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Leading to excellence: CEOS, OAA launch mentoring partnership through NSF grant

Posted on | July 15, 2009 | 1,744 views |

The Office of Academic Affairs and the NSF ADVANCE project Comprehensive Equity at Ohio State (CEOS) are partnering to launch MentorNet, an online service that provides one-on-one mentoring, career counseling and resources that are particularly useful for women in the STEM disciplines — science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

The MentorNet membership is available to interested faculty and students from across the university through their Ohio State e-mail address at the MentorNet Web site, mentornet.net.

Project CEOS was established through a five-year, $3.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation’s ADVANCE (Advancement of Women in Academic Science and Engineering Careers) Initiative on Institutional Transformation and is one of 37 Institutional Transformation sites nationwide.

CEOS supports women pursuing academic STEM careers through peer mentoring, leadership development and entrepreneurship training. The goal of CEOS is to increase the representation and advancement of women in academic science careers through research-based interventions that transform the workplace culture.

Principal investigator Joan Herbers is a professor of evolution, ecology and organismal biology. Throughout her career, she has been an advocate for women in academic science and recently received Ohio State’s Distinguished Diversity Enhancement Award for her local and national efforts to change “institutional cultures to make university careers more attractive to women.”

She also is president-elect of the Association of Women in Science, the country’s largest association dedicated to advancing women in science.

An external advisory committee, chaired by Ohio State Executive Vice President and Provost Joe Alutto, came to campus in late June to assess CEOS’s first year, as did the NSF ADVANCE program officer.

“We openly discussed the project’s wins and warts,” Herbers said. “We welcome both assessments and want our evaluators to join us in investing in our success.”

In order to achieve its goals, CEOS has established a Transformational Leadership Model that will improve the recruitment and retention of women and minority faculty, improve diversity of faculty and students and augment the pool of senior women available for leadership positions.

ADVANCE projects have cachet nationally among women in science. “During College of Engineering faculty hiring interviews, women candidates are increasingly asking whether Ohio State is an ADVANCE institution,” said CEOS Program Director Mary Juhas, senior assistant dean for diversity and outreach in the College of Engineering.

“Being able to talk about CEOS with candidates sends a strong signal about our institutional values and culture not only to women candidates but also to men who are considering joining Ohio State’s faculty. It’s the ‘rising tide floats all boats’ adage.”

Vice Provost for Academic Policy and Faculty Resources Susan Williams agreed and added, “The CEOS project is an exciting opportunity not only to attract and retain women pursuing scientific careers at Ohio State but also to develop models for mentoring, community building and leadership development that will strengthen the university as a whole.”

Mentorship information
More information about the MentorNet program is available from Mary Juhas, program director of NSF ADVANCE project CEOS at 247-1876 or ceos.osu.edu

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