Promoting Recruitment, Opportunity, Diversity, Inclusion and Growth (PRODiG) at SUNY Oneonta

Abstract

This presentation will describe SUNY Oneonta’s PRODiG program, demonstrate program success, and spotlight PRODiG faculty. The purpose of PRODiG is to increase the representation of historically underrepresented faculty at SUNY, including underrepresented minority (URM) faculty and women faculty of all races in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields (WSTEM). PRODiG is envisioned as part of our broader campus diversity and inclusion initiatives. In our second year of participation, SUNY Oneonta formalized a strong working committee, the PRODiG Steering Committee, with the charge to move forward action items toward our goals to: increase representation of URM/WSTEM faculty through hiring and retention; enhance the pipeline of URM/WSTEM students pursuing and entering graduate school and URM/WSTEM graduates to academic careers; and improve the campus climate for diversity, equity, and inclusion. To date, SUNY has approved four PRODIG Faculty at SUNY Oneonta: Cohort I (2019-2020) - Dr. Angela Migues, Chemistry & Biochemistry, and Dr. Elio Santos, Psychology; Cohort II (2020-2021) - Dr. Kimberly Cossey, Chemistry & Biochemistry, and Dr. Valerie Rapson, Physics & Astronomy; and one PRODiG Pre/Post-Doctoral Fellow - Dr. Casey Coomes, Biology. In addition to Co-Chairs Tracy Allen and Bernadette Tiapo, members of the PRODiG Steering Committee include Kelly Gallagher (Chemistry & Biochemistry), Tracy Hartwell (Human Resources), Shahin Kachwala (Women’s & Gender Studies), Kathy Meeker (Grants Development Office), Diana Moller (College Assistance Migrant Program), Joshua Nelson (Institutional Assessment), Rhea Nowak (Faculty Center), Andrew Stammel (Student Development), and Napoleon Tipao (Academic Affairs).