A Message from the Director:

Welcome to the new academic year!

The past year was a full and exciting one for ADVANCE. In 2023-2024, we awarded three Leadership Training Program Grants to allow faculty to participate in the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity’s (NCFDD) Faculty Success Program. ADVANCE also awarded three Transitions Program Grants and six Travel Assistance Program Grants to WSU faculty across multiple campuses. These grants supported faculty in negotiating major life transitions and supported travel for dependents of faculty traveling to professional meetings or conferences.

ADVANCE also awarded the first-ever George and Joan Berry Faculty Success Grant in 2024. This award is intended to support early-career women and under-represented faculty (pre-tenure) in any discipline at WSU. Grants may be used to support activities related to their scholarship and that will contribute to promotion and professional success. ADVANCE received more than thirty applications from faculty across a multitude of disciplines and across the WSU system. Yoon-Wha Roh, a pianist from WSU’s School of Music, won this first-ever grant. The funds will support her travel to two international performances: the first to Penang, Malaysia, and the second to Jeonju, South Korea. To learn more about this grant and on Dr. Roh’s work, see this recently published article.

Once again this year, ADVANCE hosted a day-long workshop. Our NCFDD Facilitator, Anthony Ocampo’s workshop “Avoiding Faculty Burnout” provided tools to help faculty to “build and maintain momentum” and to “experience true work-life balance.” ADVANCE mini-grants allowed faculty from our urban and branch campuses to participate in this valuable workshop.

ADVANCE continues to purchase an NCFDD institutional membership. Faculty, Graduate Students, and Post-Docs can take advantage of the variety of resources available through the NCFDD, including workshops, webinars, multi-week courses, writing challenges, and more by activating an Institutional Membership Sub-Account. It’s easy and it’s free, with many resources being delivered right to your inbox!

ADVANCE has many exciting things in store this year, including our annual NCFDD workshop, monthly brown-bag workshops, and writing retreats, just to name a few. Please check our website and calendar or join our mailing list to keep up to date and learn about grant and funding opportunities.

I look forward to another lively and productive year with the ADVANCE team!

Jennifer Thigpen

Associate Professor of History

Director of ADVANCE at WSU

Interesting Read

“Mothers are a force for radical change in academia” By Fernanda Staniscuaski

The research system must lose its overly rigid attitude toward career progression — and mothers are uniting to make that happen.