Mission

The PROMISE Engineering Institute will leverage the prior investments of NSF in its Engineering Directorate and Education and Human Resources Directorate programs, and relationships with the University System of Maryland’s provosts and STEM deans to stimulate an increase in engineering faculty diversity by focusing on four distinct areas of action:

 

Project 1 (P1): Institute-wide Database and Portal for Faculty Diversity

Project 2 (P2): Pre-Faculty Preparation Training & Exposure

Project 3 (P3): Placement Initiative

Project 4 (P4): Transitional Support for New Assistant Professors

 

These projects will involve “send” and “receive” mechanisms that do three things to stimulate faculty diversity. 1) Prepare Maryland’s URM scholars to pursue positions outside of Maryland, with a “push” focus toward developing relationships with AGEP institutions, CIRTL institutions, and institutions connected to SREB both before positions are posted, and as hiring announcements are made;  2) Prepare and encourage Maryland’s URM scholars to remain in Maryland to apply for positions at institutions within the state (Table 1); and 3) Cultivate relationships with advanced scholars outside of Maryland to “invite them to engage” with Maryland and apply for open positions. Strategic collaborations have been formed with the USM, CIRTL, and SREB to facilitate the efforts of The PROMISE Engineering Institute.