The Colleges of Engineering and Departments of Chemistry at five large state universities in Florida will join together to form the Alliance for the Advancement of Florida's Academic Women in Chemistry and Engineering (AAFAWCE). The University of South Florida is the lead institution with four partners: Florida State University, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), University of Florida, and Florida International University (FIU). The project will modify and adapt successful programs developed by previous ADVANCE projects focusing on the Colleges of Engineering and Departments of Chemistry at the partner institutions. The project will implement strategies for; 1) recruiting women in academic searches based on work developed at the University of Wisconsin, Madison; 2) transforming careers via leadership COACh workshops developed at the University of Oregon; and 3) advising and mentoring academic women at the assistant and associate levels based on work developed by the University of Texas-El Paso. In addition, the project will adapt and implement a faculty climate survey within all of the participating departments which was first developed by the Women in Science and Engineering Leadership Institute (WESLI) at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. The survey will be used to identify issues for faculty related to recruitment, mentoring, and the tenure process.
Intellectual Merit: The project will adapt previously developed strategies to a state-wide consortium of universities in Florida. The collaboration between the five institutions is important given the low numbers of female faculty in engineering and chemistry within these institutions. Faculty in each of the participating campuses' engineering and chemistry programs will participate in recruitment workshops along side department chairs, deans and other administrators. Faculty will have an opportunity to participate in the COACh workshop on advancing one's career and engage in a mentoring and advising program.
Broader Impacts: The project provides opportunities for female faculty at all ranks to engage in activities with others in their discipline areas from other Florida campuses as well as on their own campus. The collaboration includes two Minority-Serving Institutions; FAMU which is a Historically Black University and FIU which is a Hispanic-Serving Institution. This network will provide support for the faculty as they progress in their academic careers. The project will post videos of the workshops and other materials on the Global Educational Outreach web portal. In addition, the project team expects to publish a monograph with chapters by the project team on the objectives and activities of the program as well as by the participants in the alliance activities.
