ACS academic awareness site visit program: Strengthening our academic foundations

WCC 36

Nancy M. Tooney, nmt02@att.net, Dept. of Chemistry (emerita), Polytechnic University, 6 MetroTech Center, Brooklyn, NY 11201, Felicia Dixon, f_dixon@acs.org, Diversity Programs, American Chemical Society, 1155 16th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036, Natalie Foster, nf00@lehigh.edu, Department of Chemistry, Lehigh University, 6 East Packer Ave, Bethlehem, PA 18015, Deborah A. McCarthy, Department of Chemistry and Physics, Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame, IN 46556, and Sally Chapman, schapman@barnard.edu, Department of Chemistry, Barnard College, New York, NY 10027.
In 2002, the ACS initiated PROGRESS Project, a three-year pilot project to test, develop and evaluate seven programs aimed at the full participation, advancement and leadership of women chemists and chemical engineers in the workplace. Its goals were to assist entry-level professions in finding employment and to guide and support early- and mid-career professionals seeking advancement. The goal of PROGRESS Program #7 Academic Awareness/Site Visits focused on improvement in the hiring, promotion and retention of tenure-track women faculty members in the chemical sciences and engineering. Carnegie research-extensive universities were the target group. The site visit process and evaluation of survey instruments and focus groups were developed, tested and refined in the pilot phase, funded by the ACS. With the support of a multi-year grant from the NSF under the ADVANCE initiative, a total of 35 universities --invited by the ACS president to participate--were visited to determine best practices for creating a favorable climate for women faculty in particular and all faculty, in general. Faculty, postdoctorals and graduate students were included in the process.
 

The ADVANCE Project
8:30 AM-11:35 AM, Wednesday, August 22, 2007 Sheraton Boston -- Berkeley A/B, Oral

Women Chemists Committee

The 234th ACS National Meeting, Boston, MA, August 19-23, 2007