BSOS

The College of Behavioral and Social Sciences has received a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to increase participation of underrepresented minority students in social, behavioral and economic doctoral programs. According to Robert Schwab, associate dean in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences and co-principal investigator, along with Johnetta G. Davis, associate dean of the Graduate School and director of the Office of Recruitment, Retention and Diversity, NSF invited Maryland to participate in the program because of its good record in graduating minorities.

According to NSF data, since 1998 the University of Maryland has ranked 8 th in the number of Ph.D.s and 13 th in the number of BAs granted to underrepresented minorities in the social, behavioral and economic fields.

Participating with Maryland will be Howard University , the University of

Florida, the University of Miami and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, now known as the Atlantic Coast Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences Alliance. The goals of the Alliance are to increase the number of underrepresented minority students receiving Ph.D.s in social, behavioral and economic disciplines.

The Alliance will offer several programs collectively, including a one-week workshop for entering doctoral students, an institute for students entering their final year of doctoral studies, and a summer institute to prepare Ph.D. recipients for successful academic careers.

Since 1999, the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences has invited 10 to 15 underrepresented minority students who are rising juniors at other universities to College Park for a six-week summer program. The program, called the Summer Research Initiative, pairs students with a faculty member who mentors them as they undertake a research project. The students also participate in a series of seminars and workshops designed to give them a better sense of life as a graduate student and help them prepare for application to graduate school. As a result of this grant, the Summer Research Initiative will be expanded from six to eight or 10 weeks.

The grant will also allow the college to hire a Graduate Diversity Director, who will oversee the newly expanded Summer Research Initiative, recruit underrepresented minority students, serve as their advocate, and organize and host a series of seminars and workshops designed to give them support, among other things. Among the topics for special seminars will be professional writing and publication, statistics for the behavioral and social sciences, and choosing a career in the professoriate.

Incoming underrepresented minority students will be paired with a graduate student mentor. “A Ph.D. program can be a very daunting experience and a new graduate student needs a broad range of resources in order to survive,” said associate dean Schwab. “We have found it is helpful for graduate students to be able to seek out the advice and support of other graduate students, particularly during the traditionally difficult first year.”