Board 85: Work in Progress: Asset-Driven Equitable Partnerships (ADEP in Practice)

Abstract The mission of the XXX is to enable MSI ECE programs to produce more and better prepared graduates from groups that have been historically underrepresented in ECE careers. We hypothesize that the key to achieving this goal is more fully engaging the students, staff and faculty at HBCUs, HSIs and TCUs in the broad ECE education and research enterprise by building partnerships with PWIs, industry, government labs, etc. These partnerships must be equitable with all voices being heard and all relevant assets identified and utilized. The equitable partnership concept came out of a series of XXX workshops in 2021 that addressed Anti-Racism Practices in Engineering. Since that time, we have been applying the ideas developed and collecting feedback, particularly on barriers to their effective use. Anti-Racism Practices in Engineering should apply to students, staff, and faculty in all activities in an ECE program. However, we have focused on research because it is THE activity that is the most underdeveloped at most MSIs and the primary reason why groups from PWIs usually contact MSIs. MSIs need investment to increase their research capacity and, thus, expand opportunities for their students. People at PWIs must engage with their counterparts at MSIs so they will learn how to more effectively mentor, teach, and guide students from MSIs. Both types of institutions must invest in each other to achieve maximum benefit from the diversity of ideas, cultures, resources, etc. found at such different institutions. Equitable partners must be able to identify and articulate their assets and understand the assets of other participants. Finally, partnerships only work if there is sufficient trust, which comes from knowledge of and engagement with one another. The model for such partnerships is what we call ADEP – Asset Driven Equitable Partnerships. Since the original workshops in 2021, we have been able to develop and apply ADEP principles through additional workshops and developing partnerships. The partnerships take a variety of forms but generally involve either a small subset or all of our core MSI members plus some PWIs, with occasional industry or national lab participation. We have also begun some joint efforts with other non-profits working to achieve similar goals. To guide these partnerships, we are continuing to develop the ADEP Rubric, which allows us to assess what is helping or hindering the success of these collaborations. New proposals are being prepared and new programs begun. At the same time, the workshops that bring together as many of our members as possible, both virtually and in person, continue. There remain too many barriers to be overcome, but the ever-evolving ADEP approach is working.