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ADVANCE: Glossary

Glossary of terms

“The goal of the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) ADVANCE program is to increase the representation and advancement of women in academic science and engineering careers, thereby contributing to the development of a more diverse science and engineering workforce.  ADVANCE encourages institutions of higher education and the broader science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) community, including professional societies and other STEM-related not-for-profit organizations, to address various aspects of STEM academic culture and institutional structure that may differentially affect women faculty and academic administrators. As such, ADVANCE is an integral part of the NSF’s multifaceted strategy to broaden participation in the STEM workforce, and supports the critical role of the Foundation in advancing the status of women in academic science and engineering.”- NSF ADVANCE at a glance

“The goals of the ADVANCE program are (1) to develop systemic approaches to increase the representation and advancement of women in academic STEM careers; (2) to develop innovative and sustainable ways to promote gender equity in the STEM academic workforce; and (3) to contribute to the development of a more diverse science and engineering workforce. ADVANCE also has as its goal to contribute to and inform the general knowledge base on gender equity in the academic STEM disciplines. “ –ADVANCE Program Information

 

Alternative professional responsibilities (APRs) come with a reduction in course load for a faculty member who completes service work for the institution. Examples include roles in faculty development (Research Fellow for the Center for the Advancement of Research and Scholarship, Coordinator for Quantitative Reasoning Across the Curriculum). Course releases are also granted for scholarly projects such as through internal grant awards or service work such a program reviews.

Based on NSF’s definition of STEM, the following BSU departments are in our data pool:
 
•    Anthropology
•    Aviation Science
•    Biology
•    Chemical Sciences
•    Computer Science
•    Criminal Justice
•    Geography
•    Geological Sciences
•    Economics
•    Mathematics
•    Physics
•    Political Science
•    Psychology
•    Social Work
•    Sociology

The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is a federal law which states that eligible employees have the right to take a total of 12 weeks of job protected unpaid leave to care for a newborn, adopted or foster care child during the first year of life, to care for a spouse, child or parent with a serious health condition, to care for one’s own serious health condition, to address any qualifying exigency related to the fact that your spouse, son, daughter, or parent is a covered military member on “covered active duty”.

These are faculty who are tenured or who are on the tenure track. Full time faculty at BSU have a 4-4 teaching workload (12 contact hours per semester) as part of their day contracts. Our definition does not include Full Time Temps who also have a 4-4 load but who are non tenure track and are only full time at BSU for up to two years.

Part time faculty are non-benefitted faculty who teach fewer than 11 day credits and no more than five courses spread over the day and evening contracts.

BSU Faculty members accrue sick leave at the rate of ten days (75 hours) per academic year. There is no limit to the amount of sick leave that may be accrued or carried over from one year to the next. Every faculty member contributes one sick day per year to the sick bank, unless they opt out in writing. When the sick bank falls below 50 days, faculty who have not opted out will contribute 1.5 sick leave days. Faculty who tap into the sick bank can do so after taking one week unpaid and can do so for a limited period of time (see 2014-17 contract, pages 34-37).

The National Science Foundation’s definition of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) includes the natural as well as the social sciences.

The ability of faculty to make choices influencing when, where, and for how long they engage in work related tasks (e.g. teaching, scholarship, advising, and service, as well as what those work-related tasks are.

National Science Foundation logo     We are grateful that this work has been supported by National Science Foundation grant HRD-1409438