The ADVANCE Program serves all faculty members, especially underrepresented faculty, through training, mentoring, and networking.
The ADVANCE grant at New Mexico State University (2002–2008) was a successful Institutional Transformation grant from the National Science Foundation. This grant worked to extend women’s participation in academic careers in the sciences and engineering. Between 2002 and 2008, the strategies used doubled the number of female scientists hired into faculty positions at NMSU from 17% to 34%.
Building on the success of the first ADVANCE grant, a second NSF grant entitled, “NM–PAID Partnerships for Adaptation, Implementation, and Dissemination,” was funded for 2007–2011. Housed at the Teaching Academy, NM–PAID sought to disseminate the best practices of the NMSU ADVANCE program for department head training and mentoring, as well as for promotion and tenure. These practices were disseminated to three partnering institutions: New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, University of New Mexico, and Los Alamos National Laboratory.
In 2006, New Mexico State University established ADVANCE as a permanent program at the Teaching Academy. This ongoing program has a broader focus, serving all faculty members, especially underrepresented faculty.