This policy is designed to support efforts to diversify the college’s Ph.D. enrollments.
Support for campus visits
This initiative is focused on helping faculty build relationships with prospective students that would diversity our Ph.D. enrollments, providing faculty with an opportunity to learn more about prospective students, and to encourage prospective students to seriously consider applying to our Ph.D. program.
If a member of the faculty knows of an individual from an underrepresented group, who may be qualified for our Ph.D. program and a good fit for the faculty member’s research group, the college will provide funding to let these prospective students visit campus before decisions must be made about admitting the individual to our Ph.D. program. This applies when all of the following are true:
- the individual comes from a traditionally underrepresented group,
- the individual has applied, or is considering applying, to our Ph.D. program,
- the faculty member believes the individual could be a fit with their research group,
- the faculty member has funding to support the student either independently or in conjunction with the college-based support described below,
- the faculty member would like to interact with the prospective student to encourage the individual to apply or to accept an offer of admission if they have already applied.
The goal is to show the prospective student that there is a desire to get to know them as an individual, to give them an opportunity to visit campus during which they can learn more about our program, the college, and Penn State, and to give faculty an opportunity to interact with the student.
Implementation
Once a prospective student that qualifies for this initiative is identified, please share the individual’s name, other relevant details, and a tentative agenda for the visit with the college’s Assistant/Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ADDEI). Please note that we encourage all visitors be given a chance to meet with the college’s ADDEI during the visit. Once it is confirmed the individual qualifies, the college will provide funding to cover travel, lodging, and meals for a visit to campus that includes up to two nights.
Financial support for new Ph.D. students from underrepresented groups
This initiative focuses on helping faculty extend more competitive offers to Ph.D. applicants from underrepresented groups. More specifically, the goal is be able to guarantee five years of support with a grade 18 stipend. The expectation that this will allow offers to be more competitive with what these applicants may receive from other universities.
Faculty responsibility
- Fully fund the student for one year at grade 18. By default, this must be year one. If funding is not available for year one, but sufficient documentation exists that funding will be available starting in year two, this year of full support can be for year two.
- Fund the student for at least three additional years at the college’s normal minimum grade of 13 (assuming the student takes five or more years to graduate).
College responsibility
- Fully fund the student for one year at grade 18. This can be used any time after the first year. To use this support in the first year, sufficient documentation must be provided demonstrating that funding will be available starting in year two.
- Provide supplemental funding for three years, supplementing the faculty support at grade 13 to bring the funding up to grade 18.
Implementation
Once an individual is identified, who qualifies for this program, please share the individual’s name and other relevant details with the college’s Assistant/Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and the college’s Director for Ph.D. Programs. Please note, to qualify for this support, the faculty member must be able to commit to future funding. Understanding that having four years of funding on hand may be a challenge, we will operationalize this as follows:
- The faculty member must have at least two years of funding on-hand that can be committed to this student. This can be via external funding or internal funding including startup packages for new faculty.
- If the two years of funding that is on-hand comes from startup funding, the faculty a member must:
- Provide evidence of active engagement in the submission of proposals for external support that is commensurate with the amount of time they have been at Penn State. This includes having proposals for external funding in development and, if the individual is in year two or later, this will normally include a record of submitted proposals.
- If the two years of funding that is on-hand comes from existing grants or other internal sources, the faculty member must either:
- Already have all four years of funding on-hand, or
- Must have a track record of bringing in other external funding including a record of using this external funding for Ph.D. students continuously over no less than the two most recent years. Effectively, this requires that there must be at least two external grants – one that is current and would provide the future funding and a second that may be complete that provided funding in previous years.
Approved by: Dr. Andrew Sears, Dean 09/21/2021