The PROMISE Engineering Institute

University Of California-Davis, Davis CA

Investigators

Abstract

<p><p>The objective of the DEI PROMISE Engineering Institute (PEI) is to improve the diversity of engineering faculty nationwide by building an east-west alliance between the University California, Davis (UC Davis) and the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), along with their networks of engineering schools within their respective regions. The effort&#39;s uniqueness lies with its plan to facilitate faculty diversity by actively leveraging partnerships to provide underrepresented early-career and future engineering professors with intentional professional national and international networks. These networks are designed to increase participants&#39; exposure within the engineering community, retain them in the academy, and propel research collaborations particularly related to the National Academy of Engineering&#39;s Grand Challenges, and strengthen engineering identity and cultural competencies within engineering&#39;s national landscape. The project involves advanced graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, visiting professors, and assistant professors from each of involved engineering schools and colleges: The College of Engineering at University of California, Davis (UC Davis); The College of Engineering & IT at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), The Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland College Park (UMCP), The Whiting School of Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, and the Clarence M. Mitchell School of Engineering at Morgan State University.</p><br/> <p>The project will engage in three activities: 1) Training: Participants will receive professional development and training for collaboration through participation in national and international efforts that will assist with providing them with a global network, key for the engineering disciplines. Further, the training portion will provide scholars with comprehensive research and pedagogical skills. 2) Placement: The involved institutions will collaborate to develop new opportunities to attract diverse scholars such as post-doc to tenure-track conversion models, and collaborative industry-based visiting professorships. 3) Support: The project will facilitate transitional support for new postdocs and assistant professors by bringing together current engineering faculty mentors within departments where scholars are placed, to discuss and develop strong support mechanisms that will facilitate retention. The project will also build communities of practice among the participating scholars that will assist with preparing for roles as engineering faculty. This portion of the project is designed to facilitate collaborative networks of engineering faculty from all races and ranks that connect within and across the United States.</p>