About

The UCI ADVANCE Program

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Mission

UC Irvine's commitment to inclusive excellence is integral to our ascendancy among globally preeminent universities. This commitment animates faculty research, teaching, and service while advancing our capacity to shape the future.

The campus drives institutional transformation through:

  • Robust leadership and intentional messaging
  • Aligning incentives and resources to priorities
  • Consistent dissemination and articulation of university policies and campus procedures
  • Training and equipping faculty leaders to be change agents

The mission of UCI ADVANCE is to promote an inclusive culture for faculty and graduate student excellence. A dedicated team of faculty Equity Advisors and graduate program DECADE mentors carry out this mission in the general campus schools. This distinctive model of peer to peer collaboration is designed to advance excellence through an intentional commitment to equity and diversity in three areas critical for the success of current faculty and professoriate of the future. These are: recruitment and admissions, advancement and degree completion, and an affirmative climate for all faculty and graduate students.

Institutional Transformation


Accountability: Peer-to-Peer Model

ADVANCE Equity Advisors and DECADE Mentors are:

  • Respected members of the faculty
  • familiar with research literature about faculty career and student success
  • A resource for equity, diversity, and inclusion
  • Advocates for institutional transformation

Equity Advisors for Faculty DECADE Mentors for Graduate Programs
Search and Recruitment Outreach and Admissions
Career Advice and Advancement Professional Development
Climate for Inclusive Excellence Climate for Inclusive Excellence

Education and Training

  • Institute for Inclusive Excellence
  • Faculty Search Committee Presentations
  • Institutional Transformation Seminar Series
  • Career Development Workshop Series
  • This is What a Scientist and Engineer Looks Like Series
  • Graduate Student Admissions Presentations
  • DECADE Speaker Series
  • Celebration of Mentoring Achievement and Excellence

Responsive Research

  • Annual Faculty Search Outcomes and Census
  • Quarterly Faculty Search Report
  • Policy Analysis and Assessment
  • Work-Life Integration
  • Climate
  • Bulletin of Faculty Research Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion

Peer-to-Peer Model

ADVANCE Equity Advisors and DECADE Mentors are:

  • Respected members of the faculty
  • familiar with research literature about faculty career and student success
  • A resource for equity, diversity, and inclusion
  • Advocates for institutional transformation

Equity Advisors for Faculty DECADE Mentors for Graduate Programs
Search and Recruitment Outreach and Admissions
Career Advice and Advancement Professional Development
Climate for Inclusive Excellence Climate for Inclusive Excellence

Milestones for Inclusive Excellence

  • 2001, UCI became one of 10 universities nationwide to receive a NSF ADVANCE Institutional Transformation award to recruit, retain, and advance women faculty in STEM fields
  • 2011, the U.S. Department of Education awarded the Graduate Division a grant for the Improvement of Post Secondary Education (FIPSE) to increase the participation and degree completion of underrepresented racial and ethnic minorities as well as women in campus doctoral programs. Modeled after Equity Advisors, DECADE Mentors cultuvate an afffirmative climate for gradute education

Signature Programs

  • Dependent Care Travel Awards
  • Inclusive Excellence Spirit Grants
  • Career Development Grants
  • UCI Chancellor's ADVANCE Postdoctoral Fellowship Program
  • Diversity Opportunities Web Portal

Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships

  • UCI Chancellor's Advisory Council on Campus Climate, Culture, & Inclusion
  • UCI Minority Serving Institutional Status Project (HSI, API, NASI, and BSI)
  • UC-Historical Black Colleges and Universities Initiative
  • UC ADVANCE: Meeting the California Challenge of the 21st Century
  • Commission on Access, Diversity, and Excellence (Association of Public Land Grant Universities)
  • National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity
  • National Science Foundation ADVANCE Program for Gender Equity


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