Transcript Unique and Irreplaceable - NSF-AGEP

The Howard-UTEP/AGEP Alliance:
Unique and Irreplaceable
Orlando L. Taylor
Vice Provost for Research
Dean, Graduate School
Howard University
Washington, DC
Why Unique and Irreplaceable
• UNIQUE: The ONLY AGEP Alliance
between TWO Minority Serving
Institutions serving as the LEAD
institutions.
• IRREPLACEABLE: Two of the
nation’s largest producers of Minority
PhD’s in STEM.
Howard University: First Cohort of
MGE/AGEP Institutions (1997)
• Location: Washington, DC
• Carnegie Classification: Research/High Research
Activity
• Minority Classification: Historically Black College
and University (HBCU)
• Enrollment, 12,000—40% Graduate/Professional
• Nations largest producer of African American
PhDs AND Baccalaureate origins
of African American PhDs
University of Texas-El Paso
(UTEP): Joined AGEP in 2003
• Location: El Paso, TX
• Carnegie Classification: Research/High
Research Activity
• Minority Classification: Hispanic Serving
Institution (MSI)
• Enrollment: 20,000—72% Hispanic;
17% graduate and professional
I.
Bouchet Assistantships:
Sustaining the Effort
• Named for Edward Bouchet—First African
American to receive a PhD in the United
States—Yale, 1876, Physics.
• 25 new, university-funded, graduate
assistantships for the nation’s best and brightest
URMs to pursue PhDs at Howard in STEM.
• All recipients must participate in Preparing
Future Faculty (PFF) program & AGEP
activities.
II. Howard AGEP Has Joined the
CIRTL Network
• NSF-funded Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching
and Learning (CIRTL) housed at the University of WisconsinMadison.
• The CIRTL Network: Colorado, Howard, Michigan State, Penn
State, Texas A & M, Wisconsin and Vanderbilt.
• CIRTL Mission : To enhance the professional development of
STEM graduate students and develop a future professoriate
committed to advancing effective teaching practices.
What Does CIRTL Provide?
• Exposure to integrating research and teaching.
• Building learning communities of STEM faculty
and graduate students.
• New, electronically-delivered and live courses for
STEM graduate students throughout the Network.
– Effective Teaching with Technology
– Diversity in the College Classroom
– Teaching and Learning Science in the
College Classroom
Course on Effective Teaching
with Technology
• Semester I: students exposed to advanced, researchbased teaching technologies currently used by faculty to
enhance learning.
– Students design individual projects to evaluate the effectiveness of
a technology utilized by a faculty member.
– Students across the network present the result of their projects to
their classmates and the CIRTL community via the web.
– Projects and data on student learning are evaluated and discussed.
• Semester II: students serve as team leaders in classes and
apply the skills and lessons learned in Part I.
III. Preparing Future Faculty
Pre-Faculty Internships
• Provides advanced doctoral students, including AGEP
students, with semester or year-long experiences in faculty
roles and responsibilities at different institutional types
• MOUs with various institutions (10+ currently) to provide
stipends to students (Howard pays tuition), along with
teaching experiences and research mentoring.
• Challenges include involving bench science STEM
students in internships
• Institutionalized with its own revenue stream via
partner institutions and Graduate School budget.
IV. Annual PFF Institutes
• Held in Washington, DC or El Paso, TX. (June 10-13, 2009).
• Open to STEM Students in all AGEP Alliances; About 60 students per
year; $350 registration fee.
• A three-day “Boot Camp” on Faculty Roles and Responsibilities and
the Academic Job Search.
• Features local and nationally prominent speakers.
• Sample Topics:
– Finding the "Right" Faculty Position, Negotiating the Best Start-Up
Package and 'Sealing the Deal’
– Balancing Work and Family
– Researching and Writing Effective Grant Proposals
– New Pedagogies for Enhancing Learning
– Assessing Student Learning Outcomes
• Contact: [email protected]
V. Annual Postdoctoral Institutes
• Held in Washington, DC or El Paso, TX.
• Open to STEM Students at dissertation level in all Alliances;
about 50 annually; $350 registration fee.
• A three-day Intensive “Boot Camp” on identifying, funding and
crafting a postdoc to fit career goals and interests.
• Features local and nationally prominent speakers
• Sample Topics
– Understanding Different Types of Postdocs
– Strategies for Finding the Right Postdoc
– Balancing Research, Grant Writing & Teaching
– Securing Your Own Postdoctoral Funding
– Life After the Postdoc
• Contact:[email protected]
VI. Creation of Graduate School
Office of Retention and Mentoring
• Led by an Assistant Dean whose position was
originally a cost share for AGEP grant
• Focuses on tracking, mentoring, and advising
students to ensure retention.
• Provides Pre-professional development.
• Recently purchased Hobsons “Retain” software to
facilitate academic tracking and monitoring each
semester and at crucial academic junctures,
i.e., 1st year, comprehensive exams,
candidacy, dissertation progress, etc.
• Institutionalized within university budget.