ADVANCE Program Goal

The goal of the National Science Foundation funded ADVANCE Program at UMBC is to profoundly change policies and practices affecting the recruitment, selection, promotion, and transition of women faculty in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields at UMBC so that women will be represented in all departments, will advance into leadership positions, and will reflect the diversity of UMBC’s student body.

Purpose of the ADVANCE Research Assistantship Program

The ADVANCE Research Assistantship (RA) Program for candidates who are being offered tenure-track faculty positions at UMBC will provide support for new women faculty being hired in the STEM fields.   In providing the RA award, ADVANCE is providing additional benefits to:

• Assist the chair in successfully recruiting the candidate.
• Ensure that the new faculty member will have resources necessary to establish a successful research program.

Application Process

The chair of the hiring department will provide a letter of support for the newly hired faculty member, which should include the chair’s commitment to:

• Initiate a Faculty Development Plan.
• Identify a UMBC faculty/peer mentor.

Please submit the letter along with a copy of the faculty candidate’s CV to the ADVANCE Program Director so the faculty candidate can be considered for the award.

Benefits

The ADVANCE RA Program will award up to eight RA positions per year. Typically, no more than three ADVANCE RA Positions will be awarded to newly hired faculty through the Chairs nomination in any given year.   Each individual award will support one full-time RA position, preferably a Ph.D. student, to support the research activities of the faculty member for 12 months beginning at the start of the academic year.   The RA will include:

• Salary support for the graduate student compatible with departmental stipends.
• Tuition remission for up to 10 credits.
• UMBC health insurance.

Awards are not renewable.

Selection

A subcommittee of the ADVANCE Executive Committee will select awardees based upon the department’s track record with hiring and advancing women faculty and the need within the department to increase faculty diversity. The chair must have written approval from the ADVANCE Selection Committee prior to offering this RA position to the new faculty candidate.

Reporting

By the end of the award period, the chair will provide the ADVANCE Program with a copy of the Faculty Development Plan and the name of the UMBC faculty mentor for the newly hired faculty member.

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