NEW CMSI REPORT: Supporting Early Career Faculty at Minority Serving Institutions
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Jacinda Nembhard | jacinda.nembhard@gse.rutgers.edu
New Brunswick, N.J., October 24, 2024 – The Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions (CMSI) is proud to announce the release of a new report, “Supporting Early Career Faculty at Minority Serving Institutions.” The report explores the challenges and opportunities experienced by Minority Serving Institution (MSI) faculty and the ELEVATE early career program’s impact on these faculty.
The report emphasizes the importance of professional development and mentorship for junior-level faculty at MSIs to thrive in their careers and provide their students with a high-quality education. Moreover, the report finds that due to a lack of resources and funding, such opportunities are not always available at MSIs. Thus, heightening the challenges faced by their faculty.
“Educators of color gravitate towards MSIs because they offer a “family-like” atmosphere, a commitment to equity and student success, and the opportunity to both give back and nurture the next generation of leaders…” said Marybeth Gasman, one of the report’s authors, Executive Director of the Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions and the Samuel Dewitt Proctor Endowed Chair. She added, “That’s why professional development and mentorship play a critical role in fostering a diverse and dynamic faculty at MSIs.”
According to the report, faculty members expressed challenges, including unrealistic expectations for research, writing, and publishing while managing the heavy teaching load that is typical at MSIs. Faculty also noted a lack of clarity around expectations for receiving tenure. Moreover, they expressed concerns about speaking up as junior faculty at their institutions, worrying about how being vocal could jeopardize their careers and chances of obtaining tenure.
CMSI’s ELEVATE program is designed to address these concerns through professional development sessions and mentoring. “The ELEVATE program aims to further equip MSI faculty with support, training, and mentoring to secure tenure and thrive as an academic,” said Gasman.
According to the report, 70% of ELEVATE fellows have earned tenure and promotion at their institution. “It was a pleasure to meet colleagues who also understand the joys and challenges of working at an MSI,” said Elena Venegas, ELEVATE fellow 2021. She added, “I appreciated the candidness of the mentors and their guidance in helping us to navigate the pathway to tenure.”
Timothy Fong, a professor of Ethnic Studies at California State University, Sacramento, and an ELEVATE mentor, believes that “Faculty success at colleges and universities is often very unclear, arbitrary, capricious, and anxiety provoking. This is especially the case for first-generation educators, women, and faculty of color.” Therefore, he believes that “ELEVATE provides valuable practical information that many junior faculty have to learn on their own, if at all, at their home campuses.”
The report's authors include recommendations for institutions that want to support faculty and for early-career MSI faculty members looking for ways to manage their workload and find support. For institutions, the authors emphasize the importance of MSIs offering professional development to help their faculty stay current, enhance their skills, and advance in their careers. For early-career MSI faculty members, they highlight self-care and prioritizing work-life balance and time management to focus on priorities and protect writing time. The authors also encourage MSI faculty to seek opportunities for personal development, networking, and mentorship, to help them stay informed and thrive in their careers.
Applications for ELEVATE 2025 will open on November 15, 2024.
Please check our website for more information.
For more information, contact Jacinda Nembhard, Jacinda.Nembhard@gse.rutgers.edu
The report can be found here.
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About the Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions
The Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions (CMSI) brings together researchers and practitioners from Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions, and Asian American, Native American, and Pacific Islander Serving Institutions. CMSI’s goals include: elevating the educational contributions of MSIs; ensuring that they are a part of national conversations; bringing awareness to the vital role MSIs play in the nation’s economic development; increasing the rigorous scholarship of MSIs; connecting MSIs’ academic and administrative leadership to promote reform initiatives; and strengthening efforts to close educational achievement gaps among disadvantaged communities. The Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions is part of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Institute for Leadership, Equity and Justice (Proctor Institute) at the Graduate School of Education at Rutgers University, New Brunswick. For further information about CMSI, please visit https://cmsi.gse.rutgers.edu/.
