Transcript Slide 1
FACES:
Facilitating Academic Careers
In Engineering and Science
Gary S. May
Dean, College of Engineering
Project Director
Background
• Despite some progress, the proportion of women and minority freshmen in
engineering has been declining.
• Although absolute numbers have increased for women, Hispanics, and
underrepresented minority engineering freshmen, the numbers for men and nonminority freshmen have been increasing at a faster pace.
• the number of African American freshmen has declined from 8,552 in 2001 to
7,338 in 2008 – a drop of 14%.
Percentage Represented in
Engineering Freshman Class
2005
2010
Women
16.2%
18.1%
AfricanAmerican
7.3%
6.8%
Source: ASEE Data
Mining Tool
Engineering Master’s Degrees
Source: NSF
Engineering Doctorates
Source: NSF
Demographics of Academia
Full-Time S&E Ph.D. faculty (2008):
• African American: 3.5% (8,800)
• Hispanic American: 3.7% (9100)
• American Indian: 0.2% (600)
[SOURCE: Women, Minorities, and Person with Disabilities
in Science and Engineering, NSF, 2011]
Number of S&E doctorates graduating (2008):
• African American 4.9% (983)
• Hispanic American 5.8% (1162)
• American Indian 0.5% (102)
[SOURCE: Women, Minorities, and Person with Disabilities
in Science and Engineering, NSF, 2011]
FACES Overview
Two majority institutions (Emory University and Georgia Tech)
and two minority institutions (Spelman College and Morehouse
College) combine to form one alliance – FACES, Facilitating
Academic Careers In Engineering and Science.
GOAL:
Systemic changes for increasing the
number of underrepresented minority
(URM) engineering and science PhDs,
as well as those choosing academia.
Majority Institutions
Georgia Tech
• Colleges of Computing, Engineering, and Sciences recommend meritorious candidates
for supplemental financial or mentoring support.
• Fosters an added vested interest on the part
of the school/department co-investing in
the student.
Emory University
• A post-baccalaureate program (PREP) serves as a secondary
path to research training and careers for URM students .
• Currently developing a program to continue the mission of FACES,
as well as a program targeting undergraduate students.
• FACES works to keep issues of student and faculty diversity on the
agenda of university decision-makers and thought-leaders.
• By providing supplemental funds, FACES is able to help a larger number of students.
Minority Institutions
Morehouse College
• Research Careers Office (RCO) supports the training of
undergraduate STEM students and their participation
in research training programs.
• The international research collaboration with Georgia Tech through FACES has
catalyzed the STEM community’s interests to develop more opportunities for all
science and engineering students.
Spelman College
• Office of Science, Engineering and Technical Careers
(OSETC) recommends that all undergraduate students
pursue a research internship beginning the summer
after their freshmen year.
• Participation provides the students with a competitive edge when applying to
graduate school.
Recruitment
Georgia Tech’s enrollment of URM students in graduate
engineering and science programs has risen by approximately
50% since FACES started in 1998.
Bolstering the pipeline: Upperclassmen undergraduates are provided research
experiences to promote their interest in research and graduate school. All four alliance
partners are instrumental conduits for the undergraduate talent that is trained in
research.
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Upward trend in enrollment
since the inception of the FACES program.
Recruitment
Concerted national recruitment: Using the
“success breeding success” theme, current URM
faculty and graduate students interact with
prospective graduate students at national events,
such as the GT FOCUS program and the National
Society of Black Engineers annual convention.
FACES supplemental fellowships:
FACES funds and programming offer schools and departments a strategic enhancement
to their ability to recruit prospective URM graduate students. Recruits may be offered
additional tangible (i.e., the financial supplement) and intangible (i.e., mentoring)
support.
Retention
The FACES alliance has directly aided the retention of over 160
(and counting!) URM science and engineering fellows.
Term progress reports: Georgia Tech FACES Fellows are required to give a tangible
account of their progress via reports at the beginning of each academic term. The
students’ research advisors and FACES Steering Committee must agree with these
reports in order for the students to receive fellowship installments. The reports keep
the students, advisors, and FACES administration mutually engaged in student
observation.
Retention
Rapport-building “socials”: Periodic social events facilitate a sense of “community”
amongst FACES fellows and administration. Fellows are brought together from different
majors and research thrusts to bond with and encourage each other.
Additionally, the fellows experience the engagement of the FACES Steering
Committee, which is primarily comprised of URM faculty.
Complementary Mentoring: The FACES program
also fosters mentoring between URM STEM faculty
and URM FACES fellows (graduate students). This
allows faculty and fellows to interact in fulfillment of
FACES’ objectives to facilitate the students’ progress
toward attaining their Ph.D. and gaining insight about
the professoriate.
Increase in Select Faculty Diversity
FACES has been a significant part of the continued diversification
of STEM departments within the alliance members.
Georgia Tech
The FACES program integrates with GT’s FOCUS Fellows
Initiative, in which URM engineering and sciences Ph.D.
recipients are invited to departments in search of new faculty.
Four participants have joined the Georgia Tech faculty:
Sam Graham (Mechanical Engineering)
Tequila Harris (Mechanical Engineering)
Ayanna Howard (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
Mitchell Walker (Aerospace Engineering)
GT ECE Associate Professor
Ayanna Howard
Transition into Academia
Career Initiation Grant (CIG)/
“Portable post-doc”:
The FACES program provides $30,000 Career
Initiation Grants (CIGs) to new and recent URM
doctoral graduate students of the alliance that
accept tenure track faculty positions in
engineering or science at a U.S. college or
university.
Alternatively, the Portable Post-Doc
Program provides a talented Ph.D. engineering
or science graduate (from the alliance) with a
stipend of $35,000 that serves as a one-year
post-doctoral fellowship.
Both funding mechanisms are novel incentives
and catalysts for a “newly minted” Ph.D. to
have expedited success in academic roles.
FACES Career Initiation Grant (CIG)
awardee Dr. Ron Metoyer (center) with
CIG coordinator
Prof. Reginald DesRoches (left) and
former Georgia Tech President G.
Wayne Clough (right).
Transition into Academia
FACES has directly supported the academic preparation and/or
financial support of 32 URM GT engineering and science Ph.D.
recipients who went into academia as tenure-track professors.
Teaching practicum: Selected FACES Fellows are exposed
to all aspects of teaching a course under the supervision
and mentorship of the course’s responsible professor. This
opportunity involves potential syllabus direction, lectures
preparation and delivery, test and assignment formation
and evaluation, and other core instructional activities.
FACES enrichment seminars: FACES Fellows are required to attend monthly
enrichment seminars throughout the academic year. Although a number of seminars
address conventional preparatory topics (i.e., faculty interviewing, successful research
proposal development), a key impetus is placed upon illuminating fellows about the
lesser-known advantages of the professoriate.
10 Early Career Awardees
Georgia Tech’s FACES beneficiaries that entered STEM academia
in tenure tracks. As of 2012, each of the highlighted individuals
have received meritorious early career awards.
(e.g., NSF CAREER/PECASE, NIH and AFOSR young investigator awards).
A. Asa-Awuku - University of California, Riverside
R. Beyah - Georgia Institute of Technology
T. Brown - Michigan State University
T. Clegg - University of Maryland, College Park
J. Coombs-Reyes - Norfolk State University
J. Ejae - University of Trinidad and Tobago
J. Fairley - Emory University
S. France - Georgia Institute of Technology
D. Geddis - Norfolk State University
A. Gordon - University of Central Florida
S. Graham - Georgia Institute of Technology
M. Griffith - Kennesaw State University
J. Hickman - Southern Poly University
M. Hite - Morgan State University
A. Johnson - Morehouse College
W. Johnson - Armstrong State University
M. Lewis - Cornell University
C. Liddell - Cornell University
J. Matthews - Howard University
J. Mendenhall - Morehouse College
R. Metoyer - Oregon State University
J. Mcnair - University of Florida
E. Moore - Georgia Tech Savannah
J. Owino - University of Tennessee-Chattanooga
D. Paris - Savannah State University
A. Parker - Northeastern University
M. Platt - Georgia Institute of Technology
W. Robinson - Vanderbilt University
G. Triplett - University of Missouri
C. Vance-Harris - West Chester University
F. Williams - Norfolk State University
H. Wooten - University of California, Davis
Summary: FACES Impact
Goal: “Changing the FACE of the
Engineering and Science Professoriate”
Multi-university collaborative effort
Initiated in 1998 ($2.5M NSF grant)
Renewed in 2004 ($7.8M NSF grant)
373 URM STEM Ph.D. graduates at Georgia
Tech since FACES started
32 URM faculty produced – 13 received
promotion and tenure
10 received CAREER Awards
3 received PECASE Awards
Georgia Tech: National Rankings
1st in the nation in number engineering Ph.D. degrees
awarded to African Americans
4th in the nation in number of engineering M.S. degrees
awarded to African Americans
2nd in the nation in number of engineering B.S. degrees
awarded to African Americans
2nd in the nation in total number of engineering degrees
awarded to African Americans
1st in the nation in number of engineering Ph.D. degrees
awarded to Hispanic Americans
4th in the nation in number of engineering M.S. degrees
awarded to Hispanic Americans
1st in the nation in number of engineering Ph.D. degrees
awarded to underrepresented minorities
5th in the nation in number of engineering M.S. degrees
awarded to underrepresented minorities
2nd in the nation in total number of engineering degrees
awarded to underrepresented minorities
1st in the nation in total number of engineering degrees
awarded to women