Addressing barriers to faculty diversity
Throughout higher education, changing demographics are re-defining the student landscape and posing new challenges and opportunities for institutions.
Through the now complete Undergraduate and Faculty Fellows Program for a Diverse Professoriate, the ACM, the Big Ten Academic Alliance institutions, and the University of Chicago sought to enhance liberal education through the creation of a more diverse and pedagogically-enhanced educational experience. In pursuing these pedagogical goals, the program leveraged the wisdom gained from collaboration across the ACM and the participating research universities, as well as new engagements within our educational ecosystem.
Just as important, the Fellows Program tackled this challenge in the context of the humanities, humanistic social sciences, and arts, fields that traditionally have not received funding for undergraduate and graduate fellowships at the same rate as have scientific fields.
The educational benefits from the Fellows Program extended beyond the undergraduates and new Ph.D.s directly served by the program to the broader student and faculty populations at ACM and other liberal arts colleges whose educational experiences will be enriched by the enhanced diversity the program creates.
Recruiting and supporting a broadly diverse faculty
Through the now complete Fellows Program, the ACM colleges sought to recruit and support a broadly diverse faculty who will contribute to the colleges’ academic excellence, diversity of viewpoints and experiences, and relevance in a global society.
In furtherance of academic excellence, the Fellows Program was open to all qualified candidates, while also encouraging applications from individuals from underrepresented groups in the professoriate, including African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, other Pacific Islanders, first-generation college students, individuals who have followed non-traditional pathways to college due to exceptional talent and motivation in the face of adversity, such as societal, economic or academic disadvantages, and individuals with a demonstrated commitment to applying and including diverse backgrounds and perspectives to learning, scholarship, service, and leadership in the academy.
