To: The Stevens Community
This year as we celebrate Stevens’ 150th anniversary, I want to take the opportunity to restate our mission and reaffirm our commitment to ensuring a welcoming, tolerant, and respectful environment for all members of our community.
Stevens’ mission is to inspire, nurture, and educate leaders in tomorrow's technology-centric environment while contributing to the solution of the most challenging problems of our time. In support of this mission, we remain committed to the values of academic freedom and nondiscrimination in all that we do. Stevens is a community enriched and strengthened by the talents, contributions, and engagement of each member, regardless of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, and all other attributes protected by Stevens’ nondiscrimination policy. We will continue to work earnestly and proactively to provide a safe, inviting, and supportive environment for all members of our community.
Our community has made significant progress on a number of initiatives and programs to enhance diversity and create a more inclusive environment at Stevens, and these efforts have received national attention. Last fall, the American Society for Engineering Education Diversity Recognition Program named Stevens to the inaugural group of award recipients to publicly recognize the significant, measurable progress we have made in increasing our diversity, inclusion, and degree attainment outcomes. Also, the PwC-sponsored CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion Initiative invited Stevens to join its initiative and participate in a CEO Summit. These initiatives, together with a number of long-standing Stevens programs, underscore the importance that the university places on fostering a welcoming and inclusive institutional climate for all.
Other highlights of the recent past include:
Student-Focused Programs, Activities, and Updates>
Stevens ACES
Launched in 2017, Stevens ACES (Accessing Careers in Engineering and Science) provides underserved and underrepresented minority (URM) students with specialized programming, mentoring, educational opportunities, and financial support to pursue STEM and technology-infused degrees and careers. ACES includes both pre-college and undergraduate programs, and augments and leverages resources and key stakeholders including faculty, students, alumni, and academic and student life support services. In its first year, ACES resulted in a 60% increase in the participation of URM students in the Stevens Pre-College Summer program and a 46% increase in the number of URM students in their first year at Stevens. Second-year results continued this trend with a 50% increase over the baseline year for the pre-college program and a 29% increase in the number of URM students in their first year at Stevens. Also, last fall, the New Jersey Tech Council recognized the ACES program with its 2019 Innovation in Education award, presented to a program or initiative that uses innovative technology while encouraging students to pursue higher education in STEM. Recognizing the success of the Stevens ACES program in increasing the pool of underserved and URM students in STEM, the State of New Jersey adopted legislation to scale up the ACES program to all of New Jersey’s research universities based on the Stevens model. This legislation was signed into law by Governor Phil Murphy in January 2020.
Clark Scholars Program
With a $15 million gift of endowment from the A. James and Alice B. Clark Foundation, the Clark Scholars Program provides financial support and enhanced learning opportunities for exceptional undergraduate students who are underrepresented in the engineering, computer science, and cybersecurity fields. Thirty-four Clark Scholars, 53% women and 41% URM students, have joined Stevens in the first two cohorts of this program. In addition, through a companion grant, the Clark Foundation is providing full tuition scholarships to 20 underserved and underrepresented minority students annually to the Stevens Pre-College Summer program, with the goal of providing life-changing opportunities and experiences to high school students to explore their interests in STEM.
Fall 2019 Undergraduate Enrollment Data on Diversity
Programs such as ACES and the Clark Scholars program are integral elements of Stevens’ overall strategy to reach its goal, articulated in the 2017 Strategic Plan Update, to enroll 15% URM students in the undergraduate cohort by 2022. Data for Fall 2019 indicate that 15% of the Fall 2019 first year and new transfer student cohort, and 14% of all undergraduates, are from underrepresented minority groups. Stevens also set a strategic goal to reach at least 35% female enrollment in the undergraduate population by 2022. As of the Fall 2019 census, 29% of undergraduates are female.
Events, Training, Programs, and Resources for Students
A wide range of programs and resources to support student diversity and inclusion throughout our campus are identified below. Highlights from this past year include the following:
Stevens Technical Enrichment Program (STEP): Since 1968, the STEP program has been a pillar of programming and support to increase the pipeline and success of underserved and URM students at Stevens. Designated by NACME (National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering) as a partner institution, through STEP, Stevens will receive a grant for scholarship funds to increase enrollment and graduation rates of URM students. Through a combination of pre-college and undergraduate programs, STEP has been a core component of Stevens’ commitment to increasing the pool and expanding opportunities for underrepresented and underserved students in STEM.
Diversity Education and Intercultural Space: Faculty, staff, and students attended workshops and presentations on a wide range of topics related to diversity, inclusion, and intercultural communication and collaboration. The creation of the Intercultural Space in January 2020 provides a physical hub for programming and resources related to diversity and inclusion. Located in the Student Center, the comfortable, student-centric space houses the Diversity Education Lending Library, a relaxation corner, and student art.
Lecture Series: The Excellence Through Diversity Lecture Series and the Provost’s Lecture Series on Women in Leadership introduced ideas and perspectives by Susan Cain, Chief Revolutionary of Quiet Revolution and author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking, and Menah-Pratt-Clarke, J.D., Ph.D., Vice President of Strategic Affairs and Diversity at Virginia Tech.
Lore-El Center for Women's Leadership: The Lore-El Center held more than 30 programs on topics ranging from civic engagement, wellness, leadership, and women in entrepreneurship to “industry chats” with alumnae. The Lore-El Center continues to serve as a hub for leadership development on campus with a lens toward gender equity and inclusion. This year, the LeadHERship Conference hosted student, faculty, staff, and alumnae attendees along with speakers Malena Higuera ’75 and Deanne Bell, an engineer, television host, and entrepreneur.
LGBTQ+ Resources and Support: Stevens continues to offer the Safe Zone Ally Program, a campus-wide initiative designed to educate Stevens community members on LGBTQ+ identity, allyship practices, and injustices impacting the LGBTQ+ community. Stevens continues to support students with changing their name or gender identity on campus and provides an expanding list of gender-inclusive restroom locations on campus. The oSTEM (Out in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) initiative, a recent addition, and the Torch Alliance are registered student organizations focusing on LGBTQ+ inclusion.
Student Groups and Events: Two new social Greek organizations received provisional recognition and will pursue a founding class beginning this semester (Spring 2020). These include Lambda Sigma Upsilon Latino Fraternity, Inc., a Latino-oriented collegiate fraternity, and Lambda Tau Omega, a multicultural collegiate sorority. Stevens’ Active Minds chapter partnered with Student Affairs, CAPS (Counseling and Psychological Services), and the City of Hoboken to plan and implement the annual Out of the Darkness Walk.
Title IX: The newly established Office of Community Standards and Title IX partnered with Athletics, Residential Education, and Wellness Education to offer Title IX educational programs including October’s Take Back the Red Red Zone Initiative, February’s Sexual Assault Prevention speaker Brenda Tracy, and April’s Sexual Assault Awareness month and the Take Back the Night march.
Faculty Diversity: Increasing diversity among our faculty is a goal articulated in the Stevens Strategic Plan. Stevens is committed to hiring faculty who reflect greater diversity from multiple perspectives, including gender and ethnicity. In AY19-20, a total of 24 new faculty members were hired. Of 24 new hires, women represented 33% and underrepresented minorities represented 8%. Overall, 26% of Stevens’ full-time faculty are women and 3% of the full-time faculty are underrepresented minorities.
Center for Faculty Engagement and Advancement Workshops: Among some of the workshops that were offered in AY19-20 were: Inclusive Classrooms for Faculty and Teaching Assistants; Cross-Cultural Communication; Advising International Students; Safe Zone Training for Faculty and Staff; A Practical Guide to Working with Students in Distress; and Title IX Training for Faculty and Staff. Funded by the National Science Foundation’s ADVANCE program, Stevens hosted Dr. Stephanie Goodwin and PowerPlay Interactive Development, a theatre troupe that conducted professional development in the area of bystander training and unconscious bias.
Stevens Diversity Data: Stevens regularly analyzes diversity benchmark comparisons for women and underrepresented minority faculty, students, and staff. Facts & Statistics can be found on the Stevens website.
Stevens Policies: Stevens’ policies that are relevant to issues of diversity are available in the Stevens Policy Library. I am proud of the progress being made on these efforts and our new initiatives to make Stevens a more diverse, inclusive, and welcoming environment. I invite the participation of the entire university community in enhancing these programs and making them successful.
Per aspera ad astra,
Nariman Farvardin
President
