Conference: IEC Asset Driven Equitable Partnership (ADEP) Workshop

Inclusive Engineering Consortium, Inc., Wilmette IL

Investigators

Abstract

The IEC Asset Driven Equitable Partnerships (ADEP) Workshop offers Core Members of the Inclusive Engineering Consortium (IEC) the opportunity to explore ideas for identifying, utilizing and building on existing assets for research and education in cooperation with collaborators from Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs), government and industry. The mission of IEC is to enable electrical and computer engineering (ECE) programs at minority-serving institutions (MSIs) produce more and better prepared graduates by building partnerships with PWIs, industry, and government agencies. These partnerships must be equitable with all voices being heard and all relevant assets identified and utilized. This has led IEC to address what makes an asset-driven equitable partnership and how to develop and sustain such partnerships. This workshop will be a major step in implementing ideas developed within IEC to collectively address common opportunities and problems by more fully and productively utilizing Asset Based Equitable Partnerships to graduate more and better prepared minority engineers; increase efficiency and productivity at MSIs; and develop a sustainable and effective infrastructure to support minority students, faculty and staff. In time, the IEC effort will grow and the model being developed can be replicated and implemented for other disciplines. The overall Inclusive Engineering Consortium (IEC) vision is to be a collaboration of Minority Serving Institutions Working as One to Advance the ECE Enterprise. It has become clear that there is a need to get a representative set of Core MSI Members in the same room as potential colleagues from PWIs, industry and government to specifically address the barriers to real collaboration and identify the kind of long-term investments required on both sides to achieve success. Workshop participants will develop strategies that join IEC Core, Affiliate, and Corporate members together to create the organizational support structure and activities necessary to realize IEC’s grand vision. For such collaborations to work, the partners must know one another, commit to one another, invest in one another, and take responsibility for one another’s success. Equitable partnerships are built on mutual investment, respect, and clear identification of each partner's assets. This includes tangible resources like funding or expertise and intangible assets like relationships and networks. When partners work equitably with one another, all voices are heard and considered in decision-making, and partners work together to achieve specific, mutually agreed upon outcomes. 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.