# UNM FIRST: Administrative Core

> **NIH NIH U54** · UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO · 2024 · $5,725

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY – ADMINISTRATIVE CORE
The University of New Mexico (UNM) is the flagship and largest university in New Mexico, which is one of four
majority-minority states. It is also one of the poorest and most under-resourced states in the nation. New
Mexico has a large Hispanic (49.3%) and American Indian (11%) population. UNM is a Hispanic-Serving
Institution and a Carnegie Very High Research Activity University with over 16,000 undergraduates and 6,000
graduate students. The ethnic/racial diversity of the student population closely reflects that of the state, and
women make up 57.4% of undergraduate and graduate enrollments. UNM has an extraordinary group of NIH-
funded researchers who are internationally renowned for research in neuroscience and data science, each with
great potential to train and elevate the next generation of diverse scientists. Diversifying the biomedical faculty
at UNM will align with NIH’s goal of diversifying the biomedical workforce at all levels in order to accomplish its
mission of discovery and innovation toward improving human health. Furthermore, it will catalyze inclusive
excellence, and provide role models for female and URM trainees and a relatable path toward career
advancement in STEM. Cluster hiring of faculty, which will be new for UNM, appears to be an effective way to
build a faculty cohort and diversify the professoriate. Thus, the UNM FIRST program will implement a cluster
design model of faculty hiring, mentoring, and professional development that is embedded within UNM’s
ongoing commitment to inclusive excellence. Recruitment and hiring strategies designed to promote diversity
and reduce discrimination will be used. Hiring will occur across six departments. Our long-term goal is to
employ a cluster/cohort hiring model that increases the diversity of biomedical faculty at UNM, which in turn will
significantly increase our percentage of URM faculty who are Principal Investigators with NIH funding. The
central hypothesis is that the UNM FIRST program will successfully hire, promote, and retain a diverse faculty
cohort, and the policies/practices resulting from this program, such as the creation of the Institutional
Innovation Implementation Board, will be adopted by UNM and ultimately make significant improvements in
inclusive excellence. The Specific Aims of the UNM FIRST Administrative Core are: to lead the process of
recruiting and hiring the diverse UNM FIRST faculty cohort in the neuroscience and data science areas (AIM
1), to distribute start-up research funding and provide administrative support to the UNM FIRST faculty cohort
to facilitate success in obtaining NIH funding (AIM 2), and to provide ongoing support for UNM faculty,
department chairs, and UNM leadership to implement new innovative campus-wide policies and processes to
increase hiring, promotion, and retention of female and diverse faculty and otherwise lead to a more inclusive
institutional culture (AIM 3). The proposed work is hig...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11073225
- **Project number:** 3U54CA272167-02S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO
- **Principal Investigator:** JANE ELLEN SMITH
- **Activity code:** U54 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $5,725
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2024-04-01 → 2027-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11073225

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11073225, UNM FIRST: Administrative Core (3U54CA272167-02S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11073225. Licensed CC0.

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