRST Partnership activities; 2) to conduct impact and outcome evaluations to assure that the immediate and long-term goals and specific aims of the UAB/TU FIRST Partnership are being met and to test whether the program achieves significant improvements in metrics of institutional culture and diversity; and 3) to collaborate with the FIRST CEC and other funded grantees to identify metrics, harmonize a set of common data elements, and provide data for evaluation of the FIRST Cohort program. The UAB/TU FIRST Partnership will utilize the Logic Model and its inputs, outputs and outcomes to assess progress. For our program, steps of the Logic Model translate into the following chain of activities: 1) strengthening of the existing collaborative UAB/TU relationships; 2) strengthening the institutional climate of diversity and inclusive excellence at both institutions; 3) implementation of practices and policies that support sustainable cultural change, including the establishment of an Office of Integrated Research Support and Research Navigators; 4) recruitment of clusters of Benjamin-Carver Scientists who are committed to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion; 5) provision of support for Benjamin-Carver Scientists; 6) development of a plan for sustainability of the program; 7) decreasing isolation, increasing community building, and fostering development of new faculty, which, in turn, will lead to: 8) faculty retention; 9) an increase in productivity in terms scholarly activities (grants and publications); 10) an increase in collaboration (e.g., development of new multi-PI investigations, cluster faculty engaging non-cluster faculty, collaborations with communities); and ultimately, 11) an increase in impact through the establishment of an effective model of systemic and sustainable cultural change that can serve as a model for all of UAB, TU, and other universities.