Overview
Project CREST aims to transform UCCS by adapting practices from previous ADVANCE projects to:
- positively impact women’s research experiences and productivity
- change the research policies and evaluation structures within the institution to more fully support women’s research participation, and
- vigilantly mitigate biases within UCCS research spaces and research processes. Project CREST focuses on systemic reform efforts that will change the landscape of UCCS today and for the next generation of scholars.
Specific Initiatives from Previous ADVANCE Projects
Initiative 1: Building a responsive and inclusive research infrastructure.
Based upon Montana State University’s ADVANCE Project TRACS we will:
- Hire a Research Development Coordinator to help establish an inclusive research infrastructure
- Offer “mini grants” for women faculty and those from other underrepresented backgrounds in STEM and SBS
- Host grant-writing bootcamps to provide dedicated time and instruction for creating successful grant submissions
- Create and implement a targeted Research Facilitation Network to provide ongoing support and mentoring for campus researchers
Initiative 2: Reshaping research policy, practices, and evaluation structures.
- Use the WVU Dialogues dual-agenda technique to develop cohesion and inclusion among departments and co-create new annual review processes with each unit
- Reimagine promotion and tenure documents in line with Seattle University’s ADVANCE Project
- Revisit all research policies with an intersectional lens to ensure that they benefit everyone – also from SU’s ADVANCE
- Establish enduring sense-making opportunities using Georgia Tech’s ADEPT format to catalyze new habits, texts, and interactions that can help sustain and cultivate gender and racial equity
