The Collaborative Leadership component is designed to stimulate change at departmental and college levels by facilitating ways of fostering a supportive climate through which faculty can advance. The specific barriers to advancement of female faculty, which are addressed by the Collaborative Leadership process, are workplace environment and marginalization. The collaborative leadership component works to enhance collaboration among faculty, identify and support innovative leaders, share best practices, and facilitate improvement of departmental climates. The involvement of faculty in this process builds a collegial and supportive environment that benefits all UTEP faculty.

ADVANCE develops collaborative leadership that facilitates productive and supportive departmental climates that foster change, identifies innovative leadership behaviors, and shares best practices for recruitment and promotion of a qualified faculty.

This component focuses on the following activities:

• Interviews with departmental chairs
• Informal group discussions, "Chair Chats," with departmental chairs
• Informal forums among women faculty
• Implementation of plans to create community and improve climates that foster institutional change
• Idenification of best practices

Best practices identified include:

• Slowing of tenure clock for family issues
• Availability of research release time at the departmental level
• Early feedback regarding progress toward tenure
• Active recruitment of women from underrepresented groups
• Facilitation of departmental strategic planning