Leadership Team
On September 1, 2022, UTRGV received its second ADVANCE grant from the National Science Foundation, “ADVANCE Partnership: Transforming HSI STEM Departmental Climate for Faculty Success” (Award Number 2204577). This project recognizes the importance of academic departmental climates in the recruitment, retention, and advancement of Latinas. The planned interventions focus on equipping department chairs and their change teams with the resources needed to transform their departments' cultures into psychologically healthy workplaces for Latinas and other underrepresented minority faculty.
The ADVANCE Project Leadership Team is headed by the PI, Dr. Ala Qubbaj, Dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science, UTRGV. Dr. Qubbaj served as PI on a prior ADVANCE award at UTRGV (#1209210), “Attracting and Nurturing Women Faculty at a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI)," which focused on faculty recruitment and advancement, policy and climate, education and empowerment, and social science research that is intended to broaden and deepen the knowledge base related to issues that hinder the success of women, particularly Latinas, in STEM fields. He was also the PI on a prior NSF INCLUDES grant (#1813017), Symposium for ADVANCING STEM Latinas in Academic Careers.
Dr. Teresa (Paty) Feria Arroyo serves as the Lead for the 2024 THRIVE Latina Summit. The Associate Dean for Faculty Success in the College of Sciences at UTRGV and a Professor of Biology.
Dr. Gretal Leibnitz is a co-PI on the project and serves as the Lead for the Community of Practice and as the co-Lead for the Department Chair Cohort/Learning Circles. She has served as a PI or co-PI on multiple ADVANCE projects (#1203164, #1445076, #1644575, #1760002, #2017953, #2204520, and #2233787), beginning with an Institutional Transformation award in 2008 at Washington State University, “Excellence in Science and Engineering (EXCELinSE) at WSU” (#0810927). She is the founder member of the ADVANCE Implementation Mentors (AIM) Network.
Dr. Patricia Nava, P.E., serves as the Co-Lead for the Department Chair Cohort/Learning Circles. She has served as a Co-PI on several NSF awards, including “The Women Engineering Faculty Leadership Network” (#0245046), and “Latinas in Computer Science and Engineering: A Qualitative Study Examining Identity and Agency for Resilience and Persistence” (#1232447). She is a Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering and the El Paso Electric Company Professor in Education Research at the University of Texas El Paso (UTEP).
Dr. Christiane Spitzmüller is co-PI on the project and serves as Lead for the Social Science Study. She served as the Managing Director for the University of Houston's NSF-funded Center for ADVANCING Faculty Success (#1409928). She is Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Strategy at the University of California, Merced.
Dr. Marci McMahon is a Co-PI on the project and served as a Co-PI on the prior symposium on ADVANCING STEM Latinas in Academic Careers (#1813017). She is the is the Executive Director of the Center for Faculty Development at the University of Houston-Clear Lake.
Carina Alcantara is a Program Coordinator in the College of Engineering and Computer Science, where she organizes events for the college (including two Summits funded by the National Science Foundation) and handles financial distributions regarding grant awards and stipends, as well as all marketing efforts.