The first ADVANCE grant was proposed in January of 2008 and was funded with a start date of September 1, 2008. The original end date was August 31, 2011, and the grant was extended for one year to August 31, 2012. This first grant was aimed at catalyzing change in the gender diversity of the faculty. The initiatives listed below are grounded in innovative and transformative best practices at Michigan Tech and at other university-recipients of ADVANCE grants. These initiatives seek to increase diversity in our applicant pool, create richer and more effective searches, and improve the recruitment and retention of a more diverse faculty who are superior researchers and teachers. Michigan Tech's ADVANCE program encompasses six ongoing initiatives:
- Expansion of campus-wide training programs in diversity and unconscious bias literacy. Both the Diversity Literacy course and the Legal Aspects training are required of all tenure-track faculty, as well as any adjunct instructors who serve on search and/or promotion-and-tenure committees.
- Development of greater accountability in the hiring process:
- Development of more transparent and consistent search and hiring procedures.
- Increased accountability for deans, chairs, committees, and administrators who oversee the implementation of best practices.
- Integration of Human Resources staff, search committees, and administrators in seamless, effective and rapid hiring procedures.
- Development and introduction of a university-level interdisciplinary cluster-hiring process, parallel to departmental hiring processes.
- Implementation of a university-wide faculty mentoring program based largely on the currently successful departmental model at Michigan Tech.
- Development of a restricted-access database online screening tool to assemble applicant materials, committee evaluations, and other information about faculty applicant pools.
- Development of institutional promotional and marketing materials outlining best practices for hiring faculty, particularly female faculty.