NSF ADVANCE P.A.I.D. at the University of Delaware:
RRR (Resources for Recruitment and Retention) of Women Faculty
P.I.: Michael Chajes, Dean, College of Engineering; Co-P.I.s: Pam Cook, Associate Dean of Engineering; Tom Apple, Provost; Kate Scantlebury, Professor of Chemistry
Project Director: Pam Cook; Project Manager: Heather Doty
Recruitment
The Best Practices in Recruitment workshop and
supporting materials are aimed toward departmental
search committees, with a section of particular
relevance to the committee chair. Workshop units
include:
• Building a search committee and candidate pool
(focus on active, continual recruitment)
• Case study—workshop attendees play roles in a mock
faculty meeting and discuss male and female
candidates for an open faculty position
• Introduction to cognitive shortcuts (implicit bias)
• Ensuring optimal review of applications (selection
criteria) and a fair interview process
• Closing the deal
Accompanying support material includes chapters that
parallel the workshop elements listed above, as well as
a brochure (in development).
Mentoring
UD ADVANCE: A Project for Faculty, by Faculty
ADVANCE at the University of Delaware (UD) seeks to transform
the culture for women faculty in science, technology,
engineering, and technology (STEM) fields by educating STEM
administrators and faculty in best practices for the recruitment
and retention of faculty. To this end, the ADVANCE team holds
two workshops several times each academic year:
• Faculty Recruitment: “Best Practices,” Searching for Excellence
• Faculty Mentoring: “Mentoring the Mentors”
The UD ADVANCE team consists of seventeen prominent faculty
members distributed equally from the College of Engineering
and the College of Arts and Sciences. Each workshop has four
faculty presenters, two female and two male. Using University of
Michigan (STRIDE) and University of Wisconsin (WISELI)
workshops as models, the UD ADVANCE team created the two
workshops with accompanying manuals to present to their
colleagues—faculty and administrators in STEM fields.
The Faculty Mentoring workshop is aimed toward
senior faculty members assigned to mentor tenuretrack assistant professors within their departments
through formal mentoring programs established within
the Colleges of Engineering and Arts and Sciences.
Workshop units include:
• Interactive group quiz on UD policies (stop the clock,
research leave, parental/family leave, and administered
load)
• Introduction to cognitive shortcuts (implicit bias) and
accumulation of disadvantage
• Focused group discussions on “Mentoring
Opportunities and Strategies” (results are archived in an
online Wiki available to workshop participants for
future reference)
Supporting materials include a workshop manual, a
mentoring brochure, and a mentoring website, which
includes a monthly/yearly checklist of activities for
mentors and mentees.
Faculty Mentoring at
the University of
Delaware
Excerpt from Mentor/Mentee Checklist
What distinguishes UD ADVANCE from similar programs at some
larger universities is that our workshops are created and
presented by faculty for faculty. Our team initiated this project
with a reading group to study implicit bias and how it affects
women in STEM fields before applying this education toward
creating the workshops. All but one of our team members are
from STEM departments, so we bring this education into the
departments directly, through faculty meetings and other
interactions with colleagues, as well as through the workshops.
Additionally, as a midsized institution we present fewer
workshops per academic year, leaving us the opportunity to
enrich our own education with ongoing reading, as well as lead
introductory reading groups for new ADVANCE members.
Year 1, Before Fall Semester: Mentor/mentee discuss
research and lab/computing readiness; graduate students;
and need to maximize early research productivity).
Year 1, Start of Fall Semester: Review teaching load;
expectations; support systems.
Year 1, Early in Fall Semester: Mentor and Mentee review
mentee research plan and goals, including a discussion of
proposal submission dates, mechanisms, guidelines.
Year 1, Mid-semester: Mentor and Mentee review dates
and processes for yearly evaluations; 2- and 4-year
reviews; P&T --research and external letters that will be
needed.
Year 1, End of Fall Semester: Mentor/Mentee review fall
semester (balance of research, teaching, and service;
development of a professional network and long-term
strategy).
Year 2, Middle of Spring Semester: Development of a fiveyear research plan by mentee, which mentor proactively
reviews.
Years 2, 3, 4, 5: Long- and short-term planning and
evaluation of research, teaching, and service. Preparation
for and discussion of 2-year review, 4-year review, junior
research leave, P&T preparedness.
Complete details available at:
www.engr.udel.edu/mentoring/index.html.