FW: 12/2 Seminar: A Model for Dramatically Increasing Diversity at the PhD Level in Science and Engineering

[Pelz, Jonathan]

FYI.  For those you haven’t heard a talk from him, he is an excellent speaker.

-Jon


[OSU Logo_sm]
Jon Pelz
Professor and Graduate Studies Chair
Dept. of Physics, Ohio State University
614-688-3299

From: Rasor, Jenifer B.
Sent: Monday, November 28, 2016 9:30 AM
To: Steffensmeier, Janet
Cc: Hernandez, Marcela
Subject: FW: 12/2 Seminar: A Model for Dramatically Increasing Diversity at the PhD Level in Science and Engineering

Dear ASC Graduate Studies Directors and Graduate Program Coordinators,

Dean Box-Steffensmeier requests that you distribute this important information to all faculty, staff and students who might be interested.

Regards,
Jenifer

[The Ohio State University]
Jenifer Bernard Rasor, J.D.
Associate to the Divisional Dean
Janet M. Box-Steffensmeier, Divisional Dean, Social & Behavioral Sciences
Dean, Arts & Sciences Office of Graduate Studies
College of Arts and Sciences
170C University Hall
230 N Oval Mall, Columbus, OH 43210-1335
614-292-7689 Office
614-292-8666 Fax
rasor.3 at osu.edu<mailto:rasor.3 at osu.edu>


_________________________________________________________________________________

The Fisk-Vanderbilt Masters-to-PhD Bridge Program: A Model for Dramatically Increasing Diversity at the PhD Level in Science and Engineering

by Dr. Keivan Stassun, PhD

Sponsored by the College of Engineering and Department of Materials Science and Engineering

December 2, 2016 from 3:00pm-4:30pm in 264 McQuigg<https://www.osu.edu/map/building.php?building=265>

Dr. Stassun is the Stevenson Endowed Professor of Physics & Astronomy, Founding Director, Fisk-Vanderbilt Masters-to-PhD Bridge Program, Director, Vanderbilt Initiative in Data-intensive Astrophysics and Senior Associate Dean for Graduate Education and Research at Vanderbilt University.  During his presentation he will be speaking about the success Vanderbilt has had increasing the diversity of their astronomy, physics and materials science graduate programs using a rubric that evaluates students based on non-cognitive variables predicative of long-term success.

Although focused in STEM, many of the principles and ideas are applicable to other fields. This is complementary to the workshop by Julie Posselt earlier this month.

A copy of his abstract is below.

Abstract: We briefly review the current status of underrepresented minorities in science and engineering: The underrepresentation of Black-, Hispanic-, and Native-Americans is an order of magnitude problem. We then describe the Fisk-Vanderbilt Masters-to-PhD Bridge program as a successful model for addressing this problem. Since 2004 the program has admitted nearly 120 students, 90% of them underrepresented minorities (50% female), with a retention rate of 90%. Already, the program is the top producer of African American master's degrees in physics, and is the top producer of minority PhDs in astronomy, materials science, and physics. We summarize the main features of the program including its core strategies: (1) replacing the GRE in admissions with indicators that are better predictive of long-term success, (2) partnering with a minority-serving institution for student training through collaborative research, and (3) using the master’s degree as a deliberate stepping stone to the PhD. We show how misuse of the GRE in graduate admissions may by itself in large part explain the ongoing underrepresentation of minorities in PhD programs, and we describe our alternate methods to identify talented individuals most likely to succeed. We describe our mentoring model and toolkit which may be utilized to enhance the success of all PhD students.

-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: winmail.dat
Type: application/ms-tnef
Size: 30464 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.osu.edu/pipermail/physics-staff-df/attachments/20161128/8d946e39/attachment.bin>