 Position added to seek grant funding for women and minorities
Susan Capalbo, a professor of agricultural economics and economics, was named Director of Special Projects for Enhancing Diversity, effective May 15. It is a part-time position that reports to Vice President for Research Tom McCoy. Capalbo said that while enhancing diversity on a college campus is a broad topic, she sees her position as one to identify and seek more opportunities for and about women and minorities in grant-funded research and outreach programs. The National Science Foundation's ADVANCE program, for example, funds proposals aimed at changing a university's institutional structure so that more women can advance in science and engineering. The same program also funds leadership awards and awards that help female faculty get started in their careers. "This is a real opportunity to work with the upper administration at MSU to look at factors that continue to keep women and minorities significantly under-represented in science and engineering fields and under-advanced in general in the nation's colleges and universities," Capalbo said. Goals for the position include increasing the recruitment and retention of women and minorities in tenure-track lines and in graduate programs. Another is making changes designed to get more women and minorities into mainstream research and creative activities at MSU, Capalbo said. Some options include slower career paces to accommodate family responsibilities or more flexible schedules that might help women progress at the same level as men. No stranger to campuswide initiatives or gender issues, Capalbo chaired the university's Long Range Planning Committee in the mid-1990s. She currently chairs the equity and student-welfare subcommittee for National Collegiate Athletic Association recertification of the MSU athletics program. "These committee assignments whetted my appetite and made me feel like I have something to offer [the institution]," she said. Despite her new position, Capalbo will continue her own research. Currently she is leading a large study on the connection between mitigation of greenhouses gases and soil carbon sequestration practices on agricultural lands. written by Annette Trinity-Stevens and posted June 2, 2002
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