The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) is a highly selective, primarily undergraduate institution (PUI) that will implement an ADVANCE PAID project on its campus. This project will focus on several important initiatives that will advance the careers of women faculty, while highlighting mechanisms that can be useful with alternative tenure and promotion structures.
Intellectual Merit. This project is comprised of four distinct initiatives: 1) the Mentorship Initiative, which will enable female faculty to develop a circle of mentors, comprised of individuals inside and outside of TCNJ; 2) the Professional Development Initiative, which is grounded in the adaptation of Hunter College's highly successful workshop series targeted towards both new and existing faculty; 3) the Family Initiative, consisting of a work climate survey and the formation of an ad-hoc college-wide committee that will culminate in the drafting of specific recommendations for providing flexibility in a faculty member's teaching load as well as other family-friendly policies; and 4) the Equity Assessment Initiative that will consist of a thorough assessment of gender equity at TCNJ through the collection and tracking of faculty data, work climate surveys, and qualitative interviews of full and associate professors in NSF supported disciplines.
Broader Impacts. This program provides an opportunity to replicate successful programs initiated by Hunter College (one of the few teaching-intensive institutions with successful ADVANCE programs and a partner in developing TCNJ's initiatives) and an adaptation of programs from research institutions in a PUI context. The results of this program will serve as a template for other PUIs seeking to remedy gender inequalities at their own institutions.
