PARTNER SPOTLIGHT
Florida International University
With over one thousand full-time faculty members from around the globe, strengthening inclusivity—with the ability to measure progress—is vital to Florida International University (FIU), which serves more than 56,000 students at its Miami campus.
Leading these efforts is FIU’s Office to Advance Women, Equity, and Diversity (AWED), established in 2016 through a National Science Foundation ADVANCE Grant aimed at institutional transformation. Many of the AWED’s programs—as well as the office’s creation—were informed by data collected through the COACHE Faculty Job Satisfaction Surveys administered in 2017 and 2013.
“The use of COACHE Faculty Job Satisfaction data has been invaluable for turning areas of concern for faculty into areas of strength,” says Dr. Suzanna Rose, Founding Associate Provost of AWED. “We’re able to use the COACHE data to focus our actions and show the return on investment for our work.”
AWED is responsible for evidence-based inclusivity programs leading to increased faculty satisfaction in areas including the university’s perceived commitment to diversity and inclusion, hiring and retention issues, and mentoring. Overall satisfaction among Latinx, Black, and women faculty also improved.
One of its most recent and impactful programs is the award-winning Bystander Leadership™ Program. Based on the insights revealed in the COACHE data, the program empowers faculty to take responsibility for being more inclusive toward their colleagues and recognize their own biases. The impressive results showed that when more than 60 percent of the department had been through the program, faculty reported feeling their departmental climate was more supportive.
One of the key supporters of the program is Dr. Caroline Simpson, the Associate Director at AWED, where she oversees equity and diversity programming university wide. “People have conversations and listen, and they realize [that others have had similar experiences OR what others have experienced],” says Dr. Simpson. “It’s important. And COACHE gives us the ability to measure that feedback and track progress, which is so hard otherwise.”
Simpson notes that while FIU recognizes there is still progress to be made, the proven results of the Bystander Leadership™ Program can serve as a model for others. It is currently being adapted at Georgia State University, which received a National Science Foundation ADVANCE grant under the Adaption Program and will be collaborating with FIU as a more senior advanced institution.
This story appeared in COACHE’s recently released Impact Report, “Partners in Progress”. Read the full report here.