Diversity Plan. College of Engineering

Transcription

1 Diversity Plan College of Engineering Date Original Plan Completed Here (Format: March 18, 2005) Date of Most Recent Revision Here (Format: November 1, 2011) Page 1

2 Table of Contents Diversity Committee Members..3 Executive Summary 3 College Mission Statement (Relating to Diversity) Diversity Action Items, Goals, Initiatives, and Strategies.4 Trend Data and Analysis.7 Page 2

3 Diversity Committee Members Chairperson Name: Isabel C. Escobar Title: Professor of Chemical & Environmental Engineering, and Interim Assistant Dean for Research Development & Outreach Contact Phone: Contact E- Mail: Committee Members Lesley Berhan; Associate Professor; Mechanical, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering Cyndee Gruden; Associate Professor; Civil Engineering Mohsin Jamali; Professor; Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Scott Molitor; Associate Professor; Bioengineering Allen Rioux; Professor and Chair; Engineering Technology Jon Pawlecki; Director of Student Services; College of Engineering Executive Summary The College of Engineering strives to achieve prominence as a student focused college that educates the future engineers and leaders of tomorrow. In an effort to recognize the richness inherent in our national diversity, the College encourages participation by all in an atmosphere in which differences are valued as an integral part of the learning experience. The College of Engineering is working diligently to increase minority representation in the student, staff, and faculty cohorts. We recognize the need and accept the challenge to respond to an increasingly diverse student, staff, and faculty presence in ways that will require significant innovation in the infrastructure of the institution and in its programs. This document will outline and describe our progress in creating a college atmosphere that recognizes, celebrates and promotes diversity that will include an increasingly multicultural environment, mirroring the changes in our business and society. Furthermore, we will introduce an ongoing plan for addressing issues and problems that must be solved if we are to achieve a truly diverse community in the College of Engineering. Our plan, which focuses on meeting and exceeding the diversity efforts of the University s will include three major goals for increasing diversity within the College and identifies the strategies and actions necessary to accomplish these goals. College Mission Statement (Relating to Diversity) COE Mission Statement In our unique role as the comprehensive engineering school in Northwest Ohio, the University of Toledo College of Engineering provides outstanding undergraduate and graduate programs to educate the leaders of tomorrow. We are committed to leadership in the creation and transfer of new knowledge and technologies through the efforts of a diverse faculty, staff and student body. Page 3

4 COE Vision Statement Our vision is to achieve national prominence by providing a diverse, student- centered, stimulating learning environment that actively engages undergraduate and graduate students in engineering education and research while benefiting society through the creation of new knowledge and technologies. We are committed to being a source of outstanding engineering graduates, knowledge and expertise as we strive to serve our region, the State of Ohio, and beyond. COE Diversity Mission Statement We, The College of Engineering, are committed to diversity. We strive to prepare all students regardless of their race, class, color, religion, national origin, gender, ideology, sexual orientation, and presence of any disability for a career in the Engineering sciences and technologies. We further encourage an atmosphere among faculty and staff that values cultural differences and recognizes the contributions of a body of people as an integral piece of the learning process and work environment. We support the mission of The University of Toledo, as a student- centered public metropolitan research university, recognizing the diversity in our metropolitan area and striving to be responsive to and representative of that community. We aim to foster the highest ideas of culture, research and service. Diversity Action Items, Goals, Initiatives, and Strategies Initiative 1 The College of Engineering will create a college climate that celebrates and respects diversity. Goals 1. Educate the members of the College community on ways to embrace diversity. 2. Increase awareness of issues that affect diversity within the college environment. Actions 1. Provide College- wide seminars on Building a Culture of Diversity and Safe Places training to faculty and staff (instructed by the Office of Equity and Diversity) 2. Include in Professional Development courses a class on Building a Culture of Diversity. 3. Start a College of Engineering Diversity website, to be located at Qualitative and Quantitative Measurements 1. The Departments of Chemical & Environmental Engineering and Civil Engineering started including two weeks of diversity training in their Professional Development courses for freshmen students. Challenges 1. The College of Engineering will develop a set of workshops or seminars that support and engage faculty in diversity, which will be held once a semester at a minimum. 2. All Engineering Departments will offer diversity training as a part of their Professional Development courses. Initiative 2 Increase the number of underrepresented minority and female students pursuing engineering degrees from the University of Toledo, College of Engineering through recruiting and retention programs. Goals Page 4

5 1. Advance recruitment efforts for recruiting underrepresented minorities and females to the engineering program. 2. Improve the retention efforts for underrepresented minorities and females enrolled in the College of Engineering. 3. Increase the preparation of the applicant pool through outreach and pre- college programs. Actions 1. Outreach: identify underrepresented minority students and females in grades 7-12 that excel in math and science and engage/encourage them to attend our engineering college. 2. Recruitment: collaborate with existing community and university programs that emphasize math and science to minority and female students in grades Retention: Develop and implement departmental and college level programs that focus on retention of underrepresented minority and female students. Qualitative and Quantitative Measurements 1. Recruitment: College data shown in Appendix A. Between 2007 and 2011, the College of Engineering had an increase in the percentage of female students enrolled (from 11.1% in 2007 steadily to 13.8% in 2011) along with a slight increase in enrollment percentage of African Americans, Hispanic, or Native Americans (AAHNA, 2007: 6.15% to 2011: 7.72%). In the previous Diversity Plan, the percentage of female students enrolled had decreased from 2004 to 2007, while the enrollment of AAHNA was constant. The College of Engineering put in place outreach activities to recruit more females and underrepresented minorities. 2. Outreach activities have involved financially needy students and students from groups typically underrepresented in Engineering and Mathematics, and 6-12 th grade teachers of these students. These projects include: ETMS, Engineering for Teachers of Migrant Students, Ohio Department of Education; 2000 through present. GUTS, GEAR UP Toledo Students, U.S. Dept. of Education. Latino Youth Summit; Ohio Department of Education and The University of Toledo. WISDOM (Women In Science Day Of Meetings), which is a program to bring approximately 60 high school girls to learn about different STEM majors. In the area of K- 12 outreach, NSBE and Tau Beta Pi coached a team from Englewood Peace Academy (a majority Toledo Public Charter School with a majority African American population) for the LEGO robotics competition. NSBE has also recently started a NSBE Jr. Chapter at the Ella P. Stewart Academy. 3. Retention of female students from first to second year has consistently been higher than that of male students, though female students account for less than 20% of the total number of students (College data shown in Appendix B). Retention of AAHNA is still a concern at the College of Engineering, see Appendix, as retention rates from first to second year are consistently lower for African Americans than for Whites. The retention rates for Native Americans (American Indian or Alaska Native) is high (nearly always at 100%), but this might be due to the small number of students (average of 1-3 students). The retention of Hispanic/Latino students has surpassed that of White students in 2009 and 2010, but again it is important to point out that total numbers of Hispanic students is less than 5% that of White students. 4. To improve retention, Bioengineering has implemented a peer- mentoring system for first year students. Page 5

6 5. Also to improve retention, female students are encouraged to participate in Women In STEM Excelling (WISE) mentor program, which is a mentoring program for women to increase retention of STEM fields. Challenges 1. Recruitment of potential graduate students from Historically Black Institutions. 2. Within the college structure, make available resources and a system of rewards for programming that targets the recruitment and retention of underrepresented minorities and female students. 3. Mandate an ongoing environment focused on diversity by holding at least two meetings annually to discuss college and departmental level outreach efforts that are planned or have been implemented. Develop appropriate assessment measures to gage the success of programming geared at recruitment and retention. Utilize the assessment to identify and fund effective programming. 4. It is strongly suggested that the College of Engineering should continue to focus on retention through mentoring programs, such as WISE. Initiative 3 Increase the number of underrepresented and female faculty and staff through active recruiting and retention efforts. Goals 1. Develop and implement a comprehensive recruitment plan that uses multiple recruitment strategies that will increase the diversity of the college s applicant pool. 2. Strengthen staff and faculty professional development activities to position individuals for career advancement. 3. Enhance awareness of Chairs, Directors, and Administrators of current staffing profile of the College and opportunities for improvement. 4. Promote the engineering college as a dynamic work environment. Actions 1. Advertise open positions in publications whose targeted audiences are minorities and/or women. 2. Target minority and women graduate students through pipeline projects. 3. Require the presence of underrepresented minorities or a member of the Diversity Committee on all College of Engineering search committees for unfilled faculty and staff positions. 4. Establish mentoring programs for all staff and pre- tenure faculty. 5. Examine and address the lack of success in attracting and retaining minority and female faculty and staff members. 6. Provide financial support and assistance to departments to identify and recruit minority and female faculty, in addition to the normal budget for recruitment efforts. Qualitative and Quantitative Measurements 1. College has one female staff member in an administrative leadership role. 2. College has one female faculty member in an administrative leadership role. 3. Detailed data is shown in Appendix C for faculty and staff. a. In 2010, there were 13 female and 5 AAHNA faculty (3 female and 2 males) members in the College of Engineering, while the total number of faculty members in Engineering as 91. In 2011, the number of female faculty increased to 14 but AAHNA faculty remained 5, while the total faculty number increased to 93. Page 6

7 b. Regarding staff, in 2010, there were 62 staff members, of which 33 were women while 4 were AAHNA. In 2011, the staff number decrease to 61, of which 32 were women while 2 were AAHNA. 4. Four Engineering faculty members were part of the NSF IDEAL program (led by Case Western Reserve University) with the focus on developing a mentoring program for women in STEMM fields. 5. Four Engineering faculty members participated in the Case Western Reserve University NSF ADVANCE project. Through this project, they developed a mentoring program for female faculty in STEM fields at The University of Toledo. 6. Three Engineering faculty members co- organized When and Where I Enter, a workshop for women- of- color in STEM from the entire US that will occur at The University of Toledo in August They are still in contact with participants and sharing with them openings at The University of Toledo. Challenges 1. The College of Engineering is committed to providing opportunities for females and underrepresented minorities to seek administrative positions. 2. The College of engineering is also committed to a. Examine and discover ways to attract and retain minority and female faculty and staff members. b. Provide financial support and assistance to departments to identify and recruit minority and female faculty, in addition to the normal budget for recruitment efforts. c. Supply funding for professional development activities. Trend Data and Analysis (To Be Located in Appendix College specific MS Excel spreadsheets available on Diversity Plan web site, Note: Completed and approved diversity plans will be submitted for upload to the Diversity Web Site. Page 7

8 Trend Data and Analysis Appendix A Recruitment: Page 8

9 Appendix B Retention: Gender: Page 9

10 Diversity: Page 10

11 Appendix C Faculty and Staff: Page 11