ADVANCE Adaptation -- AMP-UP Continuous Improvement Process to Transform Institutional Practices and Culture

Michigan Technological University, Houghton MI

Investigators

Abstract

The NSF ADVANCE program is designed to foster gender equity through a focus on the identification and elimination of organizational barriers that impede the full participation and advancement of diverse faculty in academic institutions. Organizational barriers that inhibit equity may exist in policies, processes, practices, and the organizational culture and climate. ADVANCE "Adaptation" awards provide support for the adaptation and adoption of evidence-based strategies to academic and non-academic non-profit organizations. The Michigan Tech ADVANCE Adaptation project will address three issues: 1) research credentialing disparities across multiple intersecting factors as well as unnecessarily rigid perceptions of quality (Research and Scholarship); 2) academic and research unit practices and perceptions contributing to inequities (Unit Climate); and 3) faculty partners' long-term challenges (Dual Career)). Michigan Tech will adapt evidence-based strategies to address these issues from existing and past ADVANCE institutions including the University of Michigan's STRIDE program, North Dakota State's Allies program, and Iowa State's Department Enhancement Program. In addition, Michigan Tech will incorporate management strategies from NASA (a matrix organizational approach) and the auto industry (a Lean Continuous Improvement culture) while adapting these strategies to the unique context of Michigan Tech. Michigan Tech is a STEM-dominant university nationally ranked for research and undergraduate education and is a major employer in an isolated rural setting in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. If successful, Michigan Tech ADVANCE project may be a model that can be adapted by other isolated rural universities. The Michigan Tech ADVANCE Adaptation project is called the Advanced Matrix Process for University Programs (AMP-UP). The AMP-UP project will result in a matrix structure with cross-functional teams to address change initiatives. This model helps to ensure the involvement of diverse perspectives as well as enhance organizational knowledge building and transfer within the organization. This is overlaid with the LEAN Continuous Improvement (CI) model which supports the development of a culture of improvement through reflective self-study, data gathering and analysis, and strategic interventions. The three initiative areas (Research and Scholarship, Unit Climate, and Dual Career) will be the column backbone of the AMP-UP program, featuring cross-functional teams of administrators, faculty, and staff. One of the benefits of this model is that programming is dynamic and tailored rather than static and prescriptive, thereby increasing acceptance and sustainability. The lessons learned through adapting CI to Michigan Tech will contribute to the research literature in the areas of organizational change, continuous improvement, and STEM faculty career advancement. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.