WORKSHOP SUMMARY

Civil and Mechanical Systems Workshop for the Advancement and Retention of Underrepresented/Minority Engineer Educators

This summary describes a three day workshop designed to foster technical and intellectual exchange among Ph.D. level, underrepresented, and minority engineers who work in the area of civil and mechanical systems. The intent of the workshop is to instill in its participants the sense of a technical community in which they can thrive and to which they can contribute. In keeping with NSF goals (NSF in a Changing World and with The Long View, p. 4) the workshop is designed to encourage retention and advancement of qualified women and underrepresented minority engineers in pursuit of scientific and engineering advances.

The workshop will be held in Washington D.C. at the Arlington Hilton Hotel adjacent to the NSF headquarters on September 24-26, 1997.

Participants will be underrepresented or minority faculty (70 participants) and faculty candidates (30 participants). Faculty participants will currently be employed in tenure track teaching and research faculty positions. Sixty will be in the first four years of their academic careers and will be actively trying to develop research programs in areas emphasized by the civil and mechanical systems division. Ten will be senior tenured faculty, with a minimum of six years of experience; more experience preferred. Ph.D. candidate participants will be in the final year of their Ph.D. program and actively pursuing tenure track faculty positions.

Specific workshop goals are to:

The envisioned short-term benefits of participation in the workshop are as follows:

The envisioned long-term benefits of the program are as follows:

This workshop summary is presented in three sections starting with a background on the workshop format. Next an overview of the different workshop activities is presented. This summary then concludes with a section presenting the planned schedule of activities.

In 1995, a workshop with similar goals was held for forty engineering educators conducting research in the areas supported by Dynamics Systems and Controls Program. Feedback from participants was consistent in indicating that the information provided on research, education, and funding was quite beneficial and perhaps more significantly, that the opportunity for meeting and getting to know fellow underrepresented and minority colleagues and learning about their research activities in a similar technical area through the workshop setting was extremely valuable. This workshop draws very heavily from the content of and the feedback about the 1995 workshop.

The 1995 workshop consisted of six formal sessions spread over a 2-1/2 day period and two half day technical tours of national research laboratories. The workshop started with government speaker presentations from the NSF engineering directorate, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), the Office of Naval Research (ONR), NASA , and the NSF Division of Undergraduate Education. Each speaker summarized the emphasis of their agency's programs and described opportunities available for funding from their organizations. The next three sessions focused on the Dynamic Systems and Controls Program technical areas of: 1) controls, 2) vibrations and acoustics, and 3) dynamics diagnostics. These sessions started with a keynote speaker who presented an overview of prominent research challenges in their emphasis area. The keynote speakers were selected because of their outstanding contributions to their field of expertise and for their reputation as excellent underrepresented/minority role models. For the second part of these three sessions, each workshop participant presented a 10 minute summary of their current research interests and activities. This increased fellow participants' awareness of the rich diversity of related opportunities for involvement in dynamics and controls research and stimulated discussion related to collaborative research endeavors. Lastly, two "working sessions" were held that were devoted to small group discussions (8-10 participants) of topics selected by the participants. The topic areas included research and funding concerns, balancing of family and career, and diversity issues.

The workshop also included technical tours of laboratories and on-going research activities at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), The Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC), and the Naval Research Laboratories (NRL). In addition to the technical benefits of visiting these labs, the tours provided an informal environment that promoted socializing, networking, and generally getting to know one-another. (One interesting note is that only the bus ride to the first tour was fairly quiet; the subsequent four bus rides were all quite loud with the full gambit of conversations related to technical and personal issues taking place!) Both networking and socializing among participants was strongly encouraged and facilitated by the scheduling of the working sessions, the informal atmosphere of the tours, meals, and evening free time.

During the closing session of the workshop, participants were asked to fill out workshop evaluation questionnaires. Responses provided by 30 out of 40 participants are summarized in Table 1. Also, almost all participants contributed written responses to the request for general comments and recommendations. All of these, along with comments from e-mail and letters participants sent in the weeks following the workshop are given in the workshop proceedings[2]. Select comments are included below to convey the overwhelming participant enthusiasm and their strong sentiment that this forum for discussing research, career objectives, and career challenges with fellow underrepresented and minority engineering educators is valuable.

"This workshop was a very good idea. It gave an opportunity, mostly to junior faculty, to obtain considerable insight into the working of Gov. funding agencies (not only about NSF). The information imported normally takes faculty many years to ‘figure out’ the things that were explicitly stated @ the conference. Additionally, the mix of invites that also included faculty that

Table 1. Summary of participant responses to workshop evaluation questionnaire.

had been on-board past receiving tenure was important here (I’m not referring to those who were in for a long time but those who were in for 6-10 years). Those persons added a slightly more mature component but still could benefit from the networking and grant seeking strategies presented. I think the distribution of balance of experiences possessed by the invitees was right. The field trips were a good idea, ... Keep it up! The 10-min. presentations, while long because of the number of participants, was excellent. It gave everyone some insight into a broad range of topics and exposed opportunities for collaboration and/or consultation."

"...I think the idea of bringing these people together was not only wonderful, but timely and needed also. I hope that this program is not only continued, but expanded....."

"This was a great experience. I feel I have made life time contacts and friends. ...... We should do this more and we need to interact more. It was wonderful to be around more "minorities" with experience and concerns like me."

"This was a wonderful group of diverse people. Coming from a mixed background, it was very beneficial to meet and hear talks on such a variety of topics. Also, the lab tours were very inspiring. People do actually have a great test facilities."

"I just want to say hello and open the lines of communications.... Being a new professor, I feel this was the most beneficial program that I have attended. I will support it anyway I can..."

"....I think that it is very important for this workshop to NOT be a one-time affair. I think we've been given a mechanism to support each other in our respective careers. ..."

"Just a quick note to say thank you for making this past week a most memorable occasion in my life. The discussions, both public and private have been to my benefit. ..."

"I want to add my personal thanks to those feelings already expressed. ... I was particularly impressed by the warmth and congeniality of this group - I can't remember the last time I went to an engineering workshop and hugged the other participants when I left. That kind of warmth and generosity of spirit truly complements the technical excellence of everyone involved. I hope we can continue to grow in this spirit of community - the world is at our fingertips, ready for change! ..."

"Just thought I'd take the time to express my sincere congratulations on hosting such a wonderful workshop. My life and perspective has been greatly enhanced as a result of attending this workshop. A rare event indeed......."

".... I had a wonderful time interacting with many of the participants, learning about their research interests and discussing possible areas of collaboration. We have already started exchanging ideas through e-mail and we hope to continue this productive interaction...... In short, this was one of the most interesting and informative workshops I have ever attended. Thank you very much for all your hard work in making this workshop a big success. ..."

Building on feedback from the 1995 NSF Dynamic Systems and Controls Workshop for Underrepresented and Minority Engineering Educators discussed above, the proposed workshop program keeps the key components of government speakers, participant technical presentations, and invited technical presentations from select outstanding role models. Time devoted to small group interaction in working sessions will be doubled, so as to increase discussion of topics focused on identifying obstacles to success and to provide recommendations for improving retention rates among fellow underrepresented and minority engineers. Time allotted for technical tours will be decreased with options provided to better match different participant interests. Similarly, time allotted for participant presentations will be reduced. Two additions to the format include a panel of deans to focus on academic career issues and evening activities to enhance opportunities for networking and socializing.

DAY 1: The workshop will open with a presentation in which integration of research and education will be emphasized. A speaker such as Dr. Joseph Bordogna, deputy director of the NSF will be invited to make the opening presentation. This will be followed with invited presentations on research directions and funding opportunities from technical program managers in agencies including NSF, ARO, AFOSR, ONR, DARPA, and NASA.

Following lunch, a working session for discussion of academic career issues will be held, with the senior participants acting as discussion facilitators (ten groups of ten participants each). In addition to knowledge gained through discussions and getting to know one-another through small group interactions, this session is designed to provide participants with a common foundation for the deans' presentations and panel discussion which follows. The following session will be devoted to a panel of university deans who will discuss their perspectives on reasonable academic career expectations and demands. The forum for this panel will be set up to include discussion of issues related to tenure, teaching, research, publications, funding, outreach and a rewarding personal life along the career path of an engineering educator.

The day's formal activities conclude with student participants presenting a brief summary of their research interests (3 minutes each with a 3 viewgraph maximum). This session will increase fellow participants' awareness of the diversity of related opportunities for involvement in civil and mechanical systems research and provide exposure of outstanding faculty candidates to fellow participants and the deans who happened to participate in the previous session.

That evening a banquet for all participants will be held. A banquet speaker will be invited for this event. Funding for this event will be arranged through either workshop organizing committee fund raising activities or a nominal participant registration fee.

DAY 2: The morning and early afternoon sessions will alternate between invited speaker presentations and faculty participant presentations. The invited speakers will be role models selected based on their outstanding technical abilities and successful careers. Invited speaker sessions will consist of 20 minute technical presentations, blended with personal and professional insights, followed by 10 minutes of discussion. Faculty participants in research areas similar to the invited speaker will follow with a brief summary of their current research interests (3 minutes each), increasing fellow participants' awareness of the diversity of related opportunities for involvement in civil and mechanical systems research areas.

These sessions will be followed by a series of four 45 minute long working sessions devoted to small group discussions (10 per group). These sessions will promote the exchange of ideas and concerns between underrepresented and minority colleagues who work on related research topics. Several sessions will target identifying obstacles to success and to provide recommendations for improving retention rates among fellow underrepresented and minority engineering educators. Topics of broader interest will be discussed by multiple groups, for example all participants will participate in a small group discussion focusing on preparing successful proposals. Potential working session topics include: 1. Diversity Issues, 2. Teaching, Research and Tenure, 3. Collaborative Research, 4. Mentoring, 5. Juggling Family and Academia, 6. Interdisciplinary Research Funding, 7. How to Sell an Idea / Industrial Interaction / Networking and Establishing Contacts, 8. What Makes a Good Engineering Educator, 9. Skills for Preparing Successful Proposals, and 10. Ideas for Generation of a Workshop Outcomes Assessment .

The day concludes with time for socializing in a restaurant near the workshop hotel, where a room will be reserved for an informal participant gathering and dinner.

DAY 3: During the morning of the third day, participants will have the option of participating in additional small discussion groups or taking one of two tours of national research laboratories (NIST, NASA Goddard, or U.S. Navy facilities; tour content to be determined based on participant research areas).

The rational for offering both tours and working sessions, two distinctly different activities, is based on feedback from the '95 workshop participants. Half the responses in Table 1 indicate that the amount of time spent on tours was "just right", with the other half indicating "too much". Several written comments, in particular those from participants more heavily involved in experimental aspects of research activities, indicated that the tours were an extremely valuable and "inspiring" component of the time spent at the workshop. In contrast comments were also received indicating the tour time would have been better spent in working sessions. Table 1 does indicate that all but one respondent felt "too little" time was spent in working sessions. As such, participants will be allowed to choose whether technical tours or additional time involved in working session will be more valuable for their own professional needs.

One specific activity for several of this morning's working session discussion groups will be the generation of a statement of workshop outcomes and recommendations. These working groups will discuss topics focusing on the workshop goals and the advancement and retention of under-represented and minority engineering educators. A draft of these statements will be copied and passed out after lunch as participants reconvene as a single group for general discussion. The first afternoon session will start with a panel of the working session facilitators summarizing key topics addressed on all three days in their small groups discussions. The workshop will conclude with general discussion lead by a panel of the invited speakers, focusing on workshop outcomes and recommendations. These discussions will be recorded for subsequent transcription and inclusion in the proceedings and workshop WEB page.

9/23/97 - 9/26/97 (Tentative: 7/7/97)

Break

Lunch

Break

Break

Lunch

Break

Lunch