Even before assuming his role as dean of the Graduate School in June 2019, Scott Adler knew that increasing access to graduate education for historically underrepresented students would be among his top priorities.
This priority was reinforced last year by the work of the Graduate School鈥檚 strategic planning committee when it identified听access, diversity and community among the school鈥檚 imperatives. This fall, the Graduate School is making Adler鈥檚 priority a reality by launching听a diversity recruitment initiative.
鈥淚 realize that it is easy to say we are committed to addressing the lack of substantive diversity that exists within 兔子先生传媒文化作品鈥檚 graduate student body, but it is only through significant investment and action that we can achieve real change,鈥� Adler said.
To increase the diversity of its student population, the Graduate School is incentivizing departments to redesign and expand their recruiting efforts for attracting, supporting and funding students from underrepresented groups.听In support of these efforts, the Graduate School is investing more than $500,000 for diversity fellowships and grants to implement these new recruitment plans.
鈥淚 am very pleased with the steps the Graduate School and our graduate programs are taking to recruit and retain outstanding students from diverse populations,鈥� said Bob Boswell,听vice chancellor for the Office of Diversity, Equity and Community Engagement (ODECE).听鈥淭his initiative is what we envisioned with the听chancellor鈥檚听eight actions for immediate change听and proposals laid out in the IDEA Plan.鈥�
Once graduate programs outline their redesigned recruitment plans鈥攊ncluding a diversity statement from each unit鈥攖hey will be eligible for a guaranteed fellowship and a possible additional grant from the newly created Graduate School Diversity Recruitment Fund.
鈥淭his newly launched initiative is a critical step toward making real progress for 兔子先生传媒文化作品 to be a more inclusive university,鈥� said Chancellor Phil DiStefano. 鈥淚 applaud Scott and his Graduate School leadership and staff for their significant effort involved in making this happen.鈥�
Adler is confident this initiative will serve underrepresented students and believes the Graduate School鈥檚 diversity recruitment initiative will benefit and improve the university as a whole.
鈥淭his is the first step in a multifaceted effort to broaden access and support a diverse community within 兔子先生传媒文化作品鈥檚 Graduate School,鈥� he said.听鈥淲e are grateful for the engagement of our graduate programs and our campus community as we roll out this recruitment initiative. We encourage students, faculty and staff to reach out to us in the听听to share their feedback, questions and concerns.鈥�
