CORE SUMMARY – EVALUATION CORE The FIIRRE Evaluation Core provides the assessment and evaluation expertise to measure the overall impact of the Faculty Initiative for Improved Recruitment, Retention and Experience (FIIRRE) and the achievement of aims for each of the Cores. The Evaluation Core is led by two experienced program evaluators (Dr. Michelle Bryan and Pamela Gillam), with expertise in quality improvement, strategic planning facilitation, critical race theory and intersectionality, and program evaluation within educational settings. The Core’s evaluation plan harnesses the strengths of two well-established evaluation and monitoring frameworks—Utilization Focused Evaluation and Equity-Focused Developmental Evaluation. Importantly, the entire evaluation will be conducted from a Culturally Responsive Evaluation approach, recognizing that culturally defined beliefs and values are central elements of evaluation. These evaluation frameworks and approach align with the overall program framework for FIIRRE, the Systems of Career Influences Model that depicts the interrelationship between systems of organizational policies, practices, and culture and personal choice decisions and their impact on career advancement. Grounding our evaluation plan in established theory ensures that our approach is practical, flexible, and comprehensive. The Evaluation Core will accomplish the following aims: (1) Monitor and evaluate Core activities and provide timely feedback to FIIRRE leadership to improve quality and increase efficiency; (2) Engage institutional leadership to align FIIRRE and institution-wide evaluation strategies and activities towards achieving inclusive excellence; (3) Determine the impact and effectiveness of FIIRRE in achieving its goals, including assessment against benchmarks of culture change, faculty development, and career advancement; and (4) Engage with FIRST awardees and the FIRST Coordination and Evaluation Center in building the evidence for implementing and sustaining cultures of inclusive excellence. A variety of qualitative and quantitative data collection approaches support our work plan, recognizing that flexibility and feasibility are necessary to optimize participation by key stakeholders (e.g., FIIRRE faculty cohort) and ensure the sustainability of data collection (and reporting) efforts. The Evaluation Core will actively participate in the FIIRRE Leadership Team, as well as work closely with the Internal and External Advisory Councils, and institutional leaders to provide evaluation feedback, assist with adjustment of specific programmatic activities, and adjust tracking and evaluation processes over time to guide decision-making and accountability. Given the momentum established by UofSC’s institutional leaders over the past two years towards achieving inclusive excellence, FIIRRE can serve as the “incubator” to test existing and new strategies and methods that achieve inclusive excellence at multiple levels – individual, department, unit, and institutional.