The goal of the initiative is to aid women in their path along in careers in academia from the junior positions women typically occupy toward full professorships and tenure. It looks to improve the advancement experience of Rensselaer faculty, while also serving as a national model for advancement reform, according to Cheryl Geisler, professor and department head of Language, Literature, and Communication and principal investigator on the project.

The program, called Reforming Advancement Processes through University Professions (RAMP-UP), seeks to accomplish this goal through implementing faculty advancement coaches, searches to recruit women from national labs or industry, faculty workshops and even mentoring programs. This initiative is funded through a $329,960 grant from the National Science Foundation.

The event will be held in the auditorium of the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies next Tuesday at 3 pm. It will be led by President Shirley Ann Jackson and will include a colloquy of national experts on women’s advancement issues such as Shulamit Kahn, professor of finance and economics at Boston University; Carol Colatrella, professor of literature and cultural studies at Georgia Tech; and Robert Drago, professor of labor studies and women’s studies at Pennsylvania State University—all of whom have published reports or books regarding the role of women in academia as well as in the fields of science and mathematics.