Creating Meaningful Culture Change in Engineering (without burning out)

Associate Professor of Teaching,

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,

University of California, Davis

In 2015, UC Davis started hiring tenure-track professors of teaching who were integrated into different departments. The goal was to improve the overall teaching quality in departments by hiring faculty focused on teaching pedagogy. However, the expectations for faculty hired were sometimes vague, which provided challenges and opportunities for those hired. I was one of the initially hired in this faculty series. In this seminar, I will introduce these positions (relatively rare in R1s) and lessons learned for fully integrating teaching faculty into the department. The next part of the talk will share strategies for implementing diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice (DEIJ) into all aspects of a tenure-track teaching career (teaching, scholarship, and service) to promote culture change. As DEIJ work can be draining, the talk will close with tips on avoiding burnout in this work.

Colleen E. Bronner, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Teaching and Vice-chair in the UC Davis Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Her degrees are from the University at Buffalo (BS and PhD) and UC Berkeley (MS). Her scholarly/professional activities center on diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice in engineering. Select honors include: 1) 2019-2020 Chancellor’s Fellowship for DEI; 2) 2020 UC Davis Associated Students Excellence in Education; 3) 2021 National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) The Global Community for Academic Advising Outstanding Faculty Advisor; 4) 2023 UC Davis Women and Philanthropy Impact Award; and 5) 2024 American Society of Engineering Education Pacific Southwest Section’s Outstanding Teaching Award.