Background: The National Institutes of Health encourages institutions to diversify their faculty populations to enhance the participation of individuals from groups identified as historically disadvantaged, such as:
- Individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds as defined in sections B and C of the Notice of NIH’s Interest in Diversity;
- Individuals who attended historically black colleges and universities and other minority-serving institutions;
- Individuals who graduated from rural high schools, high-poverty or low-performing high schools (according to the Department of Education, low performing schools are defined as those that rank in the bottom 10% of their respective state);
- First-generation students, irrespective of race;
- Individuals who have faced challenging social, economic, educational, cultural, or other life circumstances;
- Individuals who demonstrate a commitment to bringing diverse people together;
- Individuals who demonstrate a commitment to working with underrepresented or disadvantaged populations;
- Individuals who demonstrate achievement and determination in the face of personal challenges.
- Individuals with disabilities, who are defined as those with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, as described in the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
Statement of Purpose: The Workforce Empowerment Award is intended to augment recruitment and retention packages for outstanding, well-funded faculty ranked at the Assistant Professor level or higher. These monies are intended to foster growth as assessed by increased extramural support to UAB and by an increase in research employees who are supported, in part or whole, by extramural resources. An important goal of these resources is to increase the number of faculty from populations underrepresented in biomedical research in the Heersink School of Medicine (HSOM) and provide a support structure for their success.
THE APPLICATION PROCESS
- What applications will be considered? Applications should be focused on the recruitment of outstanding faculty underrepresented in biomedical research in the HSOM. Applications will be reviewed that request funding for
- recruitment of new faculty, or
- retention of outstanding, current WEA faculty.
Exclusion criteria: Applications will not be considered that request support for
- improvement to the infrastructure, such as construction, renovation, or remodeling of lab or office space;
- faculty who are not expected to perform biomedically related research for at least 50% of their full-time effort;
- acquisition or installation of equipment; or
- bridge-funding of individuals who have recently experienced a decrease in their extramural research support.
- Application Criteria:
Department Chairs who have already selected candidates for the open position through a competitive review process are invited to submit the request.
- Applications will be considered for recruitment of individuals who:
- are at the Assistant Professor or higher faculty level and have current extramural support and/or demonstrate outstanding potential for future NIH funding;
- are from outside of the US, have a demonstrated record of research productivity and outstanding potential for generating NIH extramural support.
- Applications will be considered for retention of highly-productive, UAB faculty.
- Applications must be submitted by the Department Chair.
- Applications will include:
- The two-page application form submitted by the Department Chair.
- Letter of support from Department Chair summarizing applicant’s mentoring and/or career development plan. A mentoring/career development plan is not required for faculty at the level of Professor.
- The curriculum vitae of the faculty member who is being recruited or retained.
- Applicant’s Demographic Form.
- Award Allotments:
- Assistant Professor (total: $225,000): $125,000 (Year 1), $75,000 (Year 2), $25,000 (Year 3)
- Associate Professor (total: $375,000): $175,000 (Year 1), $125,000 (Year 2), $75,000 (Year 3)
- Professor (total: $450,000): $200,000 (Year 1), $150,000 (Year 2), $100,000 (Year 3)
- Monies to be utilized for salary support and research development funds
THE AWARD PROCESS
- Applications will be reviewed by the HSOM Dean’s office.
Award notification: The applying Department Chair will receive a notice within seven (7) business days of the award from the Dean's office. The Department Chair is responsible for informing the faculty member who is being recruited or retained.
- Accounting requirements: At the time of award, funds will be deposited in a separately accounted miscellaneous unrestricted account. For questions and assistance with the establishment of accounts, contact Samone Alexander at samone@uab.edu, 6-1705.
Reporting requirements: An annual report is required for the use of these funds. A brief report that details new extramural support to UAB, salary support for personnel paid by extramural awards, and/or revenues originating from the generation of intellectual property will be required. A statement of how the recipient functions as a role model for trainees should be included. At the time of award, more specific information for this report will be provided.
*Diversity refers to the variety of personal experiences, values, and worldviews that arise from differences of culture and circumstances.
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