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BOLD Faculty Fellows, left to right: Daniel Appelö, Virginia Ferguson, Jana Milford and Shaun Kane.

Last year The BOLD Center launched a new fellowship aimed at supporting diversity across the curriculum and the college. Recipients are awarded up to $10,000 to launch projects or initiatives that support and encourage diversity and inclusion at CU Engineering. 

The BOLD Center’s second cohort of faculty fellows are: Daniel Appelö (Applied Mathematics), Virginia Ferguson (Mechanical Engineering), Shaun Kane (Computer Science), and Jana Milford (Mechanical Engineering).

BOLD Faculty Fellows are chosen based upon project proposals that position them as leaders in their departments. These faculty members design impactful and relevant program plans that are intended to create awareness, understanding and positive change in the CEAS community.

Faculty members are encouraged to work at the departmental level to effect change in their direct community of faculty peers and students. Project goals for each BOLD Faculty Fellow are:

Daniel Appelö: mentoring 3-5 students underrepresented in computer science and engineering to present research at academic conferences and to launch a faculty reading group that studies and discuss best practices support diversity and inclusion in the classroom. 

Virginia Ferguson: conducting surveys and focus groups to identify specific needs around retention and climate in mechanical engineering as well as launching a career mentoring lunch series and a peer mentoring program within the department. 

Shaun Kane: increasing awareness and participation of underrepresented minorities and people with disabilities in computing and engineering by hosting a speaker series that invites successful computer science and engineering researchers who have disabilities to share their personal and professional experiences. 

Jana Milford: leading a faculty and student team to expand research on issues facing non-majority students in CEAS and sharing findings with the college community and initiating multicultural celebrations that honor non-majority cultures that are part of the college. 

“We are so excited about the expertise this cohort brings to BOLD and to the college. They are helping us reflect on ways to be increasingly inclusive and will provide and implement new ideas for our college,” said Sarah Miller, assistant dean for diversity and inclusion. 

“This new cohort means that we have another group of inclusion champions in the college," Miller said. "They are joining their predecessors in building a community of faculty in CEAS who are leaders in diversity and inclusion.”

In the years ahead Miller envisions that “inclusion is owned in every corner of the college—not just in The BOLD Center. This work must extend across the college. Inclusion is the work of everyone. Just as our student affinity groups and professional societies work together and collaborate, our faculty fellowship aims to foster collaboration that supports a flourishing and inclusive community at CU �鶹ӰԺ Engineering.”  

Maria Kuntz is the assistant director for communications, inclusion and community in the College of Engineering & Applied Science.