Dear colleagues, 

As we enter the third year of the S&T ADVANCE Program, I am excited to share with you some of the program’s accomplishments and ongoing activities from 2024. The ADVANCE Program, currently funded by a $1 million grant from the NSF, has three primary goals. 

Our goals are to cultivate an inclusive climate; to mitigate bias in faculty hiring and evaluations; and to foster equitable access to resources and opportunities among faculty. 

I invite you to join our efforts to make S&T a destination of choice. Department chairs are very involved with ADVANCE initiatives, and I deeply appreciate their enthusiasm and support. Most departments have also designated an ADVANCE advocate, who participates in ADVANCE programming and assists the chair in promoting equity-based faculty initiatives. In addition, several faculty members have been involved through the ADVANCE Faculty Fellows program and the ADVANCE Department Enhancement Grant program. I invite you to join our efforts by applying to one of these programs this spring. Thanks to all of you for all you do to promote equity and inclusivity on campus.

Jessica Cundiff
Principal Investigator and Director, S&T ADVANCE Program
Associate Professor, Psychological Science

Faculty recruitment

The S&T ADVANCE Program implemented several initiatives to improve the recruitment of diverse and excellent faculty to our campus. These initiatives focused on three key areas:

Search committee training and resources

A team of faculty and staff, including Dr. Carleigh Davis, an ADVANCE Faculty Fellow, have been working to improve recruitment processes, resources and training for search committees. In the fall, we launched a 90-minute version of our workshop about best practices in faculty recruitment. This workshop will be offered twice each semester and fulfills the training requirement for search committee members.

Since May 2023, we have trained over 160 search committee members, with positive feedback: 77% of participants rated the workshop as very or extremely useful, 85% said they would recommend the workshop to others, and 88% said they planned to implement changes in their search because of the workshop, such as spending more time reviewing applicants and using the provided evaluation tools. We also offered a deep-dive workshop on developing effective evaluation rubrics. Additional workshop topics related to faculty recruitment are currently in development.

In addition to workshops, all search committee members now have access to a Canvas course that houses additional education materials (guidebook and videos) as well as tools and resources (such as templates for job ads and emails, evaluation rubrics, and suggested interview questions).
 

Dual career program

In addition to equipping search committees with best practices for inclusive and equitable searches, S&T ADVANCE has been working on strategies to attract diverse and excellent candidates to apply for and accept faculty positions. One critical area for successful faculty recruitment is dual career hiring. In April, we hosted Dana Cohen, director of faculty recruitment at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, to share strategies for leveraging dual career programs to recruit and retain top talent.

In late spring, Dr. William Schonberg, an ADVANCE Faculty Fellow, provided S&T leaders with his final report and recommendations to improve our university’s dual career program based on evidence-based best practices. ADVANCE is continuing to work with human resources, the provost’s office and S&T leaders to implement these recommendations and strategies.

 

Attracting diverse and excellent applicants

Two other ADVANCE initiatives this past year focused on broadening faculty applicant pools. Dr. Kelley Wilkerson and Dr. Catherine Johnson’s ADVANCE Faculty Fellows project identified postdoc-to-tenure-track programs as a successful strategy that could be adapted for our campus. They are pictured with Dr. Elizabeth Cummins, professor emerita of English and technical communication and Missouri S&T’s first Woman of the Year, at the 2023 Woman of the Year ceremony. Drs. Wilkerson and Johnson recently met with key decision-makers to discuss their final report and recommendations.

Additionally, the mechanical and aerospace engineering department received an ADVANCE Department Enhancement Grant to build a comprehensive database for recruiting diverse and excellent students, speakers, and faculty candidates. They will share their progress and outcomes in Spring 2025.

The S&T ADVANCE Program has been working closely with department chairs and affiliated faculty to cultivate inclusive department climates. Our activities, which include a workshop series for department chairs and advocates, distinguished lectures, department grants, and the Faculty Fellows program, came together this year to focus on four key areas for improving climate:

 

Faculty annual evaluations

In early spring, Dr. Clair Kueny, ADVANCE Faculty Fellow, facilitated a workshop for department chairs on evidence-based best practices for conducting fair and equitable faculty evaluations. Resources from the workshop, including rubric templates and instructional guides, are available on the ADVANCE website. Dr. Kueny is currently piloting the rubric development process in civil, architectural and environmental engineering as part of their Department Enhancement Grant.

Managing interpersonal and group dynamics

In May, Dr. Alice Hall, associate provost for faculty affairs at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, presented a workshop, titled “Planning and Leading Effective Faculty Retreats.” The workshop presented strategies for leading retreats that are productive, inclusive, and set the stage for a positive department climate.

In November, Dr. Steve Graham, senior consultant with Triangle Associates, presented a workshop, titled “Dealing with Difficult Conversations” to equip leaders with tools to effectively handle challenging conversations with colleagues in their departments.

Mentoring

In early fall, Dr. Stephanie Goodwin, social psychologist and president of Incluxion Works, presented a workshop, “Beyond the Dyad: Implementing Meaningful and Sustainable Faculty Mentoring Programs,” to support department chairs in creating departmental mentoring plans and programs. The workshop was followed up with an informal meeting where chairs further discussed strategies and shared resources. Additionally, supported by an ADVANCE Department Enhancement Grant, the Chemistry Department hosted a professional development workshop for faculty, graduate students, and postdocs focused on skills and strategies for combatting bias in academic settings.

Equitable workloads

In October, we hosted a distinguished speaker, Dr. Dawn Culpepper, director of the University of Maryland ADVANCE Program for Inclusive Excellence. She gave a presentation, titled “Making Faculty Workloads Fair: Understanding the Problem and Strategies to Address It.” 

Her lecture was followed by a workshop on “What Academic Leaders Can Do to Make Workloads Fair,” which presented department chairs and deans with common workload equity issues and strategies for addressing them. The Materials Science and Engineering Department received an ADVANCE Department Enhancement Grant to improve workload equity by enhancing transparency and clarity regarding distribution and assessment of service work. They will share their progress and outcomes with the campus community at the conclusion of their grant in Spring 2026.

Professional development opportunities for faculty

The S&T ADVANCE Program supported several opportunities for faculty to engage in professional development. In early spring, Dr. Sharon Walker, dean of engineering at Drexel University and executive director of the ELATES Leadership Program, presented a workshop for mid-career faculty, titled “Charting Your Course: Designing Your Academic and Professional Life with Intention.”

In the fall, we co-sponsored an informational session about applying for sabbatical leave. We also continued offering a mentoring circle for recently tenured faculty. The group meets six times over the academic year and provides guidance and a support network for faculty to strategize their next career steps as they move toward promotion to full professor. Invitations to participate in next year’s mentoring circle will come out this summer, so please be sure to sign up if you are interested.

The university recently received a five-year grant from the Clare Boothe Luce Foundation, which will allow us to expand our work and offer additional resources and professional development opportunities to faculty, starting next fall.

We are currently seeking applications for ADVANCE Faculty Fellows, due Friday, March 21. Please visit the ADVANCE website for more information.

We will launch a call for Department Enhancement Grant proposals later this spring, so please be on the lookout if you are interested in applying.

If you would like to serve as an ADVANCE department advocate, please discuss your interest with your department chair. You can email advance@mst.edu for more information.

The 2024-2025 advocates are:

In addition, anyone can self-identify as an ADVANCE affiliate by simply sending an email to advance@mst.edu. Affiliates receive regular updates and invitations to ADVANCE programs.

ADVANCE Program

Missouri University of Science and Technology

Missouri S&T Rolla, MO 65409
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