Faculty preparing grant proposals have saught to describe ADVANCE as part of the campus infrastructure. The text below can serve as a starting point describing the location of ADVANCE within the University infrastructure, the impact of ADVANCE at Lehigh, and the types of professional development support frequently requested. Please give sufficient time to engage in brainstorming the partnership and contribution of ADVANCE or prepare letters of support, or to identify the latest statistics.
The Lehigh University ADVANCE Center for Women STEM Faculty is based in the Office of the Provost continuing the NSF grant-funded mission of attracting, retaining, and advancing women in STEM faculty positions. ADVANCE directly engages STEM women faculty by building and sustaining social, intellectual, and cultural capital networks across our campus. ADVANCE is visible across the broader faculty community across disciplines, all genders and all administrative roles for ongoing professional & leadership development, practice, and policy change. ADVANCE routinely designs, convenes, and assesses programs and workshops to support impactful and meaningful diversity and inclusion efforts across campus, especially in STEM. The ADVANCE Center draws upon past collaborative programs (often with on campus partners including the Center for Innovation, Teaching and Learning, and the Centers of the Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Equity, the Office of Research, the Faculty Senate, Department Chairs, and Colleges) and well-documented best practices from the National Academies, ACE reports and other scholars, to make recommendations or tailor professional development tools or modules on the following topics: faculty hiring; inclusive teaching principles; mentoring [including the interdisciplinary new faculty networking program reaching ~75% of new faculty; delivery of CIMER workshop series, interdisciplinary mentoring best practices; leading an inclusive research team culture; mentoring across identity differences, being an advocate and sponsor for mentees; using individual development plans with your faculty or research team; setting expectations; giving feedback;], change leadership; understanding unconscious biases, power, privilege and microaggressions; speaking up to and interrupting bias. ADVANCE is also a hub for writing retreats and our institutional membership in NCFDD. Lehigh is a five-time consecutive HEED Insight to Diversity Award recipient, in part because of the impact of several ADVANCE initiatives. ADVANCE has a successful track record of increasing gender diversity in STEM, regularizing training and accountability in faculty recruitment preparation and outreach plans, the candidate interview experience, faculty onboarding; creating supports for new and mid-career faculty. The University Diversity, Inclusion and Equity Plan 2021-2026 adopted the indicators of progress recommended by ADVANCE. Recommendations arising from ADVANCE’s coordinated engagement in the APLU ASPIRE IChange initiative informs changes to policy and practice on promotion and tenure equity considerations. ADVANCE hosts the new Advancing Future Faculty Diversity Postdoctoral Program. Additionally ADVANCE, with a commitment to intersectionality, is a convener suitable for (co)hosting fora to develop new frameworks and approaches to leveraging subject matter expertise to continue the work of making STEM (and Lehigh) culture more inclusive and equitable so a diverse faculty can thrive.
