University of Maryland FIRST Program

Modified Project Summary/Abstract Section

The overarching goal of the University of Maryland FIRST program is to create a comprehensive model that is dedicated to ensuring a diverse, scholarly environment and encouraging outstanding individuals to enter the academic profession through a commitment to inclusive excellence. This proposal represents a Partnership between the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) and the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC).

As defined by the FIRST RFA, the UMSOM is a Highly Resourced Institution (HRI) with an average of $140 million in NIH funding over the last three years and UMBC is a Limited-Resourced Institution (LRI) with an average of $7.5 million in NIH funding over the last three years. The UMSOM is one of six professional schools on the University of Maryland Baltimore (UMB) campus located in downtown Baltimore.

UMBC is located in the Baltimore suburbs, just 8 miles away from UMB. UMB and UMBC have been closely linked ever since the 1966 founding of UMBC through a variety of interactions and relationships as described in the proposal. We will “build” upon UMBC’s rich reputation as a public research university for producing highly capable and competitive undergraduate and graduate scholars in a diverse setting.

We will combine our experience in hiring a diverse faculty through effective post-doctoral and pre-professoriate programs with the stellar reputation of UMB-SOM in producing highly successful biomedical researchers. This new model will seek to hire three cohorts of underrepresented scholars, who are committed to diversity in the academy and to prepare those scholars for successful possible tenure track appointments at UMBC.

In addition, the program will serve to encourage and support departments and programs in their efforts to enrich their intellectual communities through the increased representation of diverse perspectives in research, teaching, and service. Cohorts will be recruited into broadly themed areas of cancer biology, neuroscience, and microbiology/infectious diseases, which are all areas of significant strength at both institutions.

Ten new faculty members from underrepresented groups will be recruited, with six recruits being primarily affiliated with the UMSOM and four recruits primarily affiliated with UMBC. All recruits will have secondary appointments in the other institution and will undergo faculty development and other program activities as a cohort.

The general approach proposed in this initiative is to combine the experiences and strengths of our two institutions through leveraging existing programs and new initiatives to infuse the unbiased hiring and mentoring of faculty, especially underrepresented minorities, into the fabric of departmental culture and thereby affect institutional change. Of primary importance are institutional policies and procedures that codify the importance of a diverse professoriate and provide a sustainable infrastructure for it to establish and grow.