What is the PURPOSE

The PURPOSE Institute focuses on the development of Promoting Under Represented Presence On Science and Engineering faculty. The primary goal of the PURPOSE Institute is to Empower Current and Aspiring Faculty to Achievement, Promotion and Leadership in the Academy. The Institute focuses on the development of African-American, Hispanic or Native American (AAHANA) science and engineering faculty members, with an express goal of promoting the recruitment, preparation and retention of AAHANA faculty in the Engineering/Science Academy. There needs to be a focused effort to increase the number of engineering faculty of color in the academy. More importantly however, it is a necessity to address both the retention and promotion of the same faculty once they achieve the status of engineering faculty member. The Institute consists of four components:

1. Think Tanks of Successful Underrepresented Engineering and Science Faculty
2. Faculty - Administrator Partnerships (e.g., Senior Faculty Groups to dialog with Engineering Deans)
3. Information Resource for Current and Aspiring Faculty and Administrators.
4. Advisory Group of national STEM leaders.

We are still in the initial stages of development. The establishment of this Future Faculty Resource Institute will promote strategic initiatives that target Colleges of Engineering and Science. It will also provide just-in-time guidance and support for administrators, faculty and aspiring faculty.

We choose to address it through a basic grassroots effort by a well regarded, credentialed group of URM faculty partnering with university administrators. The anticipated immediate impact of this project will be: 1) a clear communication channel between administrators and URM faculty clusters (of varying disciplines); 2) an increase in the success rate for URM assistant professors in attaining tenure; associate professors to be promoted to the rank of full professor and 3) an increase in the number of minority graduate students committed to the pursuit of academic careers and leadership positions. The higher success rate in the long term will translate into a larger base of URM faculty and seed a positive gain feedback loop resulting in higher representation by underrepresented minorities by the middle of the 21 st century. The faculty/administrator partnership will enable certain aspects of this project to be integrated into university practices, providing faculty and deans with a roadmap for the retention of underrepresented minorities on engineering and science faculties.

PURPOSE Stakeholders

There are five major stakeholders in this initiative:

1. Colleges of Engineering/Science; Administration - The ability of deans and department heads to glean knowledge from a group of successful underrepresented faculty will facilitate the recruitment and retention of faculty from this same group. The eventual beneficiaries of the production of quality faculty are the undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in engineering schools around the country.
2. Current Faculty -This group consists of both tenure track and tenured faculty. Some of these faculty may be at critical stages of their careers: 1) pursuing career advancement in the reappointment, promotion/tenure process, 2) on the verge of leaving the academy due to the absence of either mentoring, a network or resources and 3) at an important decision point regarding advanced positions in the academy.
3. Aspiring Future Faculty -This includes graduate students, post doctoral associates and engineering professionals interested in moving to the academy. Their primary need is a roadmap of job acquisition methodologies, crucial climate issues and mentoring by current faculty.
4. Students - The United States population is an increasingly diverse population. These diverse students want to see inclusion demonstrated on every level of the university.
5. Industry - Industry leaders are searching for diverse job candidates. The PURPOSE Institute’s work to improve the diversity of engineering faculties is a critical component to diversifying the engineering campuses of the United States.