UChicago Biosciences



RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION PLAN TO ENHANCE DIVERSITYSHOWCASE ANY PD, TRAINERS OR TRAINEES FROM YOUR PROGRAM IN THE SECTIONS BELOW. HIGHLIGHTED AREAS SHOULD BE CHANGED TO REFLECT YOUR PROGRAM.The University of Chicago maintains an equal opportunity policy and encourages application to its educational programs from all qualified individuals without regard to race, color, religious or sexual preference, national or ethnic origin, age, disability, or other factors irrelevant to one's productive participation within the academic community. The Biological Sciences Division (BSD) and this training program mirror this commitment through active initiatives to provide educational opportunity and support ().The BSD’s Office of Diversity & Inclusion was created to support the diversity of ideas, beliefs, and ethnicities of the students, faculty, and staff affiliated with the Biological Sciences Division and Pritzker School of Medicine. The multiplicity of voices and perspectives in our community helps us to grow and to solve complex problems in a rapidly changing world. Led by the Dean for Diversity & Inclusion, Iris Romero, MD, the office creates opportunities and support mechanisms for students and faculty from diverse backgrounds. These opportunities include a robust offering of external speakers, training opportunities, seed grants, resource groups, and other mechanisms for engagement and support. The Office of Diversity & Inclusion is committed to promoting the scholarship and career success of our diverse trainees through career advancement funds and support of the BSD Diversity Committee. In addition, we partner with institutional leaders to support the recruitment of diverse faculty across the Division. The BSD’s Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs (OGPA), which serves the graduate and postdoctoral programs in the division, is actively involved in recruiting and retaining underrepresented minority (URM) students. OGPA ensures representation by faculty and current students at major URM conferences, including the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS), the annual meeting of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS), the California Forum for Diversity, the Association of Minority Health Professions Schools, the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) Minority Programs Symposium, and the Emerging Researchers National Conference in STEM (ERN). OGPA follows up with information and application procedures to all students who express an interest in our graduate programs. In addition, OGPA sends annual mailings to colleges with high URM populations.The BSD Diversity Committee (BDC) () is co-chaired by Barry Aprison, PhD and Professor Eileen Dolan, PhD. The BDC is composed of faculty, administrators, and students, including LIST ANY PARTICIPANTS FROM YOUR TRAINING GRANT.The goals of the BDC are:1) promoting social, cultural, and scientific interactions2) increasing awareness of URM issues 3) providing administrative support, educational programs, and mentorship4) improving student recruitment strategies by networking with established regional and national URM serving organizations as well as by enhancing the visibility of our programsThe BDC partners with OGPA in coordinating recruitment visits to URM conferences and schools. Currently enrolled URM graduate students often accompany BDC faculty members on such recruitment visits. The BDC also tracks applications from URM students for graduate study, ensuring that applications from promising candidates are reviewed promptly and effectively. A subset of BDC faculty and administrators monitor the progress of current URM students, especially during the early years of coursework, ensuring that students have access to appropriate counseling and tutoring programs when necessary. Each year, the BDC also organizes the annual E.E. Just Lecture. The Diversity Committee invites a distinguished member of a group underrepresented in science to deliver a lecture to honor the legacy of Dr. Ernest Everett Just, the influential cell biologist who received his PhD from the University of Chicago in 1916 and performed much of his research at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA. In October 2015, Dr. Tyrone Hayes of the University of California, Berkeley discussed the political implications of his findings regarding the effect of the chemical atrazine on amphibian development. In November 2016, Dr. Yasmine Hurd of Mt. Sinai Medical School addressed the neurobiology of addiction and the effect of cannabis on the developing brain. For 2017, Dr. Heather Pinkett, associate professor of molecular biosciences at Northwestern University, spoke on the role of ABC transporters in nutrient uptake and pathogenesis. The Just speakers, who are nominated by faculty and students, and selected by the students, also participate in lively and wide-ranging diversity Q&A sessions with students during the visit, as well as meeting with individual students to discuss their research and career plans. EXAMPLE OF PD INVOLVEMENT IN URM RECRUITING:The DBTP Director has continued her long-term relationship with the Meyerhoff scholars program at UMBC Baltimore County. She visited most recently in November 2011, together with her previous URM trainee, Dr. Oni Mapp, who now has a postdoctoral position at the Carnegie Institute, Baltimore. Dr. Prince and Dr. Mapp met with a group of primarily minority sophomores and seniors, and presented information on the BSD graduate programs in general and on the DBTP in particular. Dr. Prince has established a pipeline program with the Meyerhoff Scholars Program, who now have a guaranteed summer research internship position at the University of Chicago through the Leadership Alliance (see below).Discover UChicago, a competitive application-based program, offers ten talented students from traditionally underrepresented populations an expenses-paid opportunity to explore graduate education in the BSD. They attend graduate admissions workshops, research presentations by world-renowned faculty and their graduate students, as well as informal social events. The program was advertised via mailings and at the conferences mentioned above. [HOW MANY matriculated into YOUR PROGRAM.]The Multicultural Graduate Community (MGC) is a recognized registered student organization that organized in 2013. The MGC seeks to empower individuals to promote the engagement and success of underrepresented communities in the sciences. By providing academic and personal support networks, resources for professional development, and student mentorship, it embraces diversity, fosters a united community, and addresses the needs of underserved groups. The MGC co-hosts a Diversity in Science Speaker series. In Autumn Quarter 2016, Howard University Professor Malcolm Byrnes spoke about "E. E. Just's Broad (and Hidden) Influence on the Development of Modern Biology” on the 100th anniversary of Just receiving his PhD from the University of Chicago.In 2014, the University of Chicago established its own Society for Advancement of Hispanics/Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) chapter. SACNAS is a national organization committed to advancing the achievement of underrepresented minorities in the STEM in order to build opportunities, diversify the field, and develop future leaders. SACNAS is inclusive of all ethnicities, cultures and scientific disciplines and is deeply committed to the highest standards of excellence in science and education. The UChicago Chapter of SACNAS hosted a Regional Research Conference in the spring of 2017 with more than 120 attendees that featured student talks, posters, and professional development sessions.Another initiative to assist URM students is the Dean’s BSD Graduate Summer Research Program. Dr. Conrad Gilliam, the BSD Dean of Research and Graduate Education, has committed funds to establish a novel scheme allowing URM students to come to the University of Chicago campus the summer before they matriculate. The students join a lab of their choice for a ten-week summer rotation, and also participate in weekly sessions that provide orientation, assistance with navigating graduate student life, and an introduction to presenting their ongoing research projects. Our goal is to allow the incoming URM students to settle into Chicago and to transition to graduate student life over an extended time period, and before the rigors of course work commence, so they are able to move more easily into their classes once the fall quarter begins. This research program is open to all incoming graduate students with various other funding mechanisms.The University of Chicago’s Initiative for Maximizing Student Development (IMSD), under the direction of Drs. Nancy Schwartz and Peggy Mason, provides research training and educational opportunities for twelve URM trainees across the BSD, both before and during their progression through graduate school. Students from the broader community also participate in training and activities developed through the program, and while benefiting from the activities, they will also help form a supportive cohort for the grant supported students. The summer program includes a laboratory rotation and a weekly class session that focuses on preparing incoming students for the rigors of fall quarter: class topics include how to critically read the literature, abstract writing, guidance on fellowship applications, a panel discussion with current students on navigating the first year and career development. Term time IMSD programming is open both to IMSD funded students and additional students with an interest in the primary goal of diversifying the work force, builds upon the summer quarter class, and includes a strong peer-mentoring component.Ongoing Efforts in the Recruitment and Retention of Students with Disabilities. In February each year, the BSD recruits at ERN, the Emerging Researchers National Conference in STEM. Dr. Nancy Schwartz has attended for quite a few years; Ingrid Reiser, a new faculty member in Medical Physics, also attended with her this year. This meeting is sponsored by the NSF. Dr. Schwartz also participates in the Pacific Rim International Conference on Disabilities and Diversity in order to learn and share new strategies for recruiting and retaining students with physical or cognitive disabilitiesTo ensure the intellectual richness of its research and education programs, the University of Chicago seeks to provide an environment conducive to learning, teaching, working, and conducting research that values the diversity of its community, strives to be supportive of the academic, personal and work-related needs of each individual, and is committed to complying with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (Section 504) and with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The University is committed to providing an educational and research environment that facilitates the full participation of students with disabilities (). In particular, the University has developed: 1) a disability determination process with protocols for physical and learning disabilities, ADHD, and psychological/psychiatric disorders;2) auxiliary aids and services; 3) accommodation processes through the Director of Student Disability Services’ Office and the Campus Library System ()4) transportation; 5) an emergency management plan. Despite the age of some buildings, our campus meets ADA accessibility standards, and further improvements are ongoing. All buildings in which training of PROGRAM NAME trainees takes place are wheelchair accessible, and the laboratories also meet ADA requirements. When a need arises, we provide our students with specific adaptive technologies. One such technology is assistive listening devices.Our experiences to date suggest the most common disabilities to which our students are subject are learning or psychological disorders. At the graduate level, applicants usually do not reveal that they have these “invisible” disabilities. However, when trainees disclose special needs, appropriate measures are taken. In the case of learning disabilities, tutors are provided and exam formats are adjusted if necessary. In the case of psychological disabilities, trainees are referred to the Student Counseling and Resource Services () which provides mental health care to University students.The psychological disability that we encounter most often among our students is depression. In such cases, efforts are made to adjust deadlines or otherwise reduce stress, while ensuring that the student completes a PhD project that meets our standards. Occasionally a trainee with a psychological disability is counseled to take a leave of absence, and we monitor his or her welfare during that period.Sample language: Among the physical disabilities experienced by our students, perhaps the most common is red-green colorblindness. The MCB program addresses this issue by encouraging presenters in the Research in Progress series to use color contrast that can be perceived by colorblind individuals (see Appendix V). When a more severe physical disability interferes with a student’s progress, the graduate programs make accommodations. For example, a student…suffered from cystic fibrosis, and the program granted him extra time to finish his Ph.DOngoing Efforts to Recruit a Diverse Student Body by Addressing Pipeline Issues. The BSD has a long history of participating in URM research exposure programs for students at a variety of levels. Three programs address the critical pre-college level:1) The Collegiate Scholars Program, involving students from forty-five Chicago public schools, prepares talented students in grades 10 to 12 for admission and success at top colleges and universities.2) The Research in the Biological Sciences (RIBS) program is a four-week intensive training program to expose high school students to a range of modern biological techniques. On a space-available basis, students who excel in this program are invited back the following year to work in the laboratory of a University of Chicago research scientist.3) Training Early Achievers for Careers in Health (TEACH) is a three year program which allows students recruited from the Collegiate Scholars Program to work with a multi-tiered team of researchers including faculty, fellows, residents, medical students, and undergraduate students, to take a variety of classes and participate in different activities, learning practical techniques as well as college and career planning. At the College level the BSD offers three URM-focused federally funded Research Experience Programs (REUs and REHU): The Addiction NIDA Center for GWAS in Outbred Rats “Genes and Addictive Behavior” REHU; The Conte Center for Computational Neuropsychiatric Genomics’ REU; and an NSF funded REU program in Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology.The University of Chicago is also a member of the thirty-four school consortium that makes up the Leadership Alliance. The Leadership Alliance's Summer Research Early Identification Program (SR-EIP) offers URM undergraduates interested in pursuing a PhD or MD/PhD the opportunity to complete summer projects in various disciplines, including biological sciences. The University of Chicago is among the twenty-two Alliance participants offering such summer research opportunities, and since 2011, the BSD Office of Graduate Affairs has provided extra funds to allow additional URM biological science students to be supported through this program.URM students who have recently graduated from college can benefit from our Post- Baccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP). This NIH-funded program directed by Dr. Nancy Schwartz provides an opportunity for URM students who hold a recent bachelor’s degree in science to work as laboratory technicians for a year at the University. PREP Scholars participate in academic activities designed to help them prepare for successful application to an advanced degree program. These activities include a weekly journal club, GRE preparation workshops, a writing course, an ethics course, academic courses in the Scholars’ fields of research, and conference attendance. The program has an excellent record of effectively preparing students for entry to graduate school: since its inception in 2005, 82% of PREP scholars have enrolled in PhD programs. Analysis of Past Success in Recruitment and Retention of URM Students – Table 6 documents the success of the programs associated with this training grant in recruiting and retaining students including URM students: (SAMPLE DATA) over the past five years, thirteen percent of the training grant-eligible students enrolled in these programs were URM students. Ten URM students have been clearly associated with the program. An additional URM student will be matriculating to DRSB in Fall 2012. Retention has been excellent with no program-associated URM students leaving prior to degree completion. Of six graduated URM students four are pursuing academic research in premiere institutions, one has taken a research position in industry and one is in medical school. We are particularly pleased that a URM trainee who graduated in 2007 was already appointed to a tenure-track assistant professor position at Loyola University in Chicago commencing 9/1/2012.Our goal is to increase the number of URM students recruited in coming years. As detailed above, we are working diligently to increase the diversity of both the applicant pool and the students who accept our offer of admission.Below is one example of how one program showcased its involvement in recruitment and retention, but create your own to suit your program and preferences: ................
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