About ADVANCE
The CMU ADVANCE Program was founded with the goal of improving equity and inclusion for faculty at Central Michigan University. Our program has been supported by two NSF ADVANCE grants, a Catalyst grant in 2019 and an Adaptation grant in 2023. Nationally, 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 STEM faculty in academic institutions. At CMU, we are engaging in this work by building an institutional culture of equity, creating transparent policies, and improving recruitment and mentoring practices which will benefit all faculty at CMU and ultimately extend to the entire CMU community.
ADVANCE Program leadership team
ADVANCE Catalyst Grant (2019-2023)
In 2019, Frim Ampaw, Tracy Galarowicz, Lisa Grady, and Katrina Piatek-Jimenez founded the CMU ADVANCE Program when they were awarded an NSF ADVANCE Catalyst grant. The major goal of the CMU ADVANCE Catalyst grant was to examine the barriers to success for women faculty in STEM at Central Michigan University through surveys, focus group interviews, and the analysis of institutional data. A secondary goal of this project was to help inform the campus community about the identified barriers and provide the appropriate training to mitigate these barriers, with a particular emphasis on implicit bias.
During the grant, we completed extensive analyses of departmental bylaws, hosted two workshops on bystander intervention training, presented project results at two national conferences, and sponsored a viewing and discussion of the 2020 documentary “Picture a Scientist.” Findings from the Catalyst grant were used to support an application for an ADVANCE Adaptation grant which was received in Fall 2023.
Catalyst grant leadership team
| Tracy Galarowicz, Ph.D. | Associate Dean, College of Science and Engineering |
| Katrina Piatek-Jimenez | Professor of Mathematics |
| Frim Ampaw | Professor of Educational Leadership |
| Lisa Gandy | Department Chair of Computer Science |
Catalyst grant advisory board members
Department | Faculty |
|---|---|
College of Science and Engineering | |
| Biology | Anna Monfils |
| Chemistry | Janice Tomasik, Advisory Board Chair |
| Earth and Atmospheric Sciences | Daria Kluver |
| Engineering and Technology | Terry Lerch |
| Geography and Environmental Studies | Benjamin Heumann |
| Mathematics | Ana Dias |
| Physics | Veronica Barone |
| Statistics and Data Sciences | Chin-I Cheng |
| College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences | |
| Psychology | Kimberly O'Brien |
| Sociology | Mary Senter |
| College of Arts and Media | |
| Communication and Dramatic Arts | Kirsten Weber |
| College of Business Administration | |
| Economics | Aparna Lhila |