# Evaluation Core

> **NIH NIH U54** · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · 2024 · $217,470

## Abstract

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.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10866581
- **Project number:** 5U54CA280805-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR
- **Principal Investigator:** Alford A. Young Jr.
- **Activity code:** U54 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $217,470
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-06-13 → 2029-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10866581

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10866581, Evaluation Core (5U54CA280805-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-28 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10866581. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*