Texas Tech University

About ADVANCE

 

The NSF ADVANCE program is designed to foster gender equity through a focus on the identification and elimination of organizational barriers that prevent the full participation and advancement of diverse faculty in academic institutions. Barriers that inhibit equity may exist in policies, processes, practices, and the organizational culture and climate. ADVANCE "Adaptation" awards provide support for the adaptation and adoption of evidence-based strategies.

TTU's Adaptation project, “Advancing Equity through Systemic Strategies to Improve Leadership, Departmental Collegiality, and Data Transparency at Texas Tech University,” will address gender, race, and ethnicity systemic issues at the institution. Through results from the COACHE faculty satisfaction survey implemented in 2017 and 2019 by the Harvard Graduate School of Education as well as self-study, TTU has identified three challenges to equity for faculty:

  1. Need for department chair leadership development;
  2. Dissatisfaction with department collegiality in STEM departments; and
  3. Lack of organizational infrastructure and professional development opportunities to support faculty success.

The strategies to address these organizational challenges are directed at institutional learning to ensure change occurs that eliminates the barriers that historically have affected faculty, with specific focus on the experiences of faculty based on intersections of gender, race, ethnicity, sexual identity, employment status, and disability. The strategies to be implemented include:

  • Training and mentoring of department chairs;
  • Development of a data dashboard system to support informed decision making;
  • Review and revision of operational policies that impact faculty work;
  • Creation of practices to ensure transparency about faculty workloads;
  • Establishment of “Faculty Equity Advocate” role (faculty representative whose role is to ensure equitable and fair practices in faculty work life) in STEM colleges; and
  • Establishment of both a Faculty Success Center and Faculty Resource Network that supports faculty professional development and offers mentoring support.

Texas Tech's goal is to become an equitable institution that continually seeks to improve its organizational culture and climate, as evidenced through its policies and practices.

The award is $976,103 for 3 years (September 1, 2020 - August 31, 2023).

 

TTU ADVANCE-ADAPT