UMass ADVANCE Announces 2022-23 Mutual Mentoring Grant Recipients

UMass ADVANCE is pleased to announce the selection of four new teams for mutual mentoring grants that support UMass faculty who will come together to build inclusive communities over the 2022-23 academic year. UMass ADVANCE mutual mentoring groups are funded up to $6,000 a year.  Priority mentoring areas for these competitive grants include projects aimed at helping faculty build inclusive mentoring communities, engage in collaborative research teams and participate in shared decision-making. ADVANCE evaluated proposals in collaboration with the Office of Faculty Development, which also offers a mutual mentoring grant program.

Image

“We were delighted to support these mutual mentoring initiatives led by faculty. These grants contribute to UMass ADVANCE’s mission of collaboration and equity,” said Laurel Smith-Doerr, principal investigator for the UMass ADVANCE federally funded program. 

The UMass ADVANCE grant is funded by a five-year (2018-23) $3.1 million National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to support gender and intersectional equity for faculty in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. The UMass ADVANCE program draws on the power of collaboration to support equity among faculty by gender, race/ethnicity, sexuality, gender identity and nationality.

The mutual mentoring teams funded by ADVANCE this year include:

Asian & Asian American Faculty at UMass Amherst seeks to build an intellectually vibrant and supportive professional community network for Asian and Asian American faculty that will empower them to become more engaged in campus activities and leadership opportunities to promote greater diversity, equity, and inclusion at all levels and for the benefit of the entire UMass Amherst campus community. The team is led C.N. Le, sociology, and includes Min Yun, astronomy; Sangeeta Kamat, education policy, research and admin; Asha Nadkarni, English; Michael Sakamoto, Fine Arts Center; and Karen Cardozo and Miliann Kang from women, gender, and sexuality studies.

Black Women United seeks to increase the advancement of Black women faculty and to drive institutional transformation to create environments where diversity is encouraged and supported. This network of Black women, where community, fellowship and comradery can be developed, will encourage women across various levels to champion one another, provide advice on how to continue advancing within the institution, and find balance with one another. This team is led by Felicia Griffin-Fennell, sociology, and includes Cheryl Swanier, computer science; Judyie Al-Bilali, performance and theater for social change; and Maria Rios, W.E.B. DuBois Library.

Leading from the Middle: Preparation and Pathways for Women Associate Deans seeks to better understand obstacles and hone supports and strategies to maximize the impact and wellbeing of women associate deans. By exploring gender and race equity in academic leadership, addressing gaps in training and supports and sharing strategies for getting oriented to and thriving within these positions they will gain knowledge needed to help future associate deans and those aspiring to this position. This team is co-led by Joye Bowman, history; Kathy Forde, journalism; Jennifer Lundquist, sociology; and Lynn Phillips, communication.

Transdisciplinary Future Studies seeks to build a network of academics-– from the creative disciplines (art, design, literature) and research-based disciplines (geoscience, anthropology, history and computer science)– who are interested in future studies to promote environmental and social justice. The team will promote long-term thinking, while cultivating a standard of agency, insight and hope with which future generations can shape a just and sustainable future. This team is led by Julie Brigham-Grette, geosciences, and includes Sonya Atalay, anthropology; Sandy Litchfield and Ray Mann, architecture; Yair Zick, computer science; Malcolm Sen, English; Martín Medina Elizalde, geosciences; Alice Nash, history; and Laure Katsaros, languages, literature and cultures.