# SDSU FUERTE: Faculty Development Core

> **NIH NIH U54** · SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $236,107

## Abstract

FACULTY DEVELOPMENT CORE – Project Summary
The goal of the Faculty Development Core (FDC) of SDSU FUERTE or Faculty Unified towards Excellence in
Research and Transformational Engagement is to employ a comprehensive Faculty Development Model with
centralized and coordinated resources to support a newly hired FUERTE Faculty Cohort to establish their
research independence and thrive and advance at SDSU. The Faculty Cohort will benefit from multi-perspective,
team-based mentoring (Senior Faculty Mentor, Sponsor and Peer Mentor). Faculty Cohort members will
specialize in Latinx health disparities in the areas of Addiction Science, Environmental Health, and
Obesity/Physical Activity/Nutrition research. SDSU offers many important faculty development resources to
improve faculty research productivity and the climate of DEI excellence. However, these resources are delivered
by siloed units across the university, and SDSU does not currently have a comprehensive and centralized faculty
research training and Faculty Development Plan (FDP). To close this gap, the SDSU FUERTE FDC will develop
new activities as well as unify existing campus faculty development activities and resources in such a way as to
provide faculty with a structured approach to faculty development that will help them maximize efficiencies and
advance at an accelerated pace towards their research independence and professional advancement. The
SDSU FUERTE Faculty Development Model (FDM) will serve as the roadmap to guide all activities under the
FDP. The FDM integrates evidence-based and best practices for the comprehensive and unified promotion of
research and academic advancement, mentorship, wellbeing, and retention of diverse faculty. Through a
dedicated team of mentors who will support the Faculty Cohort starting from their transition and entry to SDSU
until they reach research independence and promotion to tenure status SDSU FUERTE will build in research
trajectory planning and an individual development plan developed by the Faculty Cohort with input from their
Mentoring Team that will guide them to reach milestones that should ensure their ability to be successfully
promoted and obtain tenure. The Faculty Cohort will have protected time coupled with research and faculty
development training in FUERTE’s structured Core Curriculum that will enhance and accelerate their
achievement of research independence and ability to become thriving faculty at SDSU. The SDSU FUERTE
FDP has strategically built-in efforts that will support the Faculty Cohort in fostering meaningful relationships with
peers and the campus community, specifically through the Core I seminars that include a new ‘Peers and
Pláticas’ (pláticas means ‘chats’ in Spanish) monthly peer gathering after the Core I “Community through
Diversity” session for the Faculty Cohort to meet and network with other peer faculty. SDSU FUERTE uses
evidence-based retention strategies including a mentoring team; providing requisite research and...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10492046
- **Project number:** 5U54CA267789-02
- **Recipient organization:** SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Maria Luisa Zuniga de Nuncio
- **Activity code:** U54 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $236,107
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-09-21 → 2026-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10492046

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10492046, SDSU FUERTE: Faculty Development Core (5U54CA267789-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10492046. Licensed CC0.

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