Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
STEM
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
STEM

Syracuse University One of 10 Institutions Selected for AAC&U Institute

Friday, August 20, 2021, By Ellen de Graffenreid
Share
facultySTEM

July 27-30, the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) held an Institute on Reframing Institutional Transformation to Include Non-Tenure-Track STEM Faculty. Syracuse University was one of 10 institutions to participate in the Institute, which AAC&U developed in collaboration with researchers at the University of Southern California and with funding from the National Science Foundation.

Syracuse University College of Arts and Sciences Dean Emeritus George Langford, who is also professor emeritus of biology and distinguished professor of neuroscience, participated in the Institute. He noted how important faculty are to achieving the University’s goal of fostering success among a diverse group of students who persist and succeed in the STEM majors, saying “Many of the required introductory courses are taught by non-tenure-track teaching faculty. Our students need these courses to persist in the STEM majors and we know that these ‘gateway courses’ disproportionately serve as obstacles to underrepresented minority students’ pursuit of STEM majors. Non-tenure-track STEM faculty are critical to what we are trying to achieve at Syracuse University in terms of diversity, equity, inclusion and access.”

Institute participants had the opportunity to hear from top experts whose research addresses the role of non-tenure-track STEM faculty in student success, systems thinking in higher education transformation and ways in which institutions can provide meaningful support to these faculty whose work is integral to the University’s success.

Jonathan French, assistant teaching professor of chemistry, was one of the Institute participants. He said, “For me, as a non-tenure-track faculty member, it was interesting to talk with my counterparts at similar peer institutions. I saw that we have common experiences and was able to hear about steps their universities are taking to support them. Even simple steps, like providing a mentor for teaching faculty, can have a big impact.”

He added, “Teaching faculty are, in many cases, the face of our departments because we teach the large enrollment introductory courses. We’re the faculty that students know in their first year and we can help guide those students into our department’s research labs. Instead of defining non-tenure-track faculty by what we don’t do, it would be great if we could define us by the value we bring to the classroom and the lab. We may not run a research lab but we do help students get through the introductory courses and on a pathway to STEM majors and careers.”

Laurel Willingham-McLain, a consulting faculty developer at the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence, agrees. “There is a common misconception that these faculty want a tenure-track job. While this is true for some of them, it’s actually a much more diverse group that includes people who love teaching and have more job satisfaction in that role, people at the end of their careers who want to be useful, people in professional roles who want to teach part time or people who have been in these roles and have real-world expertise that benefits students,” she says.

French says one step in the right direction is a monthly meeting of non-tenure-track faculty chaired by Lois Agnew, associate dean of curriculum innovation and pedagogy in the College of Arts and Sciences.  “We have speakers talk about different issues. I find great value in these meetings and the connections I am able to make. In the AAC&U Institute, some of our peers were still trying to figure out how to build a community of non-tenure-track faculty,” he says.

Langford said that the Institute helped participants think about non-tenure-track faculty from a systems perspective. “A two-tier system doesn’t serve students well. We need to elevate the status and recognition of good teaching. By thinking at a systems level, we examined how to convey the value of high-quality teaching and how to design policies, practices and procedures so that these faculty know what is required for career progression and advancement.”

One of those practices builds on the CHANcE Project, an initiative funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. “We have a very good model of how to transform courses to improve the performance and persistence of students from marginalized identities. If we invest in non-tenure-track faculty, who teach so many of these introductory courses, and provide them with professional development opportunities, there’s a real multiplier effect. These faculty are incredibly valuable to our students and to the University as a whole.”

The team that participated in the AAC&U workshop also included Vera McIlvain, associate teaching professor of biology, and Martha Diede, director of the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence. Their next steps will be to collect data on the non-tenure-track faculty at Syracuse University and reach out to them about the different roles they play and the kinds of supports that may benefit them. “The Institute was very inspiring and we want to continue to map the policies, practices and procedures so we can continue to work towards the University’s larger goals,” says Langford.

  • Author

Ellen de Graffenreid

  • Recent
  • Syracuse University Press Participating in Path to Open Program
    Friday, September 29, 2023, By Cristina Hatem
  • A&S Chemistry Professor Receives Award From the American Chemical Society
    Friday, September 29, 2023, By News Staff
  • ‘Guys and Dolls’ opens Syracuse University Department of Drama 2023/24 Season
    Friday, September 29, 2023, By Joanna Penalva
  • Libraries Add MindSpa Wellness Rooms
    Friday, September 29, 2023, By Cristina Hatem
  • Syracuse University Announces the Opening of the Center for Gravitational Wave Astronomy and Astrophysics
    Friday, September 29, 2023, By Kerrie Marshall

More In STEM

A&S Chemistry Professor Receives Award From the American Chemical Society

Robert Doyle, Dean’s Professor of Chemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) and associate professor of pharmacology at SUNY Upstate Medical University, received the 2022 American Chemical Society Central New York Section Award in the field of chemistry…

Syracuse University Announces the Opening of the Center for Gravitational Wave Astronomy and Astrophysics

As Albert Einstein predicted in his theory of relativity more than one hundred years ago, gravitational waves have been rippling through the fabric of space-time since the dawn of the cosmos. Only in the past decade have scientists observed actual…

iSchool Professors, Students Honored With ALISE Awards

Two students and three professors from the School of Information Studies (iSchool) were recently honored with prestigious awards from the Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE). Assistant Professor LaVerne Gray was awarded the Norman Horrocks Leadership Award for demonstrating outstanding leadership…

Ian Hosein Awarded New Patent For Process that Generates Energy from Saltwater

The lack of access to clean drinking water impacts billions worldwide. With an estimated 46% of the global population affected, underdeveloped communities don’t have the means to utilize efficient technology for water purification. As the percentage of those affected grows,…

Setting the Agenda in Biology Research: 2 Professors Join NIH Peer Review Committees

The Center for Scientific Review (CSR) is known as the “gateway” for National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant applications. Expert peer review groups—also called study sections—formed by the CSR assess more than 75% of the thousands of research grant applications…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • @SUCampus
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2023 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.