NSF ADVANCE Institutional Transformation (Catalyst) grant at SUNY Oswego

In Fall 2010, the State University of New York at Oswego was awarded a two-year National Science Foundation ADVANCE Institutional Transformation Catalyst grant that will help the college to initiate a series of activities to further the hiring, retention, and promotion of women in STEM disciplines on the campus. Through this initiative, SUNY Oswego hopes to further its goal of commitment to diversity and equity, and the advancement of careers of all faculty on campus.

The institution is perfectly poised to move in this direction. Along with a history of hiring and nurturing female faculty, the administration of the institution is heavily committed to the success of women and people from underrepresented groups in STEM areas. There is also widespread support for this undertaking among the faculty and staff in the STEM disciplines. 

The ADVANCE IT - Catalyst project has three main objectives:

1. to undertake a data collection process that supplies both quantitative and qualitative information to better understand the present status of women STEM faculty and to determine any barriers to employment, retention and promotion;
2. to investigate best practices at institutions similar to ours that have resulted in the participation and advancement of women in STEM areas, especially those that have had IT grants in the past, or have them presently, and; 
3. through the presentation and publication of data and other research. And through the development of programs, workshops, and symposia, to lay the groundwork for institutional transformation that will result in more women facultyin STEM fields, particularly at the associate and full professor levels.