The RISE UPP PROMISE Academy Alliance for the University System of Maryland (USM) is an initiative aimed at increasing the diversity of tenure-track STEM faculty to better reflect our great nation and better serve our students. The PROMISE Academy Alliance is a collaborative multi-institution effort that involves recruiting and on-boarding postdoctoral scholars, supporting them through professional development and mentoring, and ultimately retaining these scholars as tenure track faculty, preferably within USM.
Postdocs in the PROMISE Academy (Fellows) have an appointment at a participating institution, and receive added opportunities from across the university system including a cohort of same stage peers, an enhanced research and mentor network, and access to professional development at different campuses. Institutions participating in the PROMISE Academy Alliance have the benefit of engaging with top talent from which they can recruit, accessing resources developed by the Alliance to improve academic climate and inclusivity, and working on cross-institutional policy and practice changes that will ultimately improve their institutions and the entire USM.
The PROMISE Academy was originally funded by the National Science Foundation’s AGEP program and has since been funded by the RISE UPP program, an Eddie Bernice Johnson INCLUDES initiative, which aims to use the PROMISE Academy as a model for other state systems to consider postdoc-to-professoriate approaches. The funding provided by these programs helps provide critical support to postdoctoral scholars who are working to establish successful careers in STEM, and to transform the departments, institutions and state university systems into organizations in which these scholars will want to come and stay for long, productive careers.
If you would like to learn more about the RISE UPP PROMISE Academy, including eligibility to participate as a Fellow or an institution, you can visit our website at https://promiseacademyalliance.com/.