Celebrating 20 Years of the Future Faculty Career Exploration Program at RIT | October 2023
It is a milestone, and the accolades are pouring in. For two decades, the Office of Faculty Diversity and Recruitment at Rochester Institute of Technology has hosted the Future Faculty Career Exploration Program. It is one of the first faculty diversity and recruitment programs in the country. Twenty years of providing historically underrepresented scholars and artists of color the opportunity to share their research with RIT administrators, faculty, staff and students. It is also an opportunity to learn about RIT’s academic community and gain practical skills that will prepare them for the academic job market in general.
The Future Faculty Career Exploration Program is considered a best practice. Other universities have in the past sent representatives to simply see how RIT’s program works. Torrence Sparkman, assistant provost and assistant vice president for Faculty Diversity and Recruitment says this anniversary is important to highlight.
“We are celebrating the 20th year of the program. Its’ longevity is a testament to its importance to RIT. The fact that other universities have tried to mirror its features also speaks to its national impact.”
The four- day program kicked off September 27th with 17 scholars and artists from across the United States and Puerto Rico. Among the schools represented: Jackson State University, Cornell, California Institute of the Arts, the University of Utah and the University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez.
This year’s cohort included Kofi Bazzell-Smith from the University of Illinois. He is an artist, educator, and professional boxer, currently pursuing an MFA in New Media. He specializes in Japanese manga and creates works in English and Japanese. Angela Omondi is at Jackson State. Her research is on promoting women’s health--exploring health behaviors to understand the role of physical and social environments on women’s and gender minorities' preventive behaviors. Mosiah Bluecloud traveled to the RIT campus from the University of Arizona. He specializes in Indigenous Language Revitalization. Olaitan Adeleke of the University of Minnesota shared her research specializing in the field of smart textiles and wearable technology. Research by Purdue University’s José Capa Salinas, a licensed Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) remote pilot, focuses on providing communities with affordable technology to inspect and support their infrastructure investment using UAS.
Yes, impressive research. Nancy Dimock, assistant director for Faculty Diversity and Recruitment says, “The research areas of 2023’s cohort make RIT’s slogan of “Advancing beyond the expected” a reality.”
The scholars and artists were able to meet one-on-one with RIT administrators, college deans, faculty, staff and students among them, Alesia Allen, assistant vice president, National Technical Institute for the Deaf Diversity and Inclusion, shared information on NTID and Deaf Culture, Laverne McQuiller Williams, associate provost for Faculty Affairs, provided tips on faculty success. Keith Jenkins, vice president and associate provost for Diversity and Inclusion talked about the university’s strong commitment to DEI, as did Kendall Scott, director of the Native American Future Stewards Program.
Dimock says, “Programs like these are critical because they provide a network of connections and a community of scholars who are here to help the participants strive and thrive in a career in academia, with opportunities and tools to help navigate the complexities of the process—things they may otherwise not have access to.”
Since the Future Faculty Career Exploration Program began 20 years ago, RIT has hired dozens of program participants to faculty positions among them Larry Villasmil, associate professor, College of Engineering Technology, Carlos Rivero, associate professor, Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences, Katrina Overby, assistant professor, College of Liberal Arts and Eli Borrego, assistant professor, College of Science.
During a dinner for this year’s cohort, the RIT Office of the Provost and the Office of Faculty Diversity and Recruitment announced the College of Science as the recipient of the 2023 Changing Hearts and Minds Award which recognizes intentional efforts to diversify RIT’s faculty ranks. The College of Science created and appointed the first ever Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion a year ago and hired a new Program Manager for the Inclusive Excellence (IE) Program. Dean André Hudson and Senior Associate Dean Larry Buckley accepted the award. Hudson said, “This award is a reflection of the College of Science’s commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice. It is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the faculty, staff, scholars and administrators over many years to foster an environment and culture to facilitate positive change. There is a lot of work to be done but I am heartened to see that we are on an onward and upward trajectory.”
Planning is already underway for next year’s event. Dimock says “The key to RIT Future Faculty Career Exploration Program's ability to flourish is that we truly care about the success of the participants as well as what they have to offer RIT, with their wide array of knowledge, expertise, and new perspectives. With RIT's core values and beliefs so heavily engrained in all of our triumphs, our commitment to the diversity of our faculty has us hopeful for the future.”
You can read more about all of the 2023 FFCEP participants here