Developing Engineering Instructional Faculty as Leaders of Educational Change at Hispanic-Serving Institutions

With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program), this Track 1 project focuses on enabling non-tenure-eligible, instructional faculty to further foster culturally responsive, evidence-based approaches in engineering education at Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs). Non-tenure-eligible Engineering Instructional Faculty (EIF) are an under-explored and under-supported population who play a critical role in students? educational experiences within engineering. With the historical emphasis placed on faculty development and resources for tenure-track faculty, there is an untapped opportunity to amplify the existing efforts of EIF at HSIs to support an increasingly diverse student population. This project seeks to develop EIF as leaders of educational change who embrace and promote the use of culturally responsive, evidence-based instructional practices at HSIs. Towards this end, this project will partner with EIF to design Engineering Leadership Academies (ELA) - a self-sustaining, within- and cross-institutional faculty development model that equips EIF and amplifies their leadership of educational change at HSIs. Through professional development and coaching of approximately 80 EIF, the project will enrich a growing network of educational leaders at HSIs. These EIF will design educational initiatives for their campuses that seek to improve student learning and retention, with the potential to directly impact the education of over 1,800 engineering students throughout the project. In addition, the ELAs and the culminating National ELA conference will expand the reach of the faculty development by including participants from a diverse set of HSIs, including two- and four-year institutions as well as those who receive low levels of NSF funding.

  • Focus: Engineering
  • Funder: National Science Foundation
  • Team: Alexandra Strong (Principal Investigator), Erika Tatiana Camacho (Program Manager)
  • Award Number: 1953586
  • Amount: $984,259
  • Contact: Alexandra Strong alexandra.strong@fiu.edu