Media Contact: Robby Piazzaroli, rpiazzaroli@fairfield.edu, 203-254-4000 x2597

A team of science and math faculty at Fairfield University has been awarded a prestigious grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) to transform the introductory experience for STEM students, with the goal of improving retention and success for all students, especially for students of color and others who have been traditionally excluded from these disciplines. 

Fairfield University is part of a 14-institution Learning Community Cluster (LCC) that was collectively awarded $8M for this 6-year collaborative effort. In addition to the individual institutional awards, the entire LCC will share approximately $2M to jointly explore, develop, and implement new approaches, programs, and structures that will reshape the first-year experience for STEM students on all of our campuses. Through DEI-focused professional development in STEM, redesign of introductory science and math courses, and creation of an inclusive STEM community within and outside of the classroom, we hope this effort will contribute to the creation of a stronger and more diverse STEM workforce in the future.

"We are thrilled to have this opportunity,” said Dr. Shelley Phelan. “We are thankful to the many faculty, administrators, and staff at Fairfield University who have helped to support this effort thus far, and we look forward to the meaningful changes we hope to make for our STEM students over these next six years — and beyond." 

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) is one of the most well recognized and prestigious institutes that supports science research and education worldwide. In 2019, HHMI initiated the third round of its Inclusive Excellence (IE) initiative, which aims to increase institutional capacity for inclusive learning for students in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). A representative team of four faculty at Fairfield University, Shelley Phelan, PhD, (Department of Biology), Jill Smith-Carpenter, PhD, (Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry), Laura McSweeney, PhD, (Department of Mathematics) and Angela Biselli, PhD, (Department of Physics) has led this effort, with support and input from key divisions across the university. With a revised process for the IE3 initiative resumed in 2021, 108 institutions were selected from 354 original applicants, and 104 went on to participate in the Phase 1 Learning Community Clusters (LCC), each focused on a particular challenge related to student inclusion in STEM.

 “Over the past year, we have built a collaborative community with our partner institutions and have developed approaches to better understand barriers to inclusion and success for students in STEM.” Dr. Phelan continued.  Fairfield University received a $30K grant from HHMI to do this Phase 1 work, and to work with the LCC to submit a joint proposal in August 2022 for the 6-year Phase 2 part of the project.

Dr. Phelan: “The Fairfield core team is deeply committed to this initiative, and we are excited to strengthen partnerships with many key offices on campus in this effort so we can more fully understand our students’ experiences and challenges. With the help of our partner institutions, we look forward to learning from one another and truly reimagining the way we do things for our STEM students. We hope this project will serve as a model for broader institutional change to promote inclusive excellence on our campus, as well as providing a new framework for inclusive STEM education for other colleges and universities.”

Posted On: December 6, 2022

Volume: 54 Number: 49

Fairfield University is a modern, Jesuit Catholic University, rooted in one of the world’s oldest intellectual and spiritual traditions. More than 5,000 undergraduate and graduate students from 36 states, 47 foreign countries, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico are enrolled in the University’s five schools. In the spirit of rigorous and sympathetic inquiry into all dimensions of human experience, Fairfield welcomes students from diverse backgrounds to share ideas and engage in open conversations. The University is located in the heart of a region where the future takes shape, on a stunning campus on the Connecticut coast just an hour from New York City.