Mission and Vision
UTEP's FIRST mission is to maintain inclusive environments, institutionally, thereby uplifting early-career faculty on their trajectory toward academic and research success. Our vision is to be a national leader in diversifying the biomedical research workforce and a national resource for studying and implementing systemic change that supports academic cultures of inclusive excellence.
Core Aims
The UTEP FIRST program integrates three cores to achieve its overarching goal of driving significant change in the institutional culture at UTEP.
The Administrative Core
The Administrative Core aims to create transformative cultural and institutional changes through the framework of Inclusive Excellence, leading to supportive and inclusive environments that develop diverse faculty who excel in discipline-specific and interdisciplinary research focused on reducing Hispanic health disparities. The Administrative Core is led by Dr. Michael Kenney, Ph.D., and Ann Gates, Ph.D.
The Faculty Development Core
The Faculty Development Core aims to implement and sustain a UTEP FIRST program that builds communities of practice and integrates innovative infrastructures, leading to transformative and sustainable changes in policies, procedures, and processes that foster the retention, progression, and promotion of diverse faculty. The Faculty Development Core is led by Laura O'Dell, Ph.D., and Thenral Mangadu, Ph.D.
The Evaluation Core
The Evaluation Core aims to foster and institutionalize program improvement and sustainability by testing the primary hypothesis through documentation of faculty, department, and institutional level metrics and indicators. Expected findings will exert a powerful influence by fostering a sustainable institutional culture change, thereby providing UTEP with the foundation needed for thriving at the intersectionality of research, culture, diversity, and inclusion. The Evaluation Core is led by Guadalupe Corral, Ph.D.