UC-DIGSSS NSF Alliance University of California Diversity Initiative

UC-DIGSSS NSF Alliance University of California Diversity Initiative for Graduate Study in the Social Sciences Report on Best Practices and National Collaborative Impact First Annual National SBE-NSF Conference, UNC-Chapel Hill, Carolina Inn April 27 -28, 2006

UC-DIGSSS NSF Alliance UC-DIGSSS, the first National Science Foundation (NSF) initiative of its kind involving the social, behavioral and economic sciences, was jointly supported by the NSF Directorate for Education and Human Resources and Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences to not only increase the number of URM students prepared to enter the professoriate at the three alliance partners, but also to serve as a pilot project to provide a model for the creation of similar alliances for recruiting and retaining URM graduate students in SBE sciences.

UC-DIGSSS NSF Alliance Who are we? n n n University of California, Berkeley (Lead) UCB University of California, Los Angeles UCLA University of California, Santa Barbara UCSB

UC-DIGSSS NSF Alliance With programs in n n Anthropology Chicana and Chicano Studies Communication Economics Ethnic Studies Geography Linguistics Political Science Psychology Sociology Urban Planning

UC-DIGSSS NSF Alliance Campus Based Infrastructure Administrative Structure AGEP Based Model Close Coordination between AGEP/DIGSSS n Deep Level (Transformational) Focus n Tightly Integrated with Divisional Deans n Closely Allied with Graduate Division n Faculty Advisory Committee n Buy in from top levels of Administration n

UC-DIGSSS NSF Alliance Campus Based Infrastructure Graduate Diversity Directors Full-Time Dedicated Staffing n n n 100% Focus on Graduate Diversity Responsible for Theorizing and Implementing Outreach Work One-on-one support in the graduate application process Works Closely with Departments re: Admissions Works to Address Department Climate Works Closely with Students (Retention and Career Development)

UC-DIGSSS NSF Alliance Activities in Outreach/Recruitment n n n Summer Research Opportunity Programs Workshops and Seminars on Preparing for and Applying to Graduate Programs One-on-One Support in the Graduate Application Process

UC-DIGSSS NSF Alliance Activities in Outreach/Recruitment n Step-by-Step: Program for Preparing URM Undergraduates for Graduate Studies A pilot program at UCB (starting in fall of 2006) of 100 Freshman and Sophomores to assist in academic advising, academic skills building, one-on -one mentoring system using graduate students, career planning and assessments, preparing for graduate studies including GRE Prep and help with the application process. The goal is to achieve greater than a 90 % success rate in its participants becoming admitted into graduate programs. n California State University Partnerships A combination of formal and informal relationships with state universities based upon UC alumni faculty networks, cultivation of relationships with undergraduate diversity staff (Mc. Nair, LSAMP), and departmental track record. Partnerships range from a single faculty advisor serving as an active recruiter to a full articulation agreement between CSU master’s and UC doctoral programs.

UC-DIGSSS NSF Alliance Activities in Outreach/Recruitment Formal Partnerships with HBCUs n n HBCU as feeder schools for Undergraduate Summer Research Opportunity Programs Domestic Exchange Programs with HBCU campuses § § § n n UCB-Spelman; UCB-Fisk Juniors with interest in attending graduate school selected HBCU students receive mentoring in the graduate application process at UCB host campus Sponsor HBCU students making site visits to UC campuses Jackson State University-UCSB Initiative: A model for symbiotic partnerships § § faculty exchange joint research joint grant proposals joint conferences

UC-DIGSSS NSF Alliance Activities in Outreach/Recruitment n Sharing of prospective student data base n Mutual encouraging of students to apply to three campuses n Remission of application fees for all three institutions for Alliance students n Promote and disseminate information about our Alliance via website, brochures and flyers n n Alliance website: www. ls. berkeley. edu/soc/ucdigsss UCB websites: www. ls. berkeley. edu/soc/diversity/digsss. html www. ls. berkeley. edu/soc/diversity/index. html UCLA websites: www. gdnet. ucla. edu/digsss www. gdnet. ucla. edu/asis/diversity/index. html UCSB websites: www. graddiv. ucsb. edu/diversity www. diversity. ap. ucsb. edu/diversity

UC-DIGSSS NSF Alliance Activities in Recruitment, Advancement and Retention Academic Support n n n Faculty Mentored Research Award n Offer small stipends for students in the first or second year of graduate studies to be paired up with a faculty mentor Support for summer research or course work n Allow students to take language courses, conduct field work, or prepare for their master’s exams with a small stipend Funding for Conference Travel, Research and Tutoring Support Community Building n n Support student initiated social activities Interface regularly with various graduate student support organizations

UC-DIGSSS NSF Alliance Activities in Recruitment, Advancement and Retention Building Student Capacity n Orientation workshops for new URM students n Professional Development workshops n Changing the culture of the academy @ UCB: Interdisciplinary Focus Group of Graduate Students Study the culture and climate of the academy facilitated by the Diversity Coordinator @ UCLA: The DIGSSS Academic Research Clusters- ARC Provides a peer-to-peer research based support group across fields, expands networks and builds readiness for participation in the academy

UC-DIGSSS NSF Alliance Activities in Recruitment, Advancement and Retention n UCLA DIGSSS Fellows Program Departmental Recruitment Incentive n DIGSSS Summer Program n n n Faculty-Mentored Research Program with Teambuilding and Professional Workshops Discretionary Funding Program Support Initiative for Advancing Students n Supplementary Research Support n

UC-DIGSSS NSF Alliance How do we work together? n n Monthly conference calls of Diversity Directors sharing effective practices, problem solving, and collaboration of joint activities Bi-annual meetings of program director, principal investigators, and graduate diversity directors for assessments, evaluations, and planning Collaboration in recruitment visits to targeted institutions and recruitment fairs Institutional leveraging between CA AGEP and UC-DIGSSS: By virtue of the fact that AGEP in traditional STEM disciplines exist in all three Alliance campuses, we benefit from sharing best practices informally and formally by attending the annual CA AGEP and NSF JAM meetings and joint graduate diversity coordinators’ meetings within each campus

UC-DIGSSS NSF Alliance Contact Us Principle Investigators George Breslauer, bresl@berkeley. edu Shirley Hune, shune@gdnet. ucla. edu John Mohr, mohr@soc. ucsb. edu Diversity Directors Gloria Chun, gchun@berkeley. edu Mark Kamimura-Jimenez, mkamimura@gdnet. ucla. edu Kofi Taha, kofi. taha@graddiv. ucsb. edu