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Program Spotlight: Diversity & Inclusion Recruitment and Retention

The following departmental programs and initiatives have been submitted to APSA by representatives from each individual department. If you would like to submit a program for recognition, please send your information through this form

Additional program spotlight resources for recruitment and retention can be found here.

 


 

POIR Predoctoral Summer Institute for First Generation and Minority Scholars

University of Southern California

 

 

The USC POIR predoctoral summer institute is for students both in and outside the southern California area, but those from nearby universities have most frequently participated. It is an opportunity for undergraduate/MA students to come to USC to (1) learn more about political science and social science PhD programs and to learn what getting a PhD in political science is like; and (2) for institute participants to receive direct feedback and advice on how to craft a successful and competitive application for admission to a PhD program in social science, political science, and international relations. 

 

Academic Population Served: Undergraduate, MA, or law students interested in PhD in political science or allied social science fields (e.g. sociology, economics, or public policy).

Specific Groups Served:  First-generation and minority scholars 

Program Goals: Recruitment, Retention, Advancement

Number of staff or faculty involved with the program: Five USC Dornsife political science faculty members and six current POIR PhD students were on hand to work directly with institute participants. 

Which college or university unit is primarily responsible for this program? POIR (Political Science and International Relations)

Program time frame: One day

For how long has this program been in existence?  Since June 2016.

Program Impact: Nearly 100 applications for 25 places at the institute. 

Is your department an APSA MSRP Recruiting Department? Yes

Visit the Program Website

Contact: Dr. Christian Grose, (cgrose@dornsife.usc.edu) PhD Director POIR Program, University of Southern California


Office of the Director of Equity and Inclusion

University of Chicago

 

The office of the Director of Equity and Inclusion in the Department of Political Science was created in 2015, prompted in part by a Report on the Status of Women Faculty in the Division of Social Sciences. The purpose of this office is to facilitate informed reflection by members of the Department, individually and collectively, about how our professional activities intersect with larger structures of social power, and to thereby to help the Department create and sustain the conditions under which each of us can pursue our work, as well as negotiate the competing requirements of professional and extra-professional life, free from the effects of illegitimate forms of inequality and privilege. https://political-science.uchicago.edu/content/equity-and-inclusion

 

Academic Population Served: undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty

Specific groups served: individuals from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups, first generation scholars, LGBT individuals, individuals with disabilities, women

Program Goals: Recruitment, Retention, Advancement

Number of staff or faculty involved with the program: 3

Which college or university unit is primarily responsible for this program? Department

Program time frame: Academic year

For how long has this program been in existence? Two years

Program Impact: The Committee has sponsored faculty meetings around inclusiveness in the classroom and a workshop inspired by the University’s recent Campus Climate Survey. It has sponsored mentoring events for female graduate students and students of color with successful female scholars and scholars of color, respectively. Additionally, the Committee has provided recommendations to the Department, on transparency and non-transparency in Department life, based on conversations with faculty and students about the extent to which they feel included in or excluded from information about activities, policies, and decisions that affect them. Finally, it has analyzed admissions, progression through the PhD program and graduation data with an eye to drawing conclusions about the department's equity and inclusion efforts. 

Is your department an APSA MSRP Recruiting Department? Yes

Additional comment: The department is an active participant in University of Chicago programs to promote diversity and inclusion such as postdoctoral programs, faculty recruitment and retention, and training for faculty search committees.

Visit Program Website

Contact: Dr. John Mark Hansen, (jhansen@uchicago.edu) Chair of the Department of Political Science, University of Chicago


 

Emerging Scholars in Political Science

Princeton University

 

The goal of the Emerging Scholars in Political Science program is to increase the participation of students from underrepresented groups in Ph.D. programs in political science. The ESPS program provides students who have already earned a bachelor’s degree the opportunity to explore their research interests and prepare for graduate school through intensive research, coursework, and mentoring. 

Academic population served: pre-graduate students

Specific groups served: underrepresented minorities

Program goal: advancement

Number of staff or faculty involved with the program: 7

Which college or university unit is primarily responsible for this program? Department of Politics

Program time frame: year

For how long has this program been in existence? 18 months

Program impact: The program has facilitated faculty research and aided participants in moving to top ranked PhD programs.

Contact: Kristopher Ramsay, (kramsay@princeton.edu) faculty, Princeton University Department of Politics

 


Progress Toward Tenure Review

Arizona State University

 

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The Progress Toward Tenure Review is an annual review that occurs at the beginning of the academic year. The Director of the School meets with each junior faculty member to discuss their planning for teaching, research and service for the year. While the discussion is anchored in these three workload categories, it also provides the opportunity for junior faculty to ask all sorts of questions related to their work and prospects for advancement toward tenure. It also allows the Director to provide feedback from the tenured faculty, as well as a socialization opportunity for the norms of the discipline and School.

 

Academic Population Served: Faculty

Specific Groups Served:  all pre-tenure faculty

Program Goals: Retention, Advancement

Number of staff or faculty involved with the program: 5

Which college or university unit is primarily responsible for this program? School

Program time frame: Academic year

For how long has this program been in existence? Many years

Program Impact: This program provides a prospective planning session for the academic year that is then bookmarked by the more traditional, retrospective annual review at the end of the year. Junior faculty thus have a much better sense of expectations for their performance paired with evaluation of their work. Junior faculty who take full advantage of these opportunities should be well aware of where they stand in their path to tenure.

Visit Program Website  

Contact: Dr. Cameron Thies, (cameron.thies@asu.edu) Professor and Director of the School of Politics and Global Studies. Learn more about the School of Politics and Global Studies at Arizona State University.


Carolina Postdoctoral Program for Faculty Diversity

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

 

UNC Research  

The Carolina Postdoctoral Program for Faculty Diversity provides two-year mentored post-doctoral positions in all academic areas across the university, with no teaching duties. For Political Science candidates who are accepted, the post-doctoral fellow is assured an interview for a possible tenure-track position at the beginning of the second year of the post-doc. The goal of the program is to identify potential future Carolina faculty members and provide them with a bridge from graduate school to the tenure-track, allowing more time devoted fully to research before the teaching expectations grow. Many alums of the program are currently on the faculty at The University of North Carolina, as well as elsewhere. Not that the program is university-wide, and each department may only nominate, not select, candidates.

Learn more about The Carolina Postdoctoral Program for Faculty Diversity here.

Academic Population Served: New PhDs aspiring to be full time faculty
Specific Groups Served:  Individuals from Underrepresented Groups
Program Goals: Recruitment, Advancement
Number of staff or faculty involved with the program: 10
Which college or university unit is primarily responsible for this program? University-wide fellowship
Program time frame: Two full academic years of support
For how long has this program been in existence?  Since 1984
Program Impact: We currently have two faculty members on tenure-track positions in political science who come from the program. It is a fantastic program with a big impact university-wide.
Is your department an APSA MSRP Recruiting Department? Yes
Visit Program Website

Contact: Dr. Frank Baumgartner, (Frankb@unc.edu) Professor of Political Science, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill


Women in Political Science (WiPS) University of Florida

University of Florida 

        

Women in Political Science (WiPS) was founded by a group of women PhD students in our department and seeks to provide women in the graduate program with professional development and networking opportunities, work/life balance seminars, information on publishing and navigating the tenure stream.

Learn more about the University of Florida’s Department of Political Science. 

Academic Population Served: Graduate students, faculty
Specific Groups Served:  women, individuals from underrepresented groups
Program Goals: Recruitment
Number of staff or faculty involved with the program: 1
Which college or university unit is primarily responsible for this program? Department, College of Liberal Arts and Science
Program time frame: 2-3 Years
For how long has this program been in existence?  Since September 2016
Program Impact: With strong support from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, WiPS has received financial support for a women’s speaker series extending at least through the 2018-19 academic year.
Contact: Dr. Benjamin Smith, (bbsmith@ufl.edu) Diversity Liaison and UF Research Foundation Professor, University of Florida

 
 


View Additional program spotlight resources for recruitment and retention