UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Four Penn State faculty members were recently named the inaugural Social Science Research Institute (SSRI) and Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) Fellows for the 2025-2026 academic year by SSRI and CTSI.
SSRI and CTSI Fellows will engage in work, together or individually, that aligns with the mission of SSRI or CTSI to support efforts to foster change in policies and practices towards a culture of inclusive excellence across Penn State.
The 2025-2026 SSRI Fellows are:
Marcela Borge, Associate Professor of Education (LDT), College of Education
“Aligning Promotion and Tenure with the Land Grant Mission of the Pennsylvania State University”
Borge’s project seeks to align promotion and tenure (P&T) policies with Penn State’s mission by ensuring that service is formally recognized, and that the long-term nature of community-based work is properly rewarded. The initiative will engage key stakeholders—including SSRI, the Office of the Vice Provost, and various colleges—to evaluate existing policies, identify gaps, and develop equitable policy recommendations. A structured timeline will guide stakeholder collaboration, policy analysis, and implementation planning, culminating in a report with actionable solutions. By integrating service and community-based work into promotion pathways, this initiative will strengthen faculty retention, governance, and Penn State’s broader commitment to equity and public engagement.
P. Gabrielle Foreman, Paterno Family Professor of American Literature and Professor of African American Studies and History, the College of Liberal Arts
“Get It PHinisheD Write-on-Site and Professional Development Sessions”
Foreman’s "PhinisheD It!" program will help stand in the gap between expectations for junior faculty success, and the knowledge, time, and resources necessary to fulfill those expectations by creating a structured community that provides weekly professional development sessions facilitated by academic coaches and peer experts who can unpack the hidden curriculum for faculty. This project will build on the success of a previous program Foreman designed and facilitate advanced graduate students by centering professional development skills for junior faculty.
Nicole Stokes, Director of Academic Partnerships and Institutional Grant Initiatives
Professor of Sociology, Penn State Abington
“Increasing outreach, retention and promotion among underrepresented faculty by cultivating stronger scholarly collaborations and mentorship opportunities between Commonwealth campus faculty and the research institutes (SSRI, CTSI and others) at Penn State”
Stokes’s project addresses potential barriers and challenges associated with increasing the number of underrepresented faculty to successfully be promoted from Associate Professor to Full Professor across the University but most notably among the faculty at the Commonwealth Campuses. This project will work with campus deans and directors to identify a small group of 10-15 underrepresented faculty who are interested in participating in a focused mentorship program anchored within SSRI that would prepare them for promotion application to full; work with the existing Faculty Success and Equity (IFSE) workshop and to support and potentially expand their work on inclusive excellence practices in faculty hiring to the Commonwealth Campuses; and then support and expand the work of building cross-campus and cross-institute connections among the Commonwealth Campus faculty.
The 2025-2026 CTSI Fellow is:
Roderick Lee, Associate Professor of Information Systems, Penn State Harrisburg
“HIPs for All: Overcoming Barriers to Inclusion in STEM High-Impact Practices”
Lee’s project aims to identify and examine factors that positively influence access and participation in high-impact practices or HIPs (i.e., internships, study abroad, and undergraduate research). The project will provide actionable recommendations related to the fostering change in policies and practices from the findings to improve participation in HIPs across the Commonwealth Campuses.
The Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute provides tools, services and training to make health research more efficient at Penn State. It is an advocate for translational science and is a bridge between basic scientists and clinical researchers. The institute encourages collaboration to discover new treatments, medical procedures and ways to diagnose disease. The Social Science Research Institute aims to foster novel, interdisciplinary collaborations by investigators who aim to address critical human and social problems at the local, national, and international levels and to translate and disseminate this knowledge into measurable outcomes for human behavior, health, and development.