CASL Hosts Fellows from 17 Affiliate Institutions for a 4-day Residency in Atlanta

This residency focused on leadership strategies designed to advance leadership capacity to achieve diversity, equity, and inclusion in the STEM fields associated with issues of race, ethnicity, and gender – and the interactions among these demographic categories. Our nation cannot achieve its goal of remaining a global leader in STEM unless it accelerates its capacity to recruit, retain, graduate, and advance students of color and women in STEM. This reality is based upon the well-documented growth of women and people of color in U.S. colleges and universities, yet their continued underrepresentation in STEM. CASL’s goal is to enhance the capacity to broaden participation in STEM grounded in current research and best practices.

The focus of this residency was on DEI which fits perfectly with the work Fielding is currently doing and plans to do in this area. Through CASL and its partners (the University of the Virgin Islands, North Carolina A&T State University, and the American Association of Colleges & Universities), Fielding has a substantial footprint into a significant segment of American higher education that collectively produces a disproportionately high percentage of African Americans who enter the STEM fields – Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Furthermore, CASL’s leadership program contributes to the further development of faculty STEM leaders at HBCUs to advance this legacy which is more important than ever given the United States’ changing demographics.

Orlando L. Taylor, Ph.D., Executive Director & Co-PI, CASL Distinguished Senior Advisor to the President, and Associate Faculty, School of Leadership Studies, Fielding Graduate University Immediate Past Chair, Board of Directors, Council for Higher Education Accreditation Distinguished Fellow, American Association of Colleges & Universities Professor and Dean Emeritus, Howard University

In addition to the didactic presentations during this residency from prominent researchers and practitioners, participants had many opportunities to engage with each other as they continue to plan and implement their group Action Learning Projects (ALPs). They also continued to build their personal and institutional networks that we sincerely hope they will maintain long after they complete the CASL Leadership Fellows Program. Along the way, there were opportunities for participants to sharpen their individual leadership and personal strengths through interactions with their CASL coaches.

The informative program featured several leaders with considerable experience in broadening participation in STEM. A highlight of this residency was a presentation from Dr. Ebony McGee, Professor of Diversity and STEM Education at Vanderbilt University, focusing on lessons learned and approaches employed by HBCU legacy leaders as identified through CASL research. As part of the discussion, Dr. McGee also shared findings from the assigned article, HBCU College Presidents and their Multi-layered Racially-Consciousness Approaches to Diversifying STEM, published in the Journal of Negro Education’s Special Issue on STEM Leadership Matters. Dr. McGee and the other prominent speakers provided insights into the role central institutional administrators play in advancing STEM quality, diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Orlando L. Taylor, Ph.D.
CASL PI & Executive Director

SPEAKERS