STC Broadening Participation Workshop

STC Broadening Participation WorkshopMarch 21-23, 2007

STC Broadening Participation Workshop

Keith Oden, PhD.Diversity Director

Center for Materials and Devices for Information

Technology Research (CMDITR)

[email protected]


URG Initiatives

• FutureTech Workshop

• GEM-STC Partnership

• Norfolk State University (NSU) PhD Program Partnership


• CMDITR partnered with three other

STCs to introduce minority students

to research opportunities within

NSF funded STCs

• A total of eight hands-on workshops

were offered during a one day

conference, November 4, 2006

• 140 minority students

participated – Native American,

Hispanic and African American –

from over 30 institutions

FutureTech Workshop


FutureTech Workshop

Come and get hands-on experience on leading edge science and technology

that shapes our future.

This event showcased four National Science Foundation funded Science & Technology Centers, allowed students to interactively: • Experiment with sensors in multi-scalable applications (CENS)

• Explore trapping and spectroscopy of single cells with lasers to diagnose disease (CBST)

• Perform interference modulation with visible light (MDITR)

• Learn about random lasers and Nanoplasmonics (CMR-PREM MetaMaterials)

2nd Hands-On FutureTech WorkshopNovember 4th, 2006 @ Norfolk State University


FutureTech Workshop

If I knew then what I know now, I would have…

• Prior to event survey student participants for their need areas and interests (funding, grad school myths, applying to grad school, choosing a grad school)

• Build in interactive elements into your event

• Leverage resources and funds with institution/department

• Review exit evaluations and make adjustments

• Sponsor one-day FutureTech event for local/regional STEM colleges and students

• Utilize event database for recruitment and tracking


GEM-STC Partnership• Established in 1976 www.gemfellowship.org

• Offers 140+ portable fellowships annually to underrepresented students

• MS & PhD-Engineering; PhD-Science

• 650+ Database - Minority STEM students

• 95 Universities; 50 Employers

• $20K in funding support + tuition & fees

• Paid summer internship

• GEM sponsored career/retention activities


GEM – STC Partnership

• Partner with GEM and STCs to create a direct pipeline for minority candidates to gain research experience and to join STC graduate programs to complete advanced degrees

GEM Fellowships

• GEM-STC consortia awarded 4 GEM-STC Fellowships of $20K each for the 2006-07 academic year.

• Each STC will sponsor at least one GEM-STC fellowship per year

GEM-STC Partnership Building

• STCs Annual participation in GEM’s “Future Faculty Symposium & Grad Lab”

– Thesis and Proposal Writing– Locating Funding Sources– Mentorship– Career information tracks (industry, academia,

entrepreneurial)– Networking

• STCs host reception, STC Information workshop, participation on panels

http://www.gem-stc.org


GEM – STC Partners

Materials and Devices for Information Technology Research

Nanobiotechnology Center

Sustainability of Semi-Arid Hydrology and Riparian Areas

Center for Biophotonics Science and Technology

Center of Advanced Materials for Purification of Water with Systems

Center for Integrated Space Weather Modeling

National Center for Earth-Surface Dynamics

Center for Coastal Margin Observation & Prediction



Development and Utilization of GEM-STC Partnership Website for Minority Recruiting

• Website has existed for 2 years, and had 11,300 visits.

• Provides descriptions of research at all partner STCs.

• Students can fill out questionnaire to find out which STCs

match their research interests.

To date:

• 230 students have completed the matchmaker questionnaire.

• 61 students requested to be contacted

• 19 students that completed the matchmaker questionnaire

applied for the GEM fellowship.

• 56 GEM applicants listed an STC as one of their top-3

employer choices.

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The GEM-STC Partnership Announces Unique Graduate

School Fellowship Opportunities

Seven of the National Science Foundation's Science and Technology Centers have entered into a unique partnership with the National Consortium for Graduate Degrees for Minorities in Science and Engineering (GEM) to offer graduate fellowships (M.S. and Ph.D.) to underrepresented students.

Applying to Grad School next year? Find out what it takes to receive a

GEM-STC fellowship.

GEM, established in 1976, has a long record of success placing minority students in science and engineering graduate programs and facilitating their completion of masters and doctoral degrees. The GEM-STC Fellowship Program is designed to offer opportunities for underrepresented students (U.S. citizens only) to obtain M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in engineering and the natural and physical sciences.

STC MEMBER LOGIN User ID:

Password:

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STC Partners:


GEM-STC Partnership

Challenges and Opportunities

• STCs must be pro-active in recruitment

• GEM database access -- Late November

• Grad Admissions deadline – Feb/March

• Some STCs need students with specific interests and backgrounds

• Great STEM talent pool – numbers needed are relatively small


GEM – STC PartnershipIf I knew then what I know now, I would have…

• Diversity recruitment is a long term pro-active initiative (non-traditional students)

• Understand and research all the nuances of the conceptual model

– Industry internship vs. research internship– Why should we change our current practices for funding

students– What value does the relationship bring to other stake

holders at your university

• Understand the processes and the time frames (admissions deadlines vs. contact time with students)

• STCs have particular needs for students with specific interests and backgrounds (e.g., geoscience students that have a specific interest in geomorphy or hydrology)

• Enhance STC Recruitment information on GEM website



What Works…

• Utilize all resources – national organizations, role models, faculty referrals, REUs, faculty visits and Partnership Relationships

• Grow your own talent pool through outreach

• Initiate creative programming

• Be flexible

• Listen to others


Fostering Diversity Recruitment

CMDITR faculty led workshops on organic electronics and photonics in the undergraduate curriculum for professors at primarily undergraduate institutions. Under-represented faculty and faculty from under-represented institutions attended. An integrated set of laboratory experiments on nonlinear optical materials. Faculty were given a briefing on opportunities within CMDITR as well as GEM.

2006 REU

Four students participated in REU CMDITR programs

Graduate Admissions

Eight students applied and were accepted into Ph.D. programs at Center institutions for Fall 2006; three of these students enrolled and joined Center research teams in Fall 2006.

2007 FOCUS on Faculty Program

6 Faculty from MSIs18 High-achieving students

2006 FOCUS on Faculty Program

10 Faculty from MSIs30 High-achieving students


NSU PhD Program Partnership

Ph.D. Program in Materials Science and Engineering is Approved by the State of

Virginia CMDITR has been collaborating with NSU faculty in the development and implementation of a new Ph.D. program in

Advanced Materials Science and Engineering (www.nsu.edu/cmr)

NSU’s Ph.D. recruitment workshop is attended by 45 students on November 17, 2006.

• This is NSU’s first Ph.D. program in Science or Engineering and only the second MSE Ph.D. program in an historically black college or university.

• CMDITR faculty have assisted NSU in preparing and piloting lecture and supplemental materials and has been providing advice on the implementation and management of the Ph.D. program.

• NSU held its first student recruitment workshop on November 17, 2006 with 45 participants from various US colleges and universities.

• The implementation of the program will begin in fall 2007 semester and NSU has received 28 applications as of March 15, 2007.

http://www.nsu.edu/index.htm


NSU – PhD ProgramGoal : To ensure successful implementation of a new PhD program in advanced Materials Science

and Engineering (MSE) at Norfolk State University beginning in September 2007

Accomplishments:• Development of course material and curriculum: CMDITR faculty have assisted NSU in preparing

and piloting lecture and supplemental materials for two core courses that make up the PhD curriculum.

• At least a dozen of these lectures were recorded, and prepared for viewing using Tegrity software. These are available for CMDITR participants on the website.

• NSU has funding to support 10 students in the coming academic year.

Impact: The new PhD program will contribute significantly to increasing the workforce diversity in the areas of information technology, material science, and nanotechnology.

Future Plans: Sustainability• The plan is to accept 10 students per year into this PhD program with the expectation that the

ultimate student body will be between 40 and 60.

• CMDITR institutions will provide at least three mini sabbaticals for NSU faculty.


NSU – PhD ProgramIf I knew then what I know now, I would have…

This is a major undertaking

Have buy-in from many supportive groups and leverage their participation (administrators, faculty, industry, STC)

Provide research infrastructure (assist school with securing grants; NASA,NSF, etc.,)

Faculty “release-time” for recruitment, to develop course curriculum, materials, policies & procedures, and internship placement

Identify leadership among faculty to spearhead initiatives

Adjust administrative processes to allow for required expansion

Cover all your bases – have broad participation


NSU – PhD Program

Keith,To tell you the truth, I feel quite confident that we did as well as we could have done thus far (among ourselves). I would like to have some extra support this summer – so you can add that as a plan: receive advice on how to manage the program, guide for qualifiers, candidacy, students’ mentoring system implementation, ethics and professional development course, internships, collaborative projects, etc.

So I would say that the partnership has been a great success in giving us the support and exposure to resources that can make our PhD program unique in providing more minority students with excellent research and education experiences in an interdisciplinary field.

We are writing 2 proposals (RISE and IGERT) on the strength of our collaborations and the new PhD program.The support from Larry Dalton really made a difference on the administrators here and in Richmond. (Thanks a bunch :-)).Suely

Dr. Suely Black NSU PhD Program Coordinator


Questions?

Documents

STC Broadening Participation Workshop