PROJECT SUMMARY: EVALUATION CORE The Evaluation Core (EC) will lead assessment of the Michigan Program for Advancing Cultural Transformation (M-PACT) at the University of Michigan (UM). The EC will employ quantitative and qualitative analyses to evaluate how a cohort and cluster design model of faculty hiring, development and sponsorship, which intentionally targets challenges that disproportionately affect underrepresented and/or minoritized (URM) groups, can not only improve the career experiences and outcomes of the promising biomedical and health science researchers in that cohort, but transform broader institutional culture to support diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). To evaluate the program's impact on participating Scholars' careers and institutional climate, the EC will collect data from participating Scholars, Sponsor-Mentors, Cluster Leads, Unit Mentors, Unit Leaders, and other faculty at UM. Mixed-methods analyses will allow for a triangulated understanding of the impact of the M-PACT program on Scholars and on the institution more broadly, as well as of the underlying processes associated with such impact. Our evaluation framework incorporates both within-group and between-group comparisons to elucidate how the program impacts participants via Aim 1, which evaluates academic success outcomes using administrative data to evaluate productivity and career advancement, and Aim 2, which evaluates the effects of M-PACT on the barriers and facilitators of career success for M-PACT Scholars and their perceptions of the program's impact on their careers, using survey and interview data that will be compared to matched non-M-PACT faculty hired in the same units. Our evaluation framework also incorporates both within-group and between-group comparisons to elucidate how the program impacts the wider university community URM faculty via Aim 2, which uses interviews with a broad range of informants, and via Aim 3, which uses campus-wide DEI surveys about the broader university climate. These efforts are intended to permit not only a mature ultimate assessment of the program's impact but also to guide its implementation and inform ongoing process improvement. The team is well positioned to nimbly integrate insights from these analyses into the design of the program, including the training of Sponsor-Mentors and the faculty development curriculum. Close communication, facilitated by the integrated administrative structure of M-PACT, will permit continuous quality improvement to optimize its ultimate impact. The EC team will also disseminate findings via peer-reviewed publications and meeting presentations, liaise with the NIH FIRST Coordination and Evaluation Center (CEC), and manage data sharing activity to optimize the overall contributions of the program to the larger field of Biomedical and Health Sciences.