UT-CLIMBS
The University of Tennessee-CLIMBS (UT-CLIMBS) program is an evidence-based workshop designed to raise awareness about subtle but systematic inequalities in academic settings and empower individuals to productively confront discriminatory practices in the moment. Informed by research in sociology and social, counseling, and vocational psychology, as well as intersectionality and feminist theory, UT-CLIMBS grew out of an 2018 ADVANCE grant awarded to faculty at The University of Tennessee. Learn more about the UT-CLIMBS team below, and reach out to any of the team leaders to learn about how UT-CLIMBS might benefit your workplace, team, or organization.
Erin Hardin, Ph.D.
Erin Hardin is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where she is also Associate Department Head. Erin was a Co-PI on the NSF ADVANCE grant that developed UT-CLIMBS and recently served as co-facilitator (with Joe Miles) of the Leadership Workshop for Mid-Career Women in Physics Collaborations. Dr. Hardin’s research has focused on recruiting and retaining under-represented individuals in STEM, from high school to university faculty. Her groundbreaking work on culturally responsive vocational psychology has been published widely and supported by funding from both the NSF and NIH. She is an award-winning scholar-teacher and an internationally recognized leader in the teaching of psychology.
Joe Miles, Ph.D.
Joe Miles is a Professor of Psychology and Director of the Counseling Psychology Ph.D. program at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where he served as Co-PI on the university’s NSF ADVANCE grant. His areas of expertise include multicultural and social justice education, and the process and outcome of intergroup dialogue and other group interventions. He is the President-Elect of the Society of Group Psychology and Group Psychotherapy. Dr. Miles has served as a Discussion Group Facilitator for Game Changer Academies program working with the CMMI division in the Engineering Directorate of the National Science Foundation to training panel reviewers to promoting deliberative democracy in peer review. With Erin Hardin, he recently served as co-facilitator of the Leadership Workshop for Mid-Career Women in Physics Collaborations.
Patrick Grzanka, Ph.D.
Patrick Grzanka is a Professor of Psychology and Divisional Dean of Social Sciences at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He is also a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and President of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. Dr. Grzanka was a Co-PI on UT’s ADVANCE Grant and a Discussion Group Faciliator for Game Changer Academies, an NSF-funded program designed to train grant reviewers to participate in review panels in ways that maximize equity and minimize bias in evaluations. Grzanka is an expert in intersectionality and institutional inequality and is passionate about providing people with theoretical and practical tools to transform their organizations into genuinely inclusive spaces.