Princeton University
PA-7: Support for Underrepresented Groups

https://rrr.princeton.edu/eop

https://inclusive.princeton.edu/addressing-concerns/policies/policy-discrimination-andor-harassment

When a university community member feels they have been subjected to bias, discrimination and/or harassment or have observed such behavior directed at others, there are many options, including consulting with a confidential resource or a non-confidential resource, or formally reporting what happened. These resources include:

-Ombuds Office: The University’s Ombuds office can provide confidential advice regarding issues of discrimination and/or harassment, and information about options.

-University Health Services Counseling Center: Provides confidential counseling and support services to students. Spouses and dependents of students may also be eligible for consultations.

-Office of Religious Life: Chaplains provide confidential informal counseling where any member of the campus community may discuss a complaint, conflict or problem.

-Sexual Harassment/Assault Advising Resources and Education (SHARE) Office: Provides confidential crisis response, support, advocacy, education and referral services to those dealing with incidents of power-based personal violence including sexual harassment, sexual assault, dating/domestic violence and stalking.

Link for more information: https://inclusive.princeton.edu/addressing-concerns/step-step-process/step-1-who-do-i-talk

Princeton University has launched a series of initiatives to create a more diverse, safe and accessible campus, and to develop and promote a more inclusive culture. We are committed to recruiting, retaining and supporting a diverse community of students, faculty and staff.

The following examples of recruitment strategies to diversify the student populations include:

• A number of programs are available to support low-income, historically underrepresented minority, and first-generation students' academic achievement from high school through post-baccalaureate study.
• The percentage of Pell eligible undergraduate students at Princeton has dramatically increased, from 7% in the Class of 2008 to 20% in the Class of 2022. Princeton University's financial aid policy is recognized as among the most generous in the country. 60% of Princeton undergraduates receive financial aid. Financial aid is based solely on a student's need. Students from a broad range of socioeconomic backgrounds — from low-income to applicants with family incomes of $250,000 — can receive aid that meets their demonstrated need. For example, 100% of tuition, college fee, and room and board for families earning up to $65,000 is covered for students in the Class of 2022. The University's robust financial aid packages are built on grants, which do not have to be repaid. Princeton’s no-loan aid program means that students can graduate debt free. See https://www.princeton.edu/admission-aid/affordable-all.
• Princeton has extensive programs to support college access, including the Princeton University Preparatory Program and the Princeton Summer Journalism Program. It hosts multiple nonprofit college access partners annually, including Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America (LEDA), Matriculate, the W.E.B. DuBois Scholars Institute, and the Warrior Scholar Program, as well as works regularly with many other organizations such as Questbridge, the Council for Opportunity in Education, Sutton Trust, the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, and College Horizons. Princeton is a member of the American Talent Initiative (ATI), which focuses on improving the percentage of low-income students at selective colleges and universities, and Princeton's president Christopher Eisgruber is a member of the ATI steering committee. The Office of Admission, the Graduate School, the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences all have dedicated staff focused on admission of diverse classes, and all host recruitment events on campus and across the country. See:
https://inclusive.princeton.edu/initiatives/key-initiatives/college-access-success
https://psjp.princeton.edu/
https://pupp.princeton.edu/
https://www.princeton.edu/news/2018/08/16/leda-career-institute-princeton-guides-high-achieving-low-income-college-students
http://www.matriculate.org/
https://cst.princeton.edu/news/web-du-bois-scholars-institute-workshop
https://www.princeton.edu/news/2019/07/08/veterans-learn-strategies-will-aid-them-classroom
https://www.princeton.edu/~phmc/qb.html

Examples of recruitment programs for graduate students include:
• The Graduate School appoints Diversity Fellows, current graduate students at the dissertation writing stage of their programs, to follow up with prospective students to encourage them to apply to Princeton. These Fellows also support on-campus programming for both recruitment and retention and occasionally travel with office staff to recruitment events and conferences. Diversity Fellows are paid a modest salary.
• The Graduate School coordinates Open Houses and a Preview Day program which brings Mellon-Mays Fellows and McNair Scholars to campus. (Both programs that target high potential underrepresented undergraduates interested in doctoral programs). https://graddiversity.princeton.edu/recruitment-and-outreach
• The Pre-Doctoral Fellowship program is a one-year, fully funded fellowship that includes an offer of regular admission to the sponsoring doctoral program the following year. The fellowship is intended for students who would benefit from an additional year of training before formally entering the sponsoring departments' PhD program. https://graddiversity.princeton.edu/pre-doctoral-fellowship-initiative
• The School of Engineering and Applied Sciences supports diversifying the graduate student body through programs like the Pathways to Graduate School and Pathway into the Academy, which offer opportunities for prospective and matriculated graduate students to explore the possibilities of both advanced graduate degrees and prepare for careers in the professoriate. See: https://engineering.princeton.edu/graduate-studies/academic-pathways/prospective-graduate-students
https://engineering.princeton.edu/graduate-studies/academic-pathways/prospective-faculty

Examples of targeted recruitment programs for faculty include:
• Target of Opportunity (ToO) program: in place since 2001, it hires promising faculty members that bring intellectual and demographic diversity to Princeton. https://dof.princeton.edu/Faculty-Advisory-Committee
• Several Princeton departments have had success in hiring underrepresented minority assistant professors and providing them with dissertation completion support, or in supporting formal postdoctoral fellowships prior to starting their professorships.
• Princeton’s visiting scholars program and its Presidential postdoctoral research fellows programs are intended to recognize and support scholars who can contribute to the University’s diversity, including members of groups that have been historically underrepresented in the academy. https://dof.princeton.edu/sites/dof/files/Diversity%20Initiatives%20Memo%2018-12-05.pdf
• Opening a new on-campus child care center and providing a need-based child care subsidy program to ensure that prospective and current faculty members have the resources they need for appropriate work/life balance and that their family members have the tools to thrive in Princeton.

Princeton does engage in specific outreach efforts to increase the diverse of the applicant pools for open positions. The following is a sampling of recruiting events that Princeton participated in last year.
- AMIE (Advancing Minorities in Engineering) - September
- Gallaudet University (deaf university) - October
- NSBE (National Society of Black Engineers) - The College of New Jersey Event - October
- SWE (Society of Women Engineers) - November
- Philadelphia Veteran Recruitment Event - Philadelphia - April

Examples of support for students include:
• Princeton's campus centers are student-focused spaces that support the cultural dimensions of the Princeton experience. https://inclusive.princeton.edu/community-resources/inclusive-community/campus-centers-offices
• The Graduate Student Support Fund (GSSF) provides grants to Princeton graduate students in good standing to allow them to remain in their program and complete their degree in a timely manner. https://graddiversity.princeton.edu/diversity-related-funding-sources. The Graduate School’s Access, Diversity and Inclusion Team is a resource to graduate students and departments though mentoring, programming and partnership. https://graddiversity.princeton.edu/about-us. The Princeton Grad Scholars Program (GSP) is an exciting new experience for entering first-year graduate students and pre-doctoral students from diverse backgrounds designed to enhance and support academic, social, and community development during their initial graduate school experience. https://graddiversity.princeton.edu/current-students/grad-scholars-program-gsp
https://graddiversity.princeton.edu/current-students

Examples of support for faculty and staff include:
• Eleven employee resource groups comprise faculty and staff who share common backgrounds and interests and provide opportunities to meet to enhance engagement. Nearly half of Princeton University employees engage in one or more of Princeton’s employee resource groups (ERGs). These volunteer, employee-led organizations are comprised of professionals from across the University who come together based on shared interests and/or identities. ERGs work to create a more inclusive environment and sense of belonging within the University while also remaining engaged with external communities. ERGs are open to all employees, regardless of identity. Participating is an excellent way to connect, learn, build ally-ship, and grow at work. See list of ERGs: https://hr.princeton.edu/life/community#erg

Additionally, Princeton supports the development of climate and inclusion committees within individual administrative and academic departments to advance access, diversity, inclusion, and belonging at the unit level. See: https://inclusive.princeton.edu/initiatives/key-initiatives/academic-climate-and-inclusion

As mentioned previously in the recruitment section, Princeton hosts a number of programs that support low-income, racial minority, and first-generation college students' entry into the academic pipeline.
• For high school students, Princeton offers the Princeton University Preparatory Program and hosts the Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America (LEDA) summer program. The Office of the Dean of the College runs the Freshman Scholars Institute for entering freshmen and the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship for underrepresented Princeton students interested in pursuing a career in academia.
• Several academic departments host summer research programs for visiting undergraduates interested in pursuing graduate degrees, including the Department of Molecular Biology, Department of Chemistry, Mid-InfraRed Technologies for Health and the Environment, the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, and the Graduate School.

Over the past five years, Princeton has developed a research-based slate of initiatives designed to support and empower first-generation, lower income, and otherwise underrepresented students as they move "to, though, and beyond" their college experience. These initiatives are described below, organized in order of their place in this long pipeline arc. We are currently engaged in a long-term evaluation on the success of these programs. Scholars in these programs also participate in the Residential College Community and Advising system, which provides inclusive academic and co-curricular guidance/advising and ensures that student need is met in a timely and thorough fashion.

• Freshman Scholars Institute (FSI): This seven-week summer program allows a cohort of entering Princeton first-generation and/or lower-income students the chance to experience intellectual, co-curricular, and social life at Princeton prior to beginning the fall semester. During the program, the scholars immerse themselves in the intellectually vibrant culture at Princeton through seminar-style courses and/or laboratory research experiences; engage with their fellow scholars in a variety of co-curricular, community-building activities; and work closely with faculty from a range of academic disciplines and fields.
• FSI 2 U: FSI 2 U is an innovative distance learning experience that allows the FSI program to scale and meet students' needs while preserving the high-touch, holistic educational opportunity that the residential experience provides. FSI 2 U offers two six-week, non-credit-bearing courses in quantitative reasoning and critical thinking, reading, and writing.
• Scholars Institute Fellows Program: The Scholars Institute Fellows Program expands and enhances FSI, providing any first-generation and/or lower-income student at Princeton with mentorship, academic enrichment, and scholarly community throughout their time at the University. Scholars participate in structured mentoring relationships with more advanced peers, faculty, staff, and alumni to develop their professional networks, learn about the "hidden curriculum" of college through workshops and roundtables, and build a sense of belonging through all-community events.
• Non-traditional, veteran, and transfer student program: In collaboration with SIFP and the residential colleges, the non-traditional, veteran, and transfer program offers these students mentorship, support, academic and professional opportunities, and community as they transition into and through a four-year college environment, while they bring and contribute the full experience of their pre-college lives to Princeton.

https://dof.princeton.edu/faculty-diversity-and-inclusion
https://inclusive.princeton.edu/initiatives/key-initiatives/college-access-success
https://graddiversity.princeton.edu/
https://graddiversity.princeton.edu/recruitment-and-outreach
https://graddiversity.princeton.edu/current-students
https://engineering.princeton.edu/graduate-studies/academic-pathways/prospective-faculty
https://engineering.princeton.edu/graduate-studies/academic-pathways/prospective-graduate-students