FORWARD - Focus on Resources for Women's Advancement, Recruitment/Retention, and Development

NDSU FORWARD began as a self-initiated group of NDSU faculty, staff, and administrators interested in submitting a NSF ADVANCE grant proposal. Very soon, however, the group realized that, while they were developing the ADVANCE proposal, they could also initiate and encourage some institutional changes that would benefit and advance women faculty.

FORWARD, now with participation from each of NDSU's academic colleges, is committed to these specific goals:

• Improve the climate across the campus and narrow the gap between men's and women's perceptions of the campus climate;
• Employ targeted recruiting strategies to recruit women faculty;
• Retain more women faculty through their probationary period and the promotion/tenure process;
• Support women associate professors as they move to full professor, and hire advanced rank women to build a critical mass; and
• Promote and hire women faculty into academic leadership positions.