Indiana University Indianapolis
PAE-8: Support Programs for Underrepresented Groups

PROGRAMS TO SUPPORT STUDENTS http://diversity.iupui.edu/students/groups.html The Student African American Brotherhood (SAAB) and the Student African American Sisterhood (SAAS) programs have served over 200 students through student visits and program or workshop participation. Students who participated in SAAB had a 78% retention rate from fall 2008 to fall 2009. SAAB averages 15 to 20 students per weekly meeting, and SAAS averages 20 to 25 students per weekly meeting. The Diversity Scholars Research Program (DSRP) is based primarily on performance and academics and provides support for mainly minority students who are recruited and selected. Freshman and first-year scholars are immediately placed in a research setting to enhance their learning. Based on the students’ needs, the program director searches for and selects as mentors faculty members and other professionals who share the students’ research interests and supervise their activities. The goal is to have the mentor and scholar work together to develop a scholarly research project during the next four years. The program staff provides individualized support to the students on an “as needed” basis. New scholars may choose from a variety of majors at IUPUI and admission is highly competitive. Between 1997 and 2002 DSRP students graduated at a higher rate (69%) as compared to a cohort of students with similar entry characteristics (56.7%) and to the overall population of underrepresented minorities attending IUPUI (33%). In addition, DSRP students were less likely to transfer from IUPUI even when they no longer were affiliated with DSRP. Norman Brown Diversity & Leadership Program is designed for beginning freshmen and continuing IUPUI students from diverse backgrounds. Special consideration is given to students who are from ethnic groups that have been historically under-represented in higher education. Fifty-three percent of first-time full-time scholars graduate within 4 years, 81% of first-time full-time scholars graduate within 6 years, 67% of students who enter the program as sophomores have graduated within 2 years, and 46% of students who have entered the program as juniors have graduated within 3 years. The Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) is aimed at strengthening minority participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields. The Indiana project is a collaboration of five university campuses including IUPUI, Indiana University Bloomington, Purdue University West Lafayette, Purdue University Calumet, and Ball State University. Fifty-six scholars have been involved in the program since 2002; 26 have graduated, and the retention rate is almost 100%, with more than 50% entering graduate programs. The Olaniyan Scholars Program promotes the development of undergraduate research and professional experience through African American and African Diaspora Studies, or the study of African peoples still living in Africa and those populations scattered around the globe since slavery and colonization. The program includes opportunities to engage in research with IUPUI faculty and participate in community internships. Retention rate for these students is 91%. Olaniyan has had a total of 11 students in the program since its start in the fall of 2008 and only one of those students has left the program. The Ronald E. McNair Program is a federally funded effort to increase the numbers of low-income, first-generation, and underrepresented students who pursue the Ph.D. and seek careers in research and teaching in higher education. The IUPUI program is open to all disciplines that offer the Ph.D. as the terminal degree. In 2009, IUPUI cultivated a relationship with the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) in conjunction with the Compact for Faculty Diversity Institute on Teaching and Mentoring to increase and sustain faculty diversity. The Compact for Faculty Diversity is a partnership of regional, federal and foundation programs that focus on minority graduate education and faculty diversity. The Compact partnership consists of: SREB, the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, the National Institutes of Health (Bridges to the Professoriate NIGMS-MARC), the National Science Foundation (Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate), and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the Office of Federal TRIO Programs, US Department of Education (Ronald E. McNair Program). IUPUI has hosted new SREB Doctoral Scholars for this institute since 2009, and is committed to sponsoring each scholar for three years. As Indiana is not a participating state, IUPUI serves as a participating member. Participating IUPUI Schools fund a certain number of Ph.D. students as SREB scholars. In 2011, these IUPUI Schools/Offices included: Informatics, Nursing, Medicine, Social Work, Office of Finance and Administration, Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion , Engineering and Technology, and Science. http://diversity.iupui.edu/events/sreb.html

PROGRAMS TO SUPPORT FACULTY The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, in partnership with the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and the Office for Women worked together to provide internal grants as seed funding to full-time faculty. The Developing Diverse Researchers with InVestigative Expertise (DRIVE) program is designed to enhance the diversity and research and creative activity mission of IUPUI. Faculty from historically underrepresented populations and women are particularly encouraged to apply. DRIVE supports projects that have the potential for sustainability through external funding. The Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion partnered with IUPUI faculty and staff to develop two new faculty diversity awards, which were given out for the first time at the Chancellor’s Academic Honors Convocation in 2011.  Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Multicultural Teaching: This award aims to recognize an outstanding FT or PT faculty member for multicultural teaching., acknowledge the investment of time and effort put forth by faculty who integrate culturally relevant content into their curriculum, who employ an inclusive, student-centered pedagogy, and who champion diversity as a value that ensures the academic success of all students.  Chancellor’s Diversity Scholars Award: This award is to honor FT tenured or tenured track faculty members who create, maintain, and demonstrate diversity in their scholarship, teaching, and/or service. There are five faculty staff affinity groups on campus: Asian Pacific Islander Faculty Staff Council, Black Faculty Staff Council, Latino Faculty Staff Council, LGBT Faculty Staff Council, and the Native American Faculty Staff Council. All of these groups receive annual funding from the Chancellor to achieve their faculty and staff retention and recruitment goals. http://diversity.iupui.edu/facstaff/groups.html

PROGRAMS TO SUPPORT STAFF The Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion worked with IUPUI’s Staff Council to bring a new staff diversity award in 2011, the Multicultural Impact Staff Award. This award recognizes a full-time IUPUI staff member who promotes a campus climate of diversity; and demonstrates merit not based on the essential functions of his/her job, but rather an extraordinary commitment to multicultural campus involvement, leadership, service, and academic involvement. See above for Faculty Staff Councils.