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1. The Importance of HOW in Faculty Salary Equity Studies: Development and Impact of an ADVANCE Salary Equity Study and Workshop Series to Promote an Inclusive Academic Environment

   https://doi.org/10.5399/osu/ADVJRNL.3.2.5  

   Marchetti, Carol E; Bailey, Margaret B (January 2022, ADVANCE Journal)

   This paper describes the framework and processes of a multi-faceted salary equity initiative in which a team of administrators and faculty developed a process to conduct annual salary equity studies for faculty and disseminate findings to the campus. Program elements include a request for proposals and associated evaluation rubric, executive summaries, campus presentations of salary studies, and workshops for faculty and salary decision-makers to increase understanding of the university’s faculty compensation system. As a result of this program university-level salary studies continue, faculty and administrators have embarked on additional collaborations to address faculty salary, and transparency of university pay practices has increased. This paper offers lessons learned and tangible steps for stakeholders at other campuses seeking to implement a salary equity initiative, including organizational documents and guidelines. 

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2. Enhancing the Success of Minority STEM Students by Providing Financial, Academic, Social, and Cultural Capital

   Enriquez, A. G.; Lipe, C. B.; Price, B. (June 2017, ASEE annual conference & exposition)

   Research has shown that student achievement is influenced by their access to, or possession of, various forms of capital. These forms of capital include financial capital, academic capital (prior academic preparation and access to academic support services), cultural capital (the attitudes, knowledge, and behaviors related to education which students are exposed to by members of their family or community), and social capital (the resources students have access to as a result of being members of groups or networks). For community college students, many with high financial need and the first in their families to go to college (especially those from underrepresented minority groups), developing programs to increase access to these various forms of capital is critical to their success. This paper describes how a small federally designated Hispanic-serving community college has developed a scholarship program for financially needy community college students intending to transfer to a four-year institution to pursue a bachelor’s degree in a STEM field. Developed through a National Science Foundation Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) grant, the program involves a collaboration among STEM faculty, college staff, administrators, student organizations, and partners in industry, four-year institutions, local high schools, and professional organizations. In addition to providing financial support through the scholarships, student access to academic capital is increased through an intensive math review program, tutoring, study groups, supplemental instruction, and research internship opportunities. Access to cultural and social capital is increased by providing scholars with faculty mentors; engaging students with STEM faculty, university researchers, and industry professionals through field trips, summer internships, professional organizations, and student clubs; supporting student and faculty participation at professional conferences, and providing opportunities for students and their families to interact with faculty and staff. The paper details the development of the program, and its impact over the last five years on enhancing the success of STEM students as determined from data on student participation in various program activities, student attitudinal and self-efficacy surveys, and academic performance including persistence, retention, transfer and graduation. 

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3. Approaches for Efficiently Identifying and Characterizing Student Need Assessments in Two-Year Colleges

   https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--55452  

   Krupczak, John; Brown, David; Chan_Hilton, Amy (June 2025, ASEE Conferences)

   This paper describes an approach that can be used by faculty and administrators to efficiently develop program-level student support plans to increase retention and completion in STEM disciplines. These recommendations were developed as part of a National Science Foundation-sponsored workshop intended to help two-year college faculty and administrators prepare proposals for the National Science Foundation Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) Program. S-STEM scholarship proposals are expected to be built on a foundation of deep needs analyses specific to the targeted population of students in STEM disciplines. Based on needs assessment, programs can then focus on implementing appropriate interventions that will be most effective in improving the retention and completion of their students. Guidelines for streamlining the acquisition and organization of critical elements of student needs analyses can be useful for two-year college faculty and administrators to develop NSF S-STEM proposals and any other initiatives they may pursue to improve student success at their institutions. Our approach recognizes that needs analysis benefits from three levels of data: institutional data, program-level data, and student-level data. Institutional-level data includes retention and completion data as well as results of institutional-level surveys of current students or alumni and the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). Program-level data includes retention and completion data at the program level that may show significant differences from institutional results. In addition, program data should include course-level grades and failure rates, student GPA correlated with student program year, and student demographic data if available. The program data can help identify attrition points at the program level. Student data forms a third level that can clarify and focus student needs analyses. One aspect of student-level data is personal attributes associated with academic and career success in STEM fields. Examples include a growth mindset, stem identity, a sense of belonging, and academic self-efficacy. The validated surveys that exist to characterize these attributes are outlined in the paper. These surveys can be used at the program level to identify both baseline data and critical needs. In parallel with surveys, the creation of a student need archetype using techniques from the NSF I-Corps for Learning (I-Corps L) model can be used to elicit another dimension of challenges faced by students. The I-Corps for Learning model emphasizes the benefit of unstructured one-on-one informal interviews to elicit unscripted data from students to test assumptions and uncover opportunities for impact. The paper provides step-by-step guidelines for efficient implementation of I-Corps for Learning student needs discovery methods. In summary, even with external grant funding such as NSF S-STEM funds, student support initiatives must allocate available funds strategically to obtain the most impact. Collection of data at institutional, program, and student levels can facilitate the synthesis of a student-need archetype that supports faculty and administrative decision-makers. This paper aims to provide practical guidelines to two-year college faculty and administrators for creating a compelling student needs assessment and characterization of institutional context. 

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4. Factors that influence STEM faculty use of evidence-based instructional practices: An ecological model

   https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0281290  

   Sansom, Rebecca L.; Winters, Desiree M.; St. Clair, Bryn E.; West, Richard E.; Jensen, Jamie L. (January 2023, PLOS ONE)

   Dalby, Andrew R. (Ed.)

   Traditional teaching practices in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses have failed to support student success, causing many students to leave STEM fields and disproportionately affecting women and students of color. Although much is known about effective STEM teaching practices, many faculty continue to adhere to traditional methods, such as lecture. In this study, we investigated the factors that affect STEM faculty members’ instructional decisions about evidence-based instructional practices (EBIPs). We performed a qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews with faculty members from the Colleges of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Life Sciences, and Engineering who took part in a professional development program to support the use of EBIPs by STEM faculty at the university. We used an ecological model to guide our investigation and frame the results. Faculty identified a variety of personal, social, and contextual factors that influenced their instructional decision-making. Personal factors included attitudes, beliefs, and self-efficacy. Social factors included the influence of students, colleagues, and administration. Contextual factors included resources, time, and student characteristics. These factors interact with each other in meaningful ways that highlight the hyper-local social contexts that exist within departments and sub-department cultures, the importance of positive feedback from students and colleagues when implementing EBIPs, and the need for support from the administration for faculty who are in the process of changing their teaching. 

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5. Building Community Understanding of Institutional Compensation Systems: An ADVANCE Partnership Project

   Marchetti, C.; Bailey, M.; Rivero, I.; Bennett, J.; Blackwell, G. (August 2022, ASEE annual conference exposition)

   Institutional structures and systems of power influence salary outcomes and pay practices, which in turn are closely related to the quality of work life, informing our knowledge of what (and who) is important to the organization. This paper reports on a newly awarded NSF ADVANCE Partnership project that aims to significantly expand knowledge of best practices for faculty compensation to a broader community in higher education and provide critical insights to guide compensation practices. The project’s objective is to improve institutional understanding and influence actions regarding pay equity through broader comprehension of compensation structures. Even when controlling for a wide range of demographic and background variables, women earn less than men, and women of color experience an even wider wage gap. In post-secondary education wage gaps persist among faculty, particularly at institutions with the highest levels of research. Project activities have three aims: First, engage administrative units (Human Resources, Institutional Research, Diversity/Inclusion, Legal, and Academic Affairs) in a collaborative relationship supported by university leadership. Second, enhance pay decision-makers’ understanding of and basis for pay decisions, and their ability to communicate to individuals how their pay is determined. Third, increase faculty knowledge of institutional pay practices while emphasizing the importance of inclusion and institutional values. Expected outcomes from this work include improvements in institutional policies and practices, faculty perceptions of pay equity, leadership skills of pay decision-makers, and institutional engagement beyond the project partners. The project involves collaborations with three university partners, two national associations, and two NSF INCLUDES projects. 

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