SBU Receives Funding from SUNY PRODiG Initiative to Increase Faculty Diversity
In a move that continues to promote diversity, Stony Brook University will receive $950,000 in funding for a three-year period to support six faculty members as part of the new SUNY PRODiG Faculty Diversity Initiative — Promoting Recruitment, Opportunity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Growth.
The PRODiG initiative, primarily funded by New York State through a Performance Improvement Fund, is designed to increase faculty diversity to be more in line with its student diversity. As of Fall 2018, 27.2% of SUNY students are underrepresented minorities, up from 26.5% in 2017, and 15.4% in 2007. PRODiG is rooted in a fundamental idea that students aim higher when inspired by faculty from similar backgrounds who have overcome obstacles the students themselves are likely to face.
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The initial six Stony Brook faculty that will receive salary support through PRODiG are Natasha Vitek, Assistant Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolution; Amy Marschilok, Research Professor, Department of Chemistry; Ijeoma Opara, Assistant Professor, School of Social Welfare; Sara Hamideh, Assistant Professor, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences; Yifan Sun, Institute for AI-Driven Discovery and Innovation; Carrie McDonough, Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering.
PRODiG-suported faculty will attend the PRODiG Cohort Institute on December 3, which is the first event of the 2019 SUNY Diversity Conference in Albany. The 2019 Cohort of PRODiG-supported faculty will convene for a full day of workshops and a welcome reception with SUNY Chancellor Kristina M. Johnson, many SUNY presidents, and members of the Board of Trustees.
More About PRODiG
The goal of this system-wide initiative — a comprehensive approach not yet attempted at this scale in higher education — is to support SUNY campuses in their efforts to recruit and retain up to 1,000 early-to-mid-career professors from underrepresented groups by 2030. It also will focus on building an educational pipeline that identifies talented students in high school and develop academic career opportunities, with the view that among today’s high school students are the PRODiG faculty of tomorrow.
Visit the PRODiG website