Preparing Critical Faculty for the Future (PCFF)

The online application for the 2011-2012 cohort is now closed. AAC&U's press release of cohort II can be found here.

Application Guidelines

We invite applications from institutional leaders who are dedicated to improving undergraduate STEM education at their institutions. We are also looking for institutions whose leaders are committed to fostering leadership and professional development among faculty women of color in various NSF STEM disciplines to advance such educational change efforts.

Question prompts are given below to develop the application to participate in the 2011-2012 cohort. These questions are designed to assist campus leaders in constructing a compelling and succinct application. The submission deadline is August 19, 2011. Selected campuses will be notified by September 2, 2011 .

We encourage you to explore all the other links on these PCFF pages to get a clear understanding of the various aspects of the project. We encourage you to contact Kathryn Angeles at angeles@aacu.org or 202 -387-3760 ext. 413 with any questions you may have.

Selected institutions will have:

• established a foundation for improving undergraduate STEM education;
• fostered leadership development for women of color in various NSF STEM disciplines; and
• developed a plan to extend that work.

Individuals selected to participate in Phase One must be women of color faculty in NSF STEM disciplines. The additional Phase Two participants must demonstrate strong commitment and ability to nurture the development of these women’s leadership skills and abilities. Added Phase Two participants must also demonstrate strong commitment to developing the STEM education expertise of these women, as well as their own, for the purpose of improving the quality of undergraduate education in NSF STEM disciplines.

Who Should Apply
The project is funded through NSF’s HBCU-Undergraduate Program. As such, only accredited, two- or four-year Historically Black Colleges and Universities are eligible for funding through this PCFF project. Non-HBCUs may submit an application to participate in the project as well. However, if selected, these institutions must provide full financial support for their faculty and administrators’ participation in both Phases of the project.

Prompts for Developing the Application Narrative
The narrative should be clear and concise—no more than the equivalent of five double-spaced pages—and address the topics below.

Need
What initiatives have been undertaken by your institution to improve undergraduate STEM education? What has already been accomplished and by whom? What evidence demonstrating progress do you have? What are your next steps? What methods have been established to sustain these efforts? How might engagement in PCFF advance the leadership role of women of color STEM faculty in your improvement efforts? How might your team, and your campus, benefit from participation in PCFF generally and your attendance at the Institute? What factors might your team address at the Institute to build support for improving undergraduate STEM education at your campus?

Goals
How does your work in improving undergraduate STEM education connect to larger institutional efforts to raise expectations for student learning in STEM? In what ways are your faculty development programs and improving undergraduate STEM education efforts connected? What do you hope to achieve in the next year and in the next three years? What specific project to improve undergraduate STEM education will your team work on at the Institute?

Contributions
How will your work assist others who are undergoing improvements in undergraduate STEM education? How are you aligning your institutional structures, policies, and practices with your undergraduate STEM improvement efforts and women of color STEM faculty leadership development? How has your campus contributed to local, regional, or national efforts to improve undergraduate STEM education?

Summer Institute Expectations
To help us better meet your Phase Two team's needs, please tell us about your expectations for the Engaging Departments Institute in terms of topics, issues, or interests related to:

Track 1: Educational Leadership (e.g., bridging disciplinary and institution-wide learning goals; administrative support for educational innovation; aligning strategic planning, communication, and faculty rewards with liberal learning goals)
Track 2: The Departmental Outcomes and Aims of Twenty-First-Century Liberal Education (e.g., the role of the department/major in advancing knowledge, intellectual skills, and personal and social responsibility; integrating learning across the major, general education, and the co-curriculum)
Track 3: Faculty Work (e.g., strengthening student learning through high-impact educational practices; understanding student intellectual and identity development; enhancing interdisciplinary studies)
Track 4: The Learning, Assessment and Improvement Cycle (e.g., building authentic assessment processes; connecting assessment to the improvement of student learning)
Other (e.g., interdisciplinary programs, integration of curricular and co-curricular learning, accreditation)

Team
What is the rationale for selecting the two STEM women faculty of color to participate in the project? What is the rationale for selection of the three additional Phase Two participants? How do team members reflect a shared commitment to improving undergraduate STEM education across the spectrum of STEM disciplines and to advancing leadership development among women of color (i.e., does your team represent a variety of STEM disciplines in the natural and behavioral sciences)?

NOTE: Teams must include at least one dean/provost level administrator in academic affairs preferably in a STEM discipline. Institutions may include one post doctoral fellow or graduate student in both Phases One and Two, or solely in Phase Two, if doing so strengthens the work you seek to accomplish in the project.

Criteria for Selection

The criteria for selection include: 1) Work that demonstrates strong efforts to improve undergraduate STEM education. 2) Demonstrated commitment to creating opportunities for STEM women faculty of color to develop as academic leaders at the departmental and/or institutional levels and a commitment to supporting project participants in developing their academic leadership skills and abilities. 3) Plans to support the infusion of educational practices shown to be effective in improving undergraduate STEM education at the institution broadly and offer to participants of both project Phases opportunities to lead such efforts.

AAC&U member institutions will be given preference in cases where applications are equally compelling. AAC&U will seek to form a National Consortium of Women of Color Leaders in STEM at HBCU's that reflects the rich diversity of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, including geographic locations, institutional types, and a variety of STEM disciplinary strengths.