The Society for The Teaching of Psychology (STP; APA Division 2) is pleased to announce the STP Award for Promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion to recognize instructors who promote and prioritize these values in their teaching and mentoring. Consistent with our Mission Statement and the Statement on Addressing Systemic Racism and Inequity in STP, we encourage applications from colleagues who are from underrepresented groups and have diverse backgrounds and experiences.
This award recognizes diversity as inclusive of perspectives and experiences that are not traditionally highlighted in psychology curricula, in a reflection of broader societal power structures. These perspectives and experiences may derive from minoritized identities that include, but are not limited to: sexual orientation, gender identity, disability status, social class, race/ethnicity, religion, and immigration status. The goal of this award is to recognize instructors of psychology who promote social justice, broadly construed, through their teaching via a variety of educational and academic activities, as per Goal 3 of the APA Guidelines for the Undergraduate Psychology Major.
2023 AWARD RECIPIENT
Leslie Berntsen, chair of the award committee, is pleased to announce Dr. Milton Fuentes as the recipient of the 2023 STP Promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award. Dr. Fuentes is a Professor and the Coordinator of Undergraduate Advising in the Department of Psychology at Montclair State University. Through his teaching, mentoring, outreach, and advocacy, he works tirelessly to ensure that students–in his classes and around the country–feel like they belong in higher education.
His undergraduate and graduate courses in clinical and community psychology infuse equity and inclusion at every level, from syllabus design to the strategies that allow students to meaningfully and impactfully discuss these issues and their perspectives with each other. Many of these strategies have since been shared in an article on inclusive course design that is Teaching of Psychology’s single most highly cited article in the past three years (Fuentes, Zelaya, & Madsen, 2021). Additionally, Dr. Fuentes has served as the founding advisor for the Multicultural Scholars Program at Montclair State since 2008 and one of the co-leads for the State of New Jersey’s Safe and Inclusive Learning Environment (SILE) Working Group in 2020 to share best practices with educators across the state.
In recognition of his commitment to practicing culturally responsive teaching and mentoring and advocating for inclusive learning environments for all, STP is pleased to present Dr. Milton Fuentes with the 2023 Promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award.
PAST AWARD RECIPIENTS
2022: Viji Sathy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
2021: Michelle Reyna Nario-Redmond, Hiram College
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
Teachers of psychology at any kind of institution and any stage of their career are eligible for this award. (Contributions and accomplishments will be evaluated relative to an applicant’s career stage.) Applicants must be members of the Society for the Teaching of Psychology. (Click here to join if you are not already a member.)
Self-nominations are encouraged. Those hoping to nominate a colleague for this award are encouraged to work together with the nominee in order to prepare the most compelling dossier possible.
AWARD DEADLINE
February 1 of the award year
MATERIALS TO BE SUBMITTED
Cover sheet that includes the applicant’s name, institution, and contact information, as well as a short description of the applicant’s teaching duties. Also include the name and contact information for the person who should be informed (e.g., chair, principal, supervisor, etc.) if the applicant wins the award.
Evidence of STP membership
DEI-focused curriculum vitae
Evidence to illustrate award criteria, along with a summary sheet that explains each piece of evidence in approximately 75 words or less (per piece of evidence, not total)
AWARD CRITERIA + SUGGESTIONS FOR SUPPORTING EVIDENCE
This is a non-exhaustive list of suggestions for supporting evidence to illustrate the criteria for this award. Applicants need not have achieved recognition in all five criteria and are encouraged to only include evidence that meaningfully contributes to an overarching narrative about their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, rather than taking a “checklist” approach.
An overall teaching approach and/or specific teaching practices that amplify diverse perspectives and foster an equitable learning environment
Teaching philosophy
Summary of student evaluations (please do not include original evaluation forms)
Other informal student feedback
Sample teaching materials
Exemplary student work that demonstrates knowledge/appreciation of DEI as related to course learning objectives
Letters of support
Community-based educational initiatives that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion outside of the classroom
Sample teaching materials
Evidence of impact
Conference presentations and/or invited/public talks focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion in the teaching of psychology
Representative conference posters
List of talk titles/abstracts
Mentorship that is responsive to the needs of minoritized students, trainees, and colleagues
Mentoring philosophy
Letters of support
Publications (whether academic or popular) focused on inclusive and equitable pedagogy
Annotated bibliography (please include the DOI or link to each publication, but not the full-text publications themselves)
SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS
Please submit your dossier as one single PDF. You can merge documents in most PDF software or at www.ilovepdf.com, which also has a function to compress large files.
Any letters of support can be included directly in the dossier or submitted separately by the referees.
Submit your application here (requires login).
AWARD AND REVIEW DETAILS
Awards are only for STP members. Recipients will receive $1,500, a plaque, and (if they do not have travel funds from other sources) up to $1,500 to attend STP’s Annual Conference on Teaching to accept their award.
Applications will be reviewed by the STP Promoting DEI Award Committee. Applicants not receiving the award may apply again in future years. STP reserves the right not to make an award if the award committee believes no applicant is qualified in a particular year. Policies regarding STP grant programs can be found here.
If you have any questions about this award or the application process, please contact Leslie Berntsen, Inaugural Promoting DEI Award Chair, at dei-award@teachpsych.org
PROMOTING DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION AWARD COMMITTEE
Leslie Berntsen (Chair), University of Southern California
Arlen Garcia, Miami Dade College
Dina Gohar, University of Michigan
Jacqueline Goldman, Delta State University
Amy Nusbaum, Heritage University