Transcript Rice-Houston AGEP

Rice-Houston Alliance for
Graduate Education and the
Professoriate (AGEP) Program
Theresa Chatman
NSF PI Meeting
March 19, 2009
Project Overview AGEP
History
• Spend a Summer with a Scientist Program:
1989 - 1999
• Rice Minority Graduate Education (MGE)
Program: 1998 - 2003
• Rice-Houston Alliance for
Graduate Education and the
Professoriate (AGEP) Program:
2004 - 2009
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Project Overview
Union of:
• Rice Alliances for Graduate Education and
the Professoriate (AGEP)
• Houston Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority
Participation (HLSAMP) Program
3
Alliance Successes
Summer Program
• Research Projects
• Community Building
Activities
• Professional
Development
Initiatives
• Mentoring Part of
AGEP Culture
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Alliance Successes
Lecture Series
2007
• Ruth J. Simmons, President of Brown University (Rice)
• Valerie Taylor, Chair of Computer Science, Texas A&M
University (UH)
2008
• Sylvester James Gates, Professor of Physics, University of
Maryland (Rice)
• Jennifer West, Professor of Bioengineering, Rice University
(UH)
2009
• Warren Washington, National Center for Atmospheric Research
(UH)
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Alliances Successes
Distinguished Speakers & Guests
Notable speakers give talks and
interact with students
• Hector Ruiz, CEO, President
and Chair of the Board, AMD
• Marta Tienda, Princeton, Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs
• Arlie Petters, Duke University, Professor of Mathematics
• Raymond Johnson, University of Maryland, Professor of Mathematics
• Neal Lane, former Science Advisor to the President
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• Edward Djerejian, former Ambassador to Israel
Alliance Successes
AGEP Ph.D. Recipients
Former AGEP students give talks and interact with students
• Cassandra McZeal, Senior Research Mathematician, ExxonMobil
• John Rodriguez, Member, Technical Staff, Silicon Technology
Development, Texas Instruments
• Illya Hicks, Associate Professor, Rice University
• Juan Meza, Department Head,
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
• Amanda Mosola, Research Scientist, ExxonMobil
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Alliance Successes
Department Interactions
• Close relationship to campus admissions
committees and departmental representatives
• Meetings with faculty to demonstrate AGEP
success
• AGEP Websites, AGEP brochures, departmentspecific materials, general graduate brochure
• Students moved to research dollars
--frees up $ for additional students
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Alliance Successes
Department Interactions
• Financial support management by AGEP Steering
Committee
– Negotiate student support with faculty and department
heads
– Track supporting profiles of faculty
– Provide leverage for student recruitment
– Provide summer mentors with $500 cost of research
supplement
– Provide conference participation support
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Alliance Successes
Lessons Learned
Faculty assistance with troubleshooting
• Summer evaluations of students by faculty (twice)
• Pumpkin grades for first-year graduate students
• Tutors provided as needed (early intervention)
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Number of Underrepresented Ph.D Recipients in All
STEM Disciplines at Rice University
30
26
25
20
16
15
17
14
PhD Recipients
11
10
5
5
2
0
2001/02
2003/04
2005/06
2007/08
Alliance Successes
Infrastructure Changes
Presidential Mentor Award at Rice
• Recognizes faculty with a strong commitment to
mentoring, especially minority students
• Institutionalized
• Recognition at Spring faculty meeting by
President
• Carries monetary award
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Alliance Successes
Infrastructure Changes
Rice Presidential Mentor Award Yin Zhang, CAAM, AGEP Mentor
• First awardee (2003)
• In four years, eight female
Ph.D. graduates; two Mexican
American, two African
American
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Alliance Successes
Evaluation and Assessment
Provide data on the progress of the RiceHouston AGEP Program meeting its
overarching goals of increasing
recruitment, retention, and production of
minority undergraduates and graduates in
STEM fields
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Alliance Successes
Evaluation and Assessment
Methods and Design
Pre- and post-surveys and interviews to assess:
• Implementation of the Rice model at the
University of Houston (formative evaluation)
• Impact on alliance student participants of crossinstitutional community and overall program
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Alliance Successes
Evaluation and Assessment
AGEP Graduate Survey
Surveyed all Rice AGEP graduate participants
from 1991-2003
Findings:
 80% respondents - AGEP had positive or very
positive impact on motivation to obtain doctoral
degree
 92% respondents - experiences in AGEP Program
had positive or very positive impact on desire to
remain in graduate school and complete degree
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Alliance Successes
Evaluation and Assessment
AGEP Graduate Survey
• Students rated the following AGEP Program
components as having a positive or very positive
impact on their desire to remain in graduate school:
– AGEP Program overall (88%)
– Interactions with other students in program (90%)
– Being in company of minority students from other
ethnic groups besides their own (88%)
– Being in company of students from their ethnic
group (86%)
– Being involved in AGEP community (88%)
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Alliance Successes
ADVANCE/AGEP Interactions
• Annual Negotiating the Ideal Faculty Position
Workshop
• Bi-monthly Postdoc Luncheons
• Dean’s Lecture on Leadership and Diversity
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University Commitment
• High level of university commitment
– Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies – AGEP PI
– President established Presidential Mentor Award and
President’s Lecture Series of Diverse Scholars
– President’s Minority Council
– AGEP positions institutionalized – project manager,
project administrator
– Stipend support for AGEP students
– Partial support for faculty summer salaries
– Office space and meeting space
– Campus support for activities
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Rice President David Leebron
“The Rice-Houston
AGEP program is a
sterling example of
what progress can be
made with the support
of two university
administrations,
dedicated faculty,
exemplary staff, and
impassioned students.”
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