Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and The State University of New York (SUNY) is launching a new initiative PRODiG - Promoting, Recruitment, Opportunity, Diversity, Inclusion and Growth. The first of its kind initiative aims to increase faculty diversity to reflect the students throughout their 64 campuses with a goal of hiring 1,000 professors from underrepresented groups by 2030.
"New York's strength comes from not only celebrating our rich cultures but working aggressively to expand opportunities to increase diversity in our SUNY faculty," Governor Cuomo said. "This first of its kind initiative is at the heart of SUNY's core values and reflects New York's deep commitment to providing the highest quality and richly diverse education in the nation."
In Fall 2018, 28.5 percent of SUNY students were from underrepresented minority groups while underrepresented groups account for eight percent of all SUNY faculty members.
SUNY Chancellor Kristina M. Johnson said, "SUNY continues to be a leader in affordable high-quality education and focusing on increasing faculty diversity - particularly underrepresented minorities and women in STEM disciplines - is the right thing to do at the right time. PRODiG is personal to me—during my eight years as an undergrad and graduate student I didn't initially consider becoming a professor in my field in large part because there were no female faculty members in STEM. This first of its kind program delivers on a commitment that SUNY will continue to listen to the needs of students and faculty and find creative ways to expand their education experience at campuses across the state."
PRODiG is mostly funded by New York State through a Performance Improvement Fund designed to attract and retain a more diverse faculty and narrow the gap in diverse representation between students and faculty.
SUNY is offering three-year salary support grants to underrepresented groups in STEM disciplines with positions fully funded from each campus. Additionally, SUNY with track talented high school students to create a pipeline for careers in academia and encouraging the students through mentoring conferences and support. Incoming doctoral students will receive a one-time graduate stipend of $5,000.
Read more at https://www.suny.edu/suny-news/press-releases/03-2019/3-18-19/prodig-launch.html
Photo Courtesy of SUNY Ulster’s Facebook Page
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