Mary Jane Frind wins provost’s Changing Hearts and Minds Award

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Office of Faculty Recruitment

Mary Jane Frind, assistant dean, Kate Gleason College of Engineering (center), was awarded the 2009 Changing Hearts and Minds Award, sponsored by the Office of the Provost and the Office of Faculty Recruitment, for support in recruiting and retention of diverse faculty. Frind is shown here with Harvey Palmer, dean, and Renee Baker, executive director, Faculty Recruitment.

The Kate Gleason College of Engineering and Mary Jane Frind, assistant dean for administrative services, have been awarded the 2009 Changing Hearts and Minds college and individual awards, respectively, for work in increasing diverse hiring within the college. The award, sponsored by the Office of the Provost and the Office of Faculty Recruitment, was given during the annual Future Faculty Career Exploration Program, Sept. 24-27.

“Participants in the Future Faculty Career Exploration Program are doing just that—exploring academia as a career,” says Frind. “My role is to guide the host departments in developing a set of experiences that provide participants with the flavor of academic life and a sense of the inclusive community in engineering. Although I am pleased to be recognized for my efforts, I must say that it takes the concerted effort of many, many faculty, staff and students to make this program successful.”

A monetary award of $2,500 is given to the college to be used to continue recruitment and retention initiatives. Frind will also receive $500 for her role in supporting hiring program efforts within the college.

“Under Dean Palmer’s leadership in commitment to diversity and inclusion, Mary Jane has played an integral role in diversifying the College of Engineering,” says Renee Baker, executive director of Faculty Recruitment. “Through their advertising and outreach, the college has increased its diverse hiring by 30 percent. Mary Jane’s work with faculty searches is thorough, timely and properly processed. Mary Jane’s dedication and commitment to her work as well as the mission of this office, KGCOE and that of RIT, has yielded great outcomes.”

The RIT Future Faculty Career Exploration Program was established in 2002. It is an annual recruiting event hosted at the college for prospective female and African-American, Latino-American and Native American faculty. This is the seventh year the program has been held. Prior recipients of the Changing Hearts and Minds individual and college award include College of Science and Doug Merrill, professor and director, Center for Bioscience Education and Technology; College of Liberal Arts and Glen Kist, professor of history; the National Technical Institute for the Deaf and Laurie Brewer, vice dean/interim associate vice president for Academic Affairs, and the College of Science and Richard Doolittle, professor and assistant provost for undergraduate programs.