RU FAIR/ NSF ADVANCE Quarterly Report – August 2012
Office for the Promotion of Women in Science, Engineering and Mathematics (SciWomen)
RU FAIR/ NSF ADVANCE Quarterly Report September 1st, 2012 – November 30th, 2012
Rutgers University
RU FAIR/ NSF ADVANCE Quarterly Report – August 2012
Significant Accomplishments
As we embark on the final year of the RU FAIR ADVANCE IT grant, we are focusing our
efforts on institutionalization. To this end, we have been engaged in a series of
sustainability/transitional meetings, as well as submitting proposals to sustain funding for key
programs and initiatives, all described in detail below.
Overview and critical sustainability meetings:
In August, 2012, Governor Chris Christie signed a bill that will restructure higher education
in the state of New Jersey. Most of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey
(UMDNJ) will be integrated into Rutgers by July 1, 2013. Rutgers will acquire the parts of
UMDNJ that include two medical schools, an institute for cancer research, a graduate school
of biomedical science, a school of public health, a nursing school, a center for environmental
and occupational medicine, and a number of other health oriented entities. All of these units
have significant numbers of students, faculty and staff in the basic sciences. The legislatively
mandated integration will increase the total number of students at Rutgers by approximately
7,000. Proportionally, the increase in the number of faculty will be even greater. UMDNJ
currently has 2,622 full and part-time faculty of whom nearly half (48.4%) are female.
The forthcoming integration of UMDNJ has affected Rutgers University at all levels and PI
Joan W. Bennett collaborated with RU FAIR Director Natalie Batmanian in holding a series
of meetings that focused on the appropriate role of SciWomen and RU FAIR during the
transition. For example, Drs. Bennett and Batmanian met with Associate Dean Kathryn
Uhrich on November 9, 2012. Dr. Uhrich serves as Dean of Mathematical and Physical
Sciences at the School of Arts and Sciences (SAS), the largest academic unit at Rutgers. The
current Interim Dean of SAS is Richard Falk, a mathematician and a member of the RU FAIR
Consortium (i.e., internal advisory board). The School faces serious budgetary issues that
are likely to cause a cut back in new hires during the UMDNJ integration.
RU FAIR Director Natalie Batmanian met with Dr. Karen Stubaus, Acting VP for Academic
Affairs and Administration, on October 9th
and November 14th
. With these meetings,
SciWomen has entered the transition period, which will end with the completion of the RU
FAIR ADVANCE grant. At that point, the staff will report to Dr. Stubaus and
organizationally will reside under Associate Vice President‟s Office for Diversity and Equity.
The successful programs developed under RU FAIR ADVANCE will continue as part of the
SciWomen programmatic offerings. The Office will have a rotating position for faculty
representation. The model for faculty representation will come from the RU FAIR
ADVANCE Professorship. Two other programs that have been either created or expanded
under RU FAIR ADVANCE, the mini-grant program and OASIS Professional Development
and Leadership Program, respectively, are likely to be offered beyond RU FAIR ADVANCE
funding. The SciWomen faculty and staff will also create a research arm to conduct periodic
climate surveys, to collect qualitative and quantitative data to be reported to Dr. Stubaus and
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twice a year to the newly established Executive Vice President‟s Council on Diversity and
Equity.
On November 8, 2012, members of the RU FAIR executive committee and staff met with Dr.
Abigail Stewart, the renounced University of Michigan professor who has been a leader in
ADVANCE activities since the first cohort of institutional transformation grants. The meeting
was held on the Rutgers-Newark campus and focused on how Rutgers can adapt appropriate
features of the University of Michigan model for long term sustainability. Dr. Stewart has
agreed to hold a follow up meeting with Associate Vice President of Diversity and Equity,
Karen Stubaus on December 7, 2012. The UMDNJ integration will precipitate a major new
strategic planning activity at Rutgers University and will provide superb opportunities for
restructuring our institutional transformation efforts.
Another important meeting with Dr. Batmanian was held on November 14, 2012, with
Michele Conlin, Assistant Controller, and Liza Latar, Accounting Manager, of the Division of
Grant and Contract Accounting (DGCA). During this meeting, the main topic was how to
plan for an efficient wrap up of the RU FAIR activities during the last fiscal year of the grant.
DGCA is responsible for the preparation of billings, analysis of fringe benefits, F& A costs,
processing journal entries, and other expenditure documents. Moreover, because DGCA is
responsible for preparation of final fiscal reports required to close-out an account, it is
essential that we work closely with them during the last year of the RU FAIR award. In
order to assure that the various sub- accounts are processed properly, the central SciWomen
account has centralized the accounts during this final year of the award.
On November 16, 2012, Bennett and Batmanian, along with Brittany Graf, met with Janet
Alder, Director of Graduate Academic and Student Affairs at the Robert Wood Johnson
Medical School of UMDNJ. Dr. Alder is deeply involved in graduate student and diversity
activities. UMDNJ currently does not have an integrated central office that focuses on
women-in-science issues, so there is enormous opportunity for the Rutgers SciWomen office
to work with a large new cohort of women in the basic sciences.
Proposals for future funding:
Drs. Joan Bennett, PI, working with prospective co-PIs, Natalie Batmanian and Karen
Stubaus, and with Research Analyst, Hector Lopez, the SciWomen office submitted a
proposal to the NSF ADVANCE Partnerships for Adaptation, implementation and
Dissemination (PAID) program. The proposal, which builds on the highly successful OASIS
Leadership Program, and is directed at women in postdoctoral and contingent faculty
positions, is titled: “Career Advancement through Active Professional Leadership Training in
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (CATAPLT in STEM).” In November
2012, RU FAIR ADVANCE Camden also submitted a PAID proposal to continue the
ADVANCE institutional transformation initiative that continues to gain momentum on the
Camden campus. The proposal is designed to maintain the successful initiatives of the
programs and projects developed during the RU FAIR ADVANCE grant. The award would
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allow the Camden campus to continue to host professional development workshops, support
research through mini-grants, invite eminent female science lecturers, carry forward the bi-
weekly writing circles, and offer travel awards for faculty to attend and present at scholarly
conferences.
On October 26, 2012, Dr. Bennett participated in a meeting to the headquarters of the Clare
Booth Luce Foundation in Manhattan, NY, to discuss the potential for a possible relationship
that focuses on women engineering, mathematics and the physical sciences. Joining the
delegation were Natalie Batmanian, Director of SciWomen and RU FAIR, Jackie Litt, Dean
of Douglass College, Elaine Zundl, Director of the Douglass Project, Ilene Rosen, Assistant
Dean for Counseling and Training in the School of Engineering and Anthony Nicotera,
Director, Foundation Relations at Rutgers University Foundation. An exciting new
development on campus for undergraduate students majoring in engineering is the
establishment of the Douglass Women in Engineering Living-Learning Community that
offers first year women in engineering a residential support community on the Busch campus.
The fall 2012 semester was the first semester the program became available and it was
important for officers at the Luce Foundation to know of this unique educational opportunity
for women in engineering as well as become aware of the important faculty-level activities
that have been supported by RU-FAIR.
In late October Graduate Assistant, Crystal Bedley, met with the Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation to discuss potential funding and co-sponsorship opportunities for the Women of
Color Scholars Initiative. RWJF provided contacts for future collaborations. Ms. Bedley
continues to explore external funding opportunities to sustain this Initiative.
Presentations:
Dr. Bennett presented three invited lectures, either in her scientific discipline or with
reference to women in science. The titles and dates follow:
“Natural products: past, present and future,” (Banquet address). Natural products
symposium: from basic discovery to human disease.” Health Science Center,
Texas A&M, Houston, TX, Oct 12, 2012.
“Women in Science, Newcomb Institute, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA,
Oct. 17, 2012.
“The elusive etiology of building related illness: the challenges of verifying the
mold exposure hypothesis,” Grand Rounds Seminar, EOHSI, Robert Wood
Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ November 14, 2012.
Dr. Bennett also presented a poster in mid-November at the Neuroscience meetings held in
New Orleans, Lousiana. The poster was co-authored by A. Inamdar, M. Hossain, J.
Richardson and J. W. Bennett and titled “Fungal volatile organic compound(s): Potential
environmental agent(s) for the pathogenesis of Parkinson‟s disease?”
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In October, RU FAIR Professor Judith Weis presented "Ecological Services of Phragmites
australis in the Hackensack Meadowlands" at the Ecosummit in Columbus, Ohio.
Committee memberships:
Dr. Bennett is a newly appointed member of the Committee on Women in Science,
Engineering and Medicine (CWSEM) at the National Academies of Science. During this
quarter CWSEM held conference calls in September and October and an in-person meeting
in Washington, DC, on November 19 and 20, 2012. The goal of the meeting was to gain an
overview of current research and best practices on the role of women in science, engineering
so as to create specific objectives for committee activities in the forthcoming year. After an
introduction from incoming CWSEM Chair, Rita Colwell, Prof. Jo Handelsman, Yale
University, presented on “A Perspective on Recent Relevant Research & Implications for
CWSEM.” Next, a European perspective was given by Max Vögler, Director, Deutsche
Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), German Foundation Office North America, whose topic was
“Women‟s Participation in STEM Globally – The German Perspective.” Judith Salerno,
Executive Director, of the Institute of Medicine gave an “ Overview of Institute of Medicine
(IOM) Initiatives; ” Philip Rubin, Principal Assistant Director for Science, and Assistant
Director for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences, Office of Science and Technology
Policy, The White House, spoke on “Policy Directions on STEM Education and Workforce”
and Dan Mote, President Emeritus, University of Maryland, College Park and Nominee,
President, National Academy of Engineering covered “Perspectives from the National
Academy of Engineering (NAE).” The presentation by Madeleine Jacobs, Executive Director
and CEO, American Chemical Society (ACS) was “A Professional Society‟s Experience and
Efforts;” and Londa Schiebinger, John L. Hinds Professor of History of Science, Stanford
University spoke on “Gendered innovations in science and engineering.”
Dr. Handelsman presentation was of particular interest and consisted of an overview of the
October 2012 paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (“Science
faculty‟s subtle gender biases favor male students” PNAS, 109: 16474). Notably, the first
author on this well publicized study was Dr. Corinne Moss-Racusin, a 2011 Ph.D. graduate
of Rutgers University. Dr. Moss-Racusin is currently a post-doctoral research associate at
Yale University. She conducted her dissertation research under Laurie Rudman, Professor of
Psychology at Rutgers, who has been a major contributor to RU FAIR on the subject of
unconscious bias.
Further, at Rutgers University Dr. Bennett has served as a member of the Executive
Committee for the Plant Biology and Pathology Department, as well as a member of the
Planning Committee for the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences (SEBS). The
Executive Committee of the Plant Biology and Pathology department is conducted a self-
study of faculty expertise, teaching loads, space allocation and is developing
recommendations for a reorganization of the department.
The SEBS planning committee has decided that the three topics for the forthcoming year will
be: 1) emergency preparedness, using what was learned in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy
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as a guide, 2) the forthcoming integration of UMDNJ into Rutgers University, and 3) the role
of contingent faculty in SEBS, with special reference to those who hold appointments that are
primarily in teaching. There is currently a well-defined career path for non-tenure track
faculty with research appointments, but the role of teaching faculty at SEBS is not well
defined.
Mentoring:
Rutgers Pre-Doctoral Leadership Development Institute (PLDI) is two-year program that
provides an introduction to an array of leadership concepts and competency-building
opportunities designed to enhance the leadership insights and competences of Fellows. We
have been lucky to have Ms. Brittany Graf, a Ph.D. student in Bennett‟s home department
(Plant Science and Pathology) as a PLDI Fellow, working with our office during the fall 2012
quarter. In her role as an official PLDI mentor, Bennett met with Mr. Graf for several one-
on-one discussions. In addition, Ms. Graf participated in the RU FAIR external advisory
board meeting held in October and spearheaded a meeting with Bennett, Batmanian and Janet
Alder (Advisor for Graduate Student Association of Biomedical Sciences at
UMDNJ/RWJMS; Associate Professor in Neuroscience) to explore potential synergies for
women in science. Ms. Graf presented an overview of the synergist opportunities between
UMDNJ and Rutgers University at the RU FAIR Executive Board meeting on November 26,
2012. Ms. Graf‟s summary report is presented as Appendix A.
In addition, RU FAIR Professor and Co-PI, Helen Buettner, is currently serving as a faculty
advisor for the Douglass Women in Engineering Living and Learning Community for
undergraduate students.
Further accomplishments include the publication of Newark RU FAIR Professor Judith Weis‟
new book, Walking Sideways: The Remarkable World of Crab, published by Cornell
University Press. Dr. Weis also serves as reviewer for the Sea Grant Review Panel on Healthy
Coastal Ecosystems for the National Sea Grant Office, a division of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). RU FAIR Professor and Co-PI, Helen Buettner, was
appointed to the position of Undergraduate Director for the Chemical Engineering
Department. Lastly, RU FAIR Professor, Georgia Arbuckle-Keil, attended the September 27 -
28, 2012 Infrared & Raman Spectroscopy Conference held at the Philadelphia Museum of Art
(PMA). The conference is part of her on-going use of chemical analysis in the restoration of
fine arts research collaboration with Beth Price, research scientist at PMA.
New Brunswick Activities
Updates on Life-Cycle Grants, and Mini-Grants:
In August 2012, the Life-cycle Award Committee selected six applications from among the
sixteen who have applied. The program, for which $150,000 was budgeted over five years,
was offered a fourth and final time. Currently, $114,000 has been spent for this program. In
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this last cycle, we increased the award amount, three award recipients received $18,000 and
the other three received from $2000 to $10,000. The evaluation process revealed that social
scientist applied more frequently than any other faculty member. Although the award amount
was increased to attract more applicants from Engineering, and Physical and Biological
Sciences, Figure 1 shows that that social scientists are more frequent award recipients.
Figure 1. Rank and area of science of the Life-cycle award recipients in Cycles I-IV (2010-2012)
Mini-grant Award Program:
The Mini-grant program, for which $150,000 was budgeted over five years, is fully expended
(98% of funds spent). The growing awareness of the RU FAIR mini-grant program resulted in
an increase in mini-grant applications in Cycles III and IV. The mini-grant program was the
most interdisciplinary among the three RU FAIR Award mechanisms. It appears to have
create a unique and inexpensive opportunity for cross campus, cross discipline, and cross-rank
collaborations. As shown in Figure 2, 15 disciplines are represented in six areas. Most awards
were granted to social science disciplines and to the affiliates of the Institute of Women's
Leadership, which was the original goal of the RU FAIR Initiative for Networking and
Liaisoning with IWL and its member units. The program was also a valuable and flexible
tool to increase visibility for faculty via networking in conference travel and invited colloquia.
Similarly, it allowed faculty resources to start grass-roots programs for peer-mentoring and
other networking activities to build micro-communities within the institution. And finally, of
the 25 mini-grant awards (see Figure 3 for award types), six were social science research
projects. Of those, one resulted in a paper titled „The Influence of Female Role Models on
Women‟s Implicit Science Cognitions‟ authored by D. M. Young, L. A. Rudman, H. M.
Buettner, M. C. McLean, and was submitted for publication. A second resulted in a
presentation authored by Paul McLean titled „Networks of Opportunity‟ was presented at
American Sociological Association meeting in Denver, Colorado in 2012. A third grant
resulted in a paper by Dana Britton on the promotion process from associate professor to full
professor, which is currently in the pre-publication stage. The still on-going project is the
faculty diversity and climate survey by Patrick McKay, which is in data analysis stage. We
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plan to present one or more of these projects at the NSF ADVANCE PI meeting in March
2013.
The mini-grant format continues as part of RU FAIR Professorships in Camden and Newark
[See Camden Activities, mini-grants section for more details].
Figure 2. Numbers of mini-grant awards in six disciplinary areas at Rutgers
Figure 3. Mini-grant awards by Type (SLC refers to Seminars, Lectures and Colloquia)
External Advisory Board Meeting Recommendations and Outcomes:
In preparation for the External Advisory Board meeting, RU FAIR – New Brunswick hosted a
Welcome Back Dinner on October 4 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel‟s Glass Woods Tavern for
EAB members who arrived the day before the October 5 RU FAIR External Advisory Board
Meeting. There were nine (9) people in attendance – EAB members Shireen Lewis, Marian
Johnson-Thompson, and Marta Romero, and RU FAIR central team members Joan
W. Bennett, Natalie Batmanian, Hector Lopez, Yvonne Gonzalez, Crystal Bedley and Nevean
Khalil. Lively discussion and good food provided a proper welcome back and context needed
for the October 5 meeting agenda.
3
6
10
8
4
3
0 5 10 15
Business
Humanities
Social Science
IWL/WGS
Biological…
Mathematics
Series1 Series2
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We held our annual day-long meeting with our RU FAIR ADVANCE Executive Team and
EAB Members on October 5th, 2012 at the Winants Hall Board Room on the Rutgers-New
Brunswick Campus, following the October 4th Welcome Dinner. There were 19 people in
attendance, comprised of thirteen (13) RU FAIR executive team members and invited guests
and seven (7) External Advisory Board members. The meeting was chaired by Richard
Edwards, Executive VP of Academic Affairs. The External Advisory Board members in
attendance - Michael Harris, Marian Johnson-Thompson, Shireen Lewis, Marta Romero,
Kerry Ann Rockquemore, and Vita Rabinowitz – made several essential recommendations to
the RU FAIR executive team, which were especially important to hear in this fifth and final
year of the grant. Karen Stubaus, Acting VP of Academic Affairs also participated. She is an
increasingly critical ally and shared some encouraging news about the future of advance and
the SciWomen Office. She updated the group on the recommendations of the Task Force for
Diversity and Inclusion which succeeded the President‟s Council on Diversity and Equity.
The Task Force recommended to reinstitute a Central Council, which will be titled Executive
Vice President‟s Council on Diversity and Equity co-chaired by Dr. Edwards and Dr. Jorge
Schement, Dean of the School of Communication and Information. Based on these
recommendations, unlike the past, Deans will be members of this Council because of their
crucial role in hiring decisions. Also, the Council will have a financial incentive structure to
encourage diversity and cluster hires; it will reinstitute training for chairs and hiring
committees to ensure inclusive searches; Council members will be presented with statistical
indicators on race and gender twice a year for data-driven decision making; also based on
these recommendations, Rutgers will employ an on-line application tool for faculty searches
and the Council (or a sub-committee) will conduct mid-search reviews to examine the
characteristics of the applicant pool to intervene for diversifying the applicant pool. The
SciWomen Office faculty and staff are expected to play a role in supporting many of the
functions of Executive Vice President‟s Council on Diversity and Equity. A note-taker was in
attendance to capture the closed door session minutes. We are looking forward to receiving
the final report by mid-December.
Women of Color Photo Shoot:
As noted in previous reports, through our many efforts to market RU FAIR via the web and
promotional materials, we found that the university photo stock did not contain images of any
female faculty of color in senior or leadership position. To remedy this issue, we have been
working closely with University Relations for some time now to coordinate a photo
shoot. Many unexpected complications and delays slowed this project down, but with the
persistence from SciWomen‟s Albertina Luchko and RU FAIR graduate assistant Crystal
Bedley, we were able to finally complete a successful photo shoot this quarter, and have two
more photo-shoots scheduled in first couple weeks of December. With Luchko on maternity
leave, Yvonne Gonzalez will complete this project by updating our website and promotional
materials to include faculty of color photos and communicating the availability of these
photos to the Rutgers community for their use. We are really proud of this project and the
impact it will have to increase the visibility of these faculty members.
OASIS:
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The Objective Analysis of Self and Institution Seminar (OASIS), a four-part series of
leadership development workshops, with professional coaching and peer mentoring
components, has been expanded this quarter to the Newark campus as well as campuses in
Pennsylvania [See “Best Ideas Yet” for more details]. On the New Brunswick campus the
current cohort includes 20 faculty from Rutgers (15) and UMDNJ (5), including new assistant
professors to Full Professors, UMDNJ clinicians and researchers from STEM disciplines
including Chemistry, Ecology, Biology, Genetics, Geography, Psychology, Neuroscience and
Cell Biology among others. The following workshops were held this quarter in New
Brunswick:
September 14, 2012: “Increase Your Effectiveness in Leading and Collaborating”
facilitated by Beth Tracy, Sciwomen
October 12, 2012: “Increasing Opportunities Through Self-Advocacy” facilitated by
Lanella Hooper-Williams of Hooper Williams Communication, and
“Effectively Communicating Your Research” facilitated by Alby Luckho, Sciwomen
November 9, 2012: “Negotiation Skills in Work and Life” facilitated by Linda
Stamato & Sandy Jaffe, Center for Negotiation and Conflict Resolution, Edward J.
Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
November 16, 2012: “Improvisation for Scientists” facilitated by Kevin Kittle, Mason
Gross School of Performing Arts
November 30, 2012: Career Panel: Putting it All Together facilitated by Beth Tracy,
Sciwomen
In conjunction with professional development workshops, OASIS has organized 4 peer
mentoring groups, with 5 participants in each group. As of Nov. 30, 2012, 4 of the 5 peer
mentoring group sessions will have been held by each peer group. The purpose of these
mentoring groups is to provide an opportunity for faculty to discuss the topics of the
preceding professional development workshop, hence the last topic of the semester will be
how to align the competing demands of the tenure/tenure-track professor.
It is important to note that a collaboration between UMDNJ clinical faculty and Rutgers
researchers is forming. Two collaborations between Rutgers faculty in this cohort have began
and one networking connection with a researcher at UMDNJ was established.
Marketing Plan for the OASIS Leadership and Professional Development Program:
Yvonne Gonzalez, RU FAIR Program Manager initiated discussions and brainstorming
meetings around how to turn OASIS from a grant funded program to a revenue generating
program. Using the feedback obtained in discussions with Ms. Luchko, Ms. Tracy and public
relations specialists from the Business School, Gonzalez has been able to put together a
preliminary plan and budget, and obtained quotes from an external marketing vendor. She is
in the data collection and planning stage, but will soon be able to start implementation with
the end goal of charging individuals to participate in the OASIS program, starting the Fall
2013 semester when the grant has ended.
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Visibility/Networking Events:
New Brunswick Faculty Welcome: This event is an annual event to welcome new STEM
faculty (men and women) to Rutgers and UMDNJ. The goal is to provide a networking
opportunity for new faculty with senior faculty, administration and the SciWomen/RU FAIR
teams.
Bonnie J. McCay, Professor of Human Ecology and Board of Governors Distinguished
Service Professor, was elected to membership in the National Academy of Sciences this year
(and was the only Rutgers faculty member elected in 2012). On Monday September 24th
, Dick
Edwards, Exec. VP of Academic Affairs, and Joan Bennett, VP of SciWomen, hosted a
luncheon consisting of members of the Human Ecology Department to honor Dr. McCay,
supporting RU FAIR ADVANCE‟s visibility initiative.
Policy Study:
The policy project has made significant progress during the current period. Dr. Elizabeth
Strickland, the policy analyst, has compiled written polices across the university that relate to
faculty hiring, tenure, and promotion; family and medical leave; compensation; etc.
that will be available as a resource to the SciWomen Office. In addition, Dr. Strickland has
conducted 9 interviews with individuals or small groups in a variety of positions on the New
Brunswick and Camden campuses to obtain varied perspectives on university policies
and identify areas where a need for improvement is voiced by interviewees. Three additional
interviews, including one in Newark, are scheduled for the week of December 3. This
material will be used to formulate strategies for how the SciWomen Office might best
contribute to and shape discussion among university leaders on these topics.
Women of Color Scholars Initiative Events:
During this quarter, the Women of Color Scholars Initiative has hosted three events targeted
at Assistant Professor who self-identify as Women of Color:
September 26, Welcome Back Reception and Planning Meeting
October 12th
, Publish and Flourish Workshop, Facilitated Dr. Tara Gray, Associate
Professor of Criminal Justice and as the founding director of the Teaching
Academy at New Mexico State University. This was an event to help junior
faculty find methods to write everyday, and publish their essays and books. Her
advice was that faculty need to write everyday for at least 15 minutes and get a
wide audience to read their writing.
November 9th
, Teaching Workshop for Women of Color. The purpose of this
workshop is to help women of color faculty obtain positive student and peer
feedback from teaching, and help them understand why their evaluations may be
low at times. The event allowed junior faculty connect with one another and ask
questions regarding teaching strategies.
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Collaborative Events:
On November 30th
, the Institute for Research on Women and Sciwomen will present their
annual workshop on negotiating basics for women entering the academic job market. This
event is one of the most well attended and received workshops offered through RU FAIR
ADVANCE.
Camden Activities
RU FAIR Executive Team Fall Meeting:
Our Executive Team meeting was held on the Rutgers-Camden Campus on September 21st,
2012. Twelve team members were in attendance including PI Joan W. Bennett, Campus PIs
and RU FAIR Professors Bill Whitlow, Helen Buettner, Jyl Josephson, Suneeta
Ramaswami, Georgia Arbuckle-Keil, and administrative staff, Natalie Batmanian, Nevean
Khalil, Pamela Gleason, Yvonne Gonzalez, and Crystal Bedley. We started the meeting off
celebrating the news that Rutgers-Camden will remain in the Rutgers family. Then, we took
turns sharing programmatic plans by campus, followed by a useful discussion about funding
considerations to sustain ADVANCE programs beyond the life of the grant. We welcomed
Newark‟s new program coordinator, Nevean Khalil, and Director, Natalie Batmanian gave an
update on evaluation outcomes and plans. Camden will proceed with programs and projects as
originally determined (see below for more details).
Programs and Projects:
RU FAIR ADVANCE Camden organized and hosted three development workshops in late
August and early September 2012 that are a spin-off of the OASIS program. The events were
attended by faculty from four Southern New Jersey regional institutions: Camden County
College, Rowan University, Rutgers, University, and University of Medicine and Dentistry
New Jersey. These workshops provide an opportunity for faculty from the four schools to
network and develop collaborative research and education development associations among
themselves and their respective academic environments.
The development workshops initiated a model for the creation of a regional collaboration for
faculty in the Southern New Jersey area that includes Camden County College, Rowan
University, Rutgers University - Camden, Richard Stockton State College, and University of
Medicine and Dentistry New Jersey. In early September 2012 RU FAIR ADVANCE Camden
hosted a brainstorming luncheon among this Southern New Jersey regional group to develop a
collaborative plan and budget for proposal submission of a Partnerships for Adaptation,
Implementation, and Dissemination (PAID) proposal to the National Science Foundation
(NSF). This proposal will be a continuation of the institutional transformation initiative of the
NSF RU FAIR ADVANCE grant. [See “Proposals for Future Funding” section above for
more details]
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RU FAIR ADVANCE Camden also hosted two workshops this quarter:
On October 19th
, Judith Katz, Ed.D., a licensed psychologist and executive coach,
facilitated a Myers-Briggs Personality Inventory Workshop. The workshop
participants took the stage II Myers Briggs Type Indicator survey prior to attending
and received their surveys mid-point during the session. Participants discovered their
personal style and learned aids to develop good relationships for teaching, research,
publication and collaboration with colleagues.
“Distilling Your Message – Publicizing Your Academic Writing to the Media” was
held on November 16th
. The workshop, presented by Ken Branson, Rutgers Media
Relations, was designed to help faculty craft a clear and simple media release by
removing scientific jargon, using audience specific language, and building two-way
communication to promote their research and publications.
Camden RU FAIR Professor Suneeta Ramaswami hosted two Eminent Scholar Seminar
Series lectures. The lecture series is presented by leaders in science fields to share their
expertise and to encourage and sustain women in science careers.
October 5th
, Sharon Haynie, Ph.D., a chemical researcher at DuPont Central Research
presented Three Science Stories: Old History and New Horizons, sharing her science
career path as a woman of color raised in an inter-city public school system. Dr.
Haynie was invited by Dr. Georgia Arbuckle-Keil, Professor of Chemistry at Rutgers
Camden. They are colleagues at the American Chemical Society Philadelphia Chapter
working on projects to promote and encourage middle-school and high school aged
female students into science fields.
October 26th
, Joan-Emma Shea, Ph.D., a biophysical chemist at University of
California Santa Barbara presented Protein Misfolding and Aggregation, additionally
sharing her experience as a female scientist needing to be persistent when she knows
she has the solution and needs to be heard. Dr. Shea was invited by Dr. Grace
Brannigan, Assistant Professor of Physics at Rutgers Camden. They work
collaboratively on research for theoretical modeling of specialized research methods.
Dr. Shea‟s visit to campus provided an extended opportunity for their combined
research and discussion with Dr. Brannigan‟s research students about further
publications.
RU FAIR Professor Sponsored Mini-grants:
RU FAIR ADVANCE Camden distributed a call for proposals for mini-grants with a mid-
September deadline. Mini-grants were awarded to Courtenay Cavanaugh, Ph.D., Associate
Professor of Psychology, Simeone Kotchoni, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Biology, and Joan
Maya Mazelis, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Sociology. The mini-grants are designed to
support tenure track faculty for the ongoing research and academic collaboration to promote
their academic career. Awards amounts average to about $7,500. Details for each award and
its corresponding goal(s)/output are outlined below:
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Dr. Cavanaugh‟s research is a new collaborative effort initiated by a spring 2012
Eminent Women in Science lecture presented by Dr. Gina Wingood. The research
is aimed at intimate partner violence (IPV), a serious public health problem
affecting one in four women in the United States. Women who experience IPV are
at a greater risk than unabused women for contracting HIV and other sexually
transmitted infections. The mini-grant will provide demographic, childhood abuse
trauma, intimate partner violence and substance abuse information through a
defined interview process. This research will provide the primary investigator data
to develop publication, promote collaboration with other researchers, and offer
visibility of contributions in the scientific community.
Dr. Simeone Kotchoni‟s research is a collaborative effort with several faculty
members, including Rutgers-Camden‟s Dr. Katrina Hazzard-Donald, Associate
Professor of Sociology, developing interdisciplinary research projects suitable to
promote women in science to faculty levels. The project will provide opportunity
to gain research experience in genetic manipulation and molecular based approach
in systems biology as well as analytical chemistry and computational based
approach to characterize plant-based chemical compounds with potential
medicinal properties. This research effort will provide recruitment and retention,
communication, and networking for the group to continue their efforts since the
grant provides support for two female post-docs assisting with Dr. Kotchoni‟s
research who are good candidates for an open biochemist position in the biology
department. To date, the Camden campus does not have any female tenure-track
faculty in biology or biochemistry.
Dr. Joan May Mazelis‟ award offers research support and editorial services to
complete her book publication in a timely manner. The book, tentatively titled Our
Strength Is in Our Unity: The Limits of Human Capital and the Rewards of Social
Capital of the Poor, examines strategies of survival and mobility among poor
people, and those who focus on tactics of investment in education and training.
Her networking for this project was made possible by an RU FAIR ADVANCE
Camden travel award. The proposed plan will help her with communication across
Rutgers University and networking through a new research project investigating
civic engagement. As the mother of toddler twins the grant also supports work/life
balance to achieve career goals while balancing time with her family.
RU FAIR ADVANCE Camden will distribute a second mini-grant call for proposals for mini-
grants the end of November with a response deadline of January 31, 2013 with all funding to
be spent by May 31, 2013.
RU FAIR Professor Sponsored Travel Awards:
Travel award at Camden have been extremely successful in promoting the careers of female
faculty. We previously distributed six awards (three domestic, and three international) that
provided an opportunity for the recipient to attend and/or present research at scientific and/or
leadership conferences. We have distributed another call for proposals due November 15,
2012.
15
Networking:
Camden continues to network in the community through attendance at many non-sponsored
programs and events. These include, but are not limited to, attending diversity workshops, the
opening of the graduate dormitory at Camden, the opening of the LEAP Academy STEM
School opening, grant writing workshop, and women and gender studies meetings.
Research on STEM Faculty Workloads:
We distributed a Qualtrics survey, How Faculty Spend Their Time, to Rutgers SEM faculty in
November 2012. This survey is a follow-up to a similar survey conducted in the Fall 2010 and
is designed to help understand how faculty can best be serviced through institutional
transformation. The data collection process is near completion with analysis to begin shortly.
Newark Activities
Visibility/Networking Events:
In addition to the planning meeting held with Dr. Abigail Stewart (described in detail in the
section titled “ Overview and critical sustainability meetings”), RU FAIR hosted a celebratory
luncheon in recognition of Dr. Nihal Altan-Bonnet, Assistant Professor of Biological
Sciences, who won the prestigious Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and
Engineers (PECASE). Fifteen faculty members attended the luncheon.
RU FAIR Professor Sponsored OASIS:
The original line-up of programming for OASIS on the Newark campus was delayed due to
Hurricane Sandy. The current cohort consists of 20 faculty from Rutgers (5) and UMDNJ
(15), including new assistant professors to Full Professors, UMDNJ clinicians and researchers
in STEM disciplines including Chemistry, Radiology, Molecular Biology and Political
Science to name a few. There is one additional participant, an observer from UMDNJ
Administration who is interested in bringing the OASIS program to more participants at
UMDNJ. The following workshop was held this quarter in Newark:
November 16, 2012: “Increase Your Effectiveness in Leading and Collaborating
“ facilitated by Beth Tracy, of Beth Tracy Consulting
By Nov. 30, 1 peer mentoring meeting for each of the 4 peer mentoring groups will have been
held, with the bulk of activities taking place in the Spring 2013.
Project Evaluation
16
Program Manager, Yvonne Gonzalez, has streamlined RU FAIR ADVANCE‟s event
reporting process using an online system to record participation and participants‟ evaluation
of events improving communication across campuses.
Dr. Elena Polush, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Education Studies at Ball State
University, will evaluate the partnered leadership program between Rutgers University and
Women Take Flight®, which will be offered in May 2013.
Lastly, RU FAIR ADVANCE has extended the evaluation of the Women of Color Scholars
Initiative as suggested by the External Advisory Board, as well as extending the OASIS
evaluation to include a comparison group of participants. Specifically, working with the
Women of Color Scholars Initiative Director, Zaire Dinzey-Flores, Graduate Assistant,
Crystal Bedley, has developed a writing productivity survey to align with peer writing groups
that have been established. The purpose of this survey is to determine if these peer writing
groups increase the writing productivity of participants. Ms. Bedley also developed an
assessment survey of the impact of the Women of Color Scholars Initiative to complement the
in-depth interviews she has been conducting with self-identified women of color faculty. This
survey is designed to assess productivity, impact of programming and development of skills
necessary to thriving in the academy. Once institutional review board approval has been
granted, data collection will begin. Surveys will most likely be administered in December
2012 and April 2013. Working with STEM UP PA, Shippensburg University and a
consortium, including Millersville University, Dickinson College and Franklin and Marshall
Collegea consortium, RU FAIR ADVANCE extended its interview and survey evaluation
project to include participants from this initiative. Since STEM UP PA was modeled after the
OASIS Leadership Program and because both programs are facilitated by Ms. Beth Tracy,
these collaboration provides an excellent opportunity to evaluate the extent to which the
OASIS program can serve as a national model for promoting the career advancement of
female science faculty.
Data Warehouse
In October, Research Analyst Hector Lopez led discussions with Gayle Coryell and Minmin
Chen from the Office of Institutional Research and Academic Planning (OIRAP) regarding
the institutionalization of the data warehouse (through which indicator data are produced).
The team decided to move the maintenance of the data warehouse from OIRAP to the
Sciwomen Office. This transfer of data allows RU FAIR ADVANCE to conduct more
analysis beyond the indicator data to assess gender and racial equity at Rutgers University.
OIRAP will continue to populate the data warehouse with new data and the Sciwomen office
will be responsible for cleaning data, analyzing data and reporting these data to higher
administration.
In this quarter, we include Tables 5a-e (both for year 4 2011-12 and the baseline year AY
2007-08), which include data on „Years in Rank‟ (see Appendix B).
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Best Ideas Yet
As the university begins the integration process, the conditions are favorable for
institutionalizing the RU FAIR ADVANCE Consortium. We will use the Spring 2013
Consortium meeting as an opportunity to wrap-up the RU FAIR ADVANCE internal advisory
board meetings. At the same time, we will work closely with the co-chairs of the Executive
Vice-President‟s Council for Diversity and Equity to begin the new phase of this advisory
board by introducing a format and possible topics for future discussions. This spring meeting
will focus on RU FAIR ADVANCE accomplishments through a presentation of qualitative
and quantitative data and of programmatic highlights. An important accomplishment in this
meeting will be to discuss mission and goals of the revamped Council for Diversity and
Equity for AY 2013-14.
Areas of Difficulty
Attempts to align the schedules of University leaders and administrators who serve on the
ADVANCE consortium were complicated by severe weather associated with Hurricane
Sandy and the events in its aftermath. As a result, we will not hold our ADVANCE
Consortium during the Fall semester, but will instead host this event in the Spring (currently
scheduled for April 14th
).
There have also been difficulties aligning PostDoc Speakers with departmental hiring in
Chemistry and Mathematics on the Newark campus. Program Coordinator, Nevean Khalil
will continue to work with these departments to locating potential speakers.
Personnel Update
RU FAIR Personnel, Business and Infrastructure Update :
The Office for the Promotion of Women in Science, Engineering, and Mathematics and the
RU FAIR team celebrates four new hires. The four new employees include: Newark Program
Coordinator, Nevean Khalil; Data/Technical Assistant, Oksana Lobanov; Clerical Assistant,
Rebecca Hong and the Federal Work-Study student hire of Jessica Leung. Our increased Year
5 operations along with the temporary maternity leave of Communication Coordinator
Albertina Luchko made these personnel changes necessary to continue our focus on
transformation at Rutgers University.
Nevean Khalil has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Classics and Italian Studies from Rutgers
University and extensive experience in substitute teaching in Franlkin Township Public
School system. Her primary focus is on the programming and compliance responsibilities for
the RU FAIR ADVANCE Newark activities. Ms. Khalil also supports the Central Office
business and event planning team.
18
Oksana Lobanov has joined the team in September as data and technical support specialist.
Ms. Lobanov‟s Computer Science degree is from the University of Electronics, Moscow,
Russia. She is responsible for the Sciwomen office‟s website programming & functionality.
Both of the new student hires (Ms. Rebecca Hong and Ms. Jessica Leung) have a strong
interest in the sciences and public policy. Rebecca is anticipating her Bachelor‟s in Public
Health from Rutgers University in 2013 and Jessica is a current School of Engineering major.
Both students have been working with general event support, data collection and
administrative functions. On the Camden campus, Dr. Ramaswami continues to support
students Thomas Greening and Maxwell Pospischil from funds provided by RU FAIR
ADVANCE to carry on Dr. Ramaswami‟s research work on theoretical computer science.
Dr. Arbuckle-Keil supports student Bellsabel Gebera-Eigzabher from RU FAIR ADVANCE
to assist Dr. Arbuckle in her lab.
Finally, data analyst MinMin Chen left her position with the Office of Institutional Research
at the end of October. Her responsibilities for creating, managing and producing NSF
indicator data tables have been transferred to Hector Lopez, Sciwomen/RU FAIR‟s Research
Analyst.[See “Project Evaluation” section for more information regarding the transfer of the
data warehouse to the Sciwomen Office]
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Appendix A
Developing a Transition Plan for UMDNJ Integration
Brittany Graf, PLDI Fellow, Ph.D. Candidate (Plant Biology)
Pre-Doctoral Leadership Development Institute (PLDI): develop academic leadership
competency through classroom discussion paired with practical experience; mentor Dr. Joan
Bennett
Project aim: Identify potential synergies at UMDNJ to strengthen the SciWomen “transition
plan”
Professional development programs for faculty, post-docs, and graduate students
Women and diversity – oriented opportunities
Administrative structure & key contacts
Key resource: Dr. Janet Alder
Director of Graduate Academic and Student Affairs at RWJMS
Advisor for Graduate Student Association of Joint Molecular Biosciences
Associate Professor in Neuroscience at UMDNJ-RWJMS
UMDNJ Faculty/Post-Doc Programs
OASIS participants
RU WINS Women in Neuroscience Seminar Series
Association for Women in Science (AWIS)
Other (web search)
o Women‟s Health Institute
o RWJMS Office of Faculty Development
o UMDNJ Center for Teaching Excellence
o American Association of University Women
UMDNJ Graduate Student Programs
American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) o Medical students are 60% female
Graduate Student Associations (GSAs)
o GSA of Molecular Biosciences [Advisor Dr. Janet Alder]
Strong female leads
3 dept: Neuroscience, Pharmacology & Biochemistry, Molecular
Biology
o Other GSAs: NeuroConnections, Biomedical Engineering, Toxicology
Active institutes: Cancer, Child health, Environmental and Occupational Health,
Brain Health
UMDNJ Undergraduate Programs
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Diversity: Research in Science and Engineering (RiSE)
Economically/ educationally disadvantaged:
ACCESS MED
Biomedical Careers Program (BCP)
Continuing Umbrella for Research Experience (CURE) w/ National Cancer
Institute
SciWomen Ideas & Opportunities
1. Expand/ improve OASIS Patenting/ biotech start up/ business
Quantitatively assess outcomes
2. Co-sponsor RU WINS Women in Neuroscience seminar
3. Align with AWIS Write in their national publication
Co-sponsor professional development seminars (parallels with Masters of Business
& Science program)
4. Support GSA(s): co-sponsor speakers and resume writing workshops
5. Invigorate AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges) Women in Medicine
program
UMDNJ Administrative Recommendations
1. Make GSA officers more consistent year to year
2. Clarify the advancement/ promotion guidelines & faculty titles
3. Restructure graduate student tuition payment
4. –Paid and remitted through same account, can lead to deficit
5. Unionize students and post-docs, develop AAUP contract with faculty
6. Identify funding roles of UMDNJ Foundation, RWJ Foundation, and Rutgers
Foundation
Key Contacts:
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Name Email Position(s)
1
Janet Alder
[email protected] Advisor for GSA of
Molecular
Biosciences
2
Kathy
Scotto
[email protected] Dean of
Research; Dean of
Graduate School at
UMDNJ
3 Terri Kinzy
[email protected] Associate Dean of Research;
Associate Dean of Graduate
School at RWJMS
4 Cheryl
Dreyfus
[email protected] Chair of
Neuroscience Dept
5 Carol Terregin
o
[email protected] Associate Dean of
Administration; Senior
Associate Dean
for Education
6 Wise
Young
u
RU WINS
Women in Neuroscience
Seminar Series
7 Martha Soto
[email protected] Post-doc association
advisor
8 Carol Newlon
[email protected] Associate Dean for Faculty
Affairs for
NJMS
22
9 David
Swee
[email protected] Associate Dean
for Faculty
Affairs for RWJM
1
0
Alice
Lustig
[email protected] Chief
Operating Officer of
RWJMS
11
Kamana Misra
[email protected] Association for Women in
Science (AWIS)
President
1
2
Denise
Gavala
[email protected] Foundation of
UMDNJ Vice President for
Development
23
Appendix B
24
25
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