ADMINISTRATIVE CORE – Project Summary Human health is negatively impacted by the lack of gender, racial, and ethnic diversity in biomedical and health sciences research in the United States. This lack of diversity adversely impacts discovery, innovation, and the advancement of scientific knowledge. Moreover, this point is particularly salient, as the COVID-19 pandemic has differentially affected the mortality and morbidity of communities of color in the US. Lower numbers of historically underrepresented minorities in biomedical and health sciences research fields are evident in both the undergraduate and graduate levels of training as compared to the general US population, but are even more amplified among the faculty ranks in American research universities and medical schools. San Diego State University (SDSU) is proposing a new and innovative program, SDSU FUERTE (Faculty Unified towards Excellence in Research and Transformational Engagement). This program aims to ameliorate this disparity by recruiting a diverse cohort of health sciences researchers focused on Latinx health disparities and implementing a comprehensive Faculty Development Plan, comprised of a multi-perspective mentoring team approach as well as a new centralized Core Curriculum that applies evidence-based strategies to accelerate the research and professional academic advancement success of its faculty. One of three cores supporting SDSU FUERTE, the Administrative Core is first and foremost responsible for overseeing a new institutional process for successfully recruiting this diverse, nine-person, interdisciplinary faculty cohort who will begin at SDSU in the Fall of 2022. The Administrative Core will be critical to these efforts and will be led by a highly experienced leadership team charged to promote buy-in and accountability for the SDSU FUERTE initiative which is mandating a new level of inclusive excellence approaches and strategies at all levels of the SDSU community. The management and coordination of the SDSU FUERTE program will occur through a well- defined administrative structure which will receive essential input from an External Advisory Board and an Internal Advisory Board comprised of nationally and institutionally recognized leaders. The Administrative Core will also facilitate and support the essential synergies between the Faculty Development Core and the Evaluation Core by serving as the central hub for coordination and information exchange.