Apply to the President's STEM Mentoring Academy

The President's STEM Mentoring Academy has been designed to support faculty who are mentoring STEM undergraduate students, especially those from underrepresented groups. It will provide resources on how to multiply the success among your mentees. It is designed to bring STEM faculty together in a collaborative environment to support professional and personal growth, and membership is a formal way of acknowledging and promoting the significant research-based service that faculty provide as mentors of STEM majors at Texas Tech University.

Although the President's STEM Mentoring Academy is hosted by Texas Tech University, it is available to faculty who are part of the BAT-LSAMP team. The Bridges Across Texas - Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (BAT LSAMP) is a partnership of Texas Tech University, The University of North Texas at Dallas, Dallas College - El Centro Campus, South Plains College, and Texas Southmost College. The LSAMP program is a National Science Foundation program designed to foster achievement in minority students seeking degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The program's overall goal is to assist institutions of higher learning in developing the STEM workforce by increasing the number of STEM baccalaureate and graduate degrees awarded to populations historically underrepresented in these disciplines.

What do faculty gain from PSMA?

As a STEM faculty member, you know that mentoring students in the discovery process helps cultivate the next generation of scientists. Mentoring means more than simply teaching a student how to collect and analyze data. When you accept a student to work with you on research, you also mentor them in the culture of science, professionalism, and life. Mentorship of underrepresented and marginalized STEM students poses unique challenges that faculty may need to gain knowledge of to help create paths forward towards holistic success in their mentees. 

In the President's STEM Mentoring Academy (PSMA), you will develop your skills as a mentor outside your role of teaching students how to “do science.” This professional development will require time, self-reflection, and honest feedback. In addition, you will learn about challenges faced by underrepresented and marginalized students, how to create strategies for promoting the growth and success of your students, and gain experience and confidence as a better mentor.

Event Dates of the President's STEM Mentoring Academy

We will host 7 three-hour evening working sessions throughout the academic year (two are virtual) that members are expected to attend. There will be three in the fall, and four in the spring, along with a banquet in April. Please note, if you are accepted to PSMA, you are expected to be present at ALL dates and times (pending an emergency). The dates for the 2023 - 2024 academic year as as follows:

• Monday, September 18: 2 - 5 PM - Virtual Meeting
• Monday, October 23: 2- 5 PM
• Monday, November 13: 2 - 5 PM
• Monday, January 29: 2 - 5 PM - Virtual Meeting
• Monday, February 12: 2 - 5 PM
• Monday, March 4: 2 - 5 PM
• Monday, April 22: 2 - 5 PM - Virtual Meeting
• Banquet in April: Date TBA

Session Information

Each session will include designated work time within each PD session

● Workshops on mentoring, and culturally responsive teaching and mentoring

● Workshops and activities for faculty to unpack their practices that support engagement, motivation, and STEM program success for students

● Practices focused on equity for building relationships with students, faculty, and staff

● 1:1 and small group time to build a personalized mentoring plan

● STEM Content analyses of mentoring plans (incorporate culturally responsive teaching and racial equity into mentoring plans)

● Pedagogical analyses of how faculty are enacting their mentoring plan

Session 1: October: Observations/needs assessment (virtual)

Session 2: November: Mentoring Framework + culturally responsive teaching (FTF)

Session 3: December: Understanding your students + motivation + engagement = success (FTF)

Session 4: January: Mentoring plan check in / Pulse Check (Virtual)

Session 5: Februrary: To Be Determined (FTF)

Session 6: March: Revisit the Mentoring Framework to move forward (FTF)

Session 7: April: Post assessment, data collection from faculty and students (virtual)

2023- 2024 Facilitator : Tehia Starker Glass

Dr. Tehia Starker Glass (pronounced Tee-uh; pronouns: she/her/hers) is the Cato College of Education Assistant Dean of Diversity and Inclusion, the Inclusive Excellence Executive Fellow for Faculty Development for the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, and an award-winning Professor of Elementary Education and Educational Psychology in the Department of Reading and Elementary Education at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She is a proud alum of Bethune-Cookman University where she earned a B.S. in Elementary Education, an M.A. in Educational Technology from the University of Northern Iowa, and her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She was a Student Experience Research Network fellow, therefore she used her research and expertise to inform education policy.

Dr. Glass' passion resides in ensuring that all marginalized students have successful schooling experiences. Her research and publications include preparing preservice and in-service teachers' culturally responsive teaching self-efficacy, culturally responsive teaching in teacher education, anti-racism curriculum development, connecting educational psychology and race together, and exploring how caregivers and teachers discuss race with children. Dr. Glass is a former elementary school teacher who now consults nationally with teachers, schools, districts, and organizations to revise their instruction and curriculum to be more anti-racism oriented. Dr. Glass is a TED speaker (Conversations that Cultivate Seeds of Curiosity), co-author of the book Teaching for Justice and Belonging – A Journey for Educators and Parents, and has contributed to Educationweek and CNN. Dr. Glass is an Educational Advisor and Certified Trainer with Brownicity: Many Hues, One Humanity and co-created the five lesson B. Kids series on racial literacy. She co-founded and is the co-director of the 100% online, award-winning Anti-Racism Graduate Certificate Program at UNC Charlotte.

Apply to the President's STEM Mentoring Academy

Questions?

If you have questions, please contact Nancy McIntyre at nancy.mcintyre@ttu.edu. 

This program is funded through the generous support of President Lawrence Schovanec. It is in collaboration with the National Science Foundation, Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation, Award # 2110048.