Diversity Council Awards 2010 Incentive Grants

The University of Cincinnati Diversity Council has granted six awards for diversity incentive proposals for 2010.

“Proposals submitted covered a wide range of ideas which made a challenging review process for the selection team,” said UC Chief Diversity Officer Mitchel D. Livingston. “Based on reports from last year’s recipients, I consider this to be a successful program and hope to continue it in the future.”

The incentive grant awards program was coordinated on behalf of the UC Diversity Council by Neville Pinto, vice provost and dean of the Graduate School. The successful applications for 2010, of a total of 13 proposals submitted for review, include:

McMicken College of Arts & Sciences
PR1ZE Faculty Mentoring Program
$10,000
The grant will enable the college to expand the services of the PR1ZE faculty mentoring program from the current 80 students to include an additional 50 African American students. The successful proposal was submitted by Kenneth Ghee, associate professor of Africana Studies; Carol Tonge-Mack, associate director of the Center for Exploratory Studies; Tamika Odum, program manager for the UC Women’s Center; and Cecily Goode, director of One-Stop.

McMicken College of Arts & Sciences
Graduate Preview Program
$3370
The grant will allow the college to build on recruitment efforts through a campus visitation program for rising juniors and seniors from minority-serving institutions to increase graduate enrollment of underrepresented populations. The proposal was submitted by Marilyn Kershaw, academic director.

McMicken College of Arts & Sciences
Hispanic/Latino Recruitment
$6630
Funding will allow expansion of the current recruitment and retention efforts by reaching out to Hispanic/Latino students and their families through focus groups, bilingual communications and outreach events. The proposal was submitted by academic director Jessica Donovan.

Division of Student Affairs
STARS Scholars Program
$10,000
For more than a decade, the Student Achievement in Research and Scholarship program has provided undergraduate research opportunities to encourage academic progress for students of ethnic backgrounds underrepresented in graduate school and the professoriate. State funding has been cut for this program and the proposal to continue it was submitted by Cheri Westmoreland, McNair program director.

College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services
Higher Education Mentoring Initiative
$10,000
The Higher Education Mentoring Initiative prepares foster children for post-secondary education. The initiative is a partnership among Hamilton County Job and Family Services, Hamilton County Commissioners, CECH Partner for Achieving School Success (PASS), and the School of Social Work. The proposal to provide mentoring to 25 students was submitted by Dean Lawrence Johnson.

College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services
Gen 1 Scholarships
$10,000
The Gen-1 Theme House at Stratford Heights will expand to accommodate 50 students in two houses in 2010. The grant will support need-based scholarships for students who live in one of the two Gen-1 houses, according to the proposal submitted by Stephanie Cappel, executive director of the CECH Partner for Achieving School Success (PASS) center.