STEM Equity Achievement (SEA) Change, a project of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), challenges, supports, and recognizes institutions of higher education and their departments/schools for their efforts in taking decisive actions to remove systemic, structural barriers for those who have been marginalized on the basis of gender (including identity and expression), race, ethnicity, disability status, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, age, familial history of higher education, as well as the intersections between these identities, with a clear aim: to enable the full diversity of talented individuals to pursue, persist and succeed in science, technology, engineering, medicine and mathematics (STEMM) higher education (at all levels) and in their careers. In the SEA Change process, inclusion, and its valuable impacts, are measured by the experiences of students and faculty, as well as by data.

The SEA Change Principles can be found here: https://seachange.aaas.org/about/principles.

About

In 2017, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) created the Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine (STEMM) Equity Achievement (SEA) Change Project. This project seeks to support postsecondary institutions in creating systemic, structural change regarding equity, diversity, and inclusion. Institutions engaged in SEA Change commit to the SEA Change Principles, which can be found here: https://seachange.aaas.org/principles/. Institutions interested in undergoing an awards process undergo a self-assessment to identify unnecessary, structural challenges and barriers for:

To complete the awards process, institutions must create a 5-year plan with measurable outcomes to address areas in which they wish to improve.

In 2017, AAAS began to work with STEMM professional societies to develop SEA Change Departmental awards. These awards are similar to the institutional awards, but are focused on the discipline/department. Many important decisions are made at the departmental level, which is often noted as the locus for change.

The Physics and Astronomy Disciplinary Committee is comprised of representatives and staff from the American Institute of Physics (AIP), AAPT, American Astronomical Society (AAS), American Physical Society (APS), AVS (Science and Technology of Materials, Interfaces, and Processing), National Society of Black Physicists (NSBP), National Society of Hispanic Physicists (NSHP), the Physics and Astronomy Division of the Council on Undergraduate Research, and OSA (The Optical Society). Since its inception, the Physics and Astronomy Disciplinary Committee has:

We are currently in the midst of implementing the pilot project. The goals of the pilot include testing the departmental assessment and award structures, refining the process, and gauging overall sustainability and interest from the broad physics and astronomy community.

CHARTER OF THE SEA CHANGE PHYSICS / ASTRONOMY COMMITTEE

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