STORY

Diversity proposals across system receive funding

More than $52,000 in grants to boost 20 efforts at campuses
By Staff
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More than $52,000 in Diversity and Excellence Grants will be distributed across the University of Colorado system for 2012-13.

The Advisory Board for the Diversity and Excellence Grants recently met and recommended funding for 20 proposals.  Overall, 40 proposals were submitted, requesting $118,714.  Total funding awarded is $52,359.

Diversity and Excellence Grants provide assistance for projects initiated by faculty or staff that seek to support diverse faculty development and/or contribute to a climate of cultural competence.

A breakdown of the funding distribution:

Campus Total Proposals Total Selected Funding Requested Funding Awarded
Boulder 18 8 $52,338 $18,000
Colorado Springs 6 4 $18,000 $12,000
Anschutz 11 4 $32,985 $11,864
Denver 5 4 $15,391 $10,495
Total 40 20 $118,714 $52,359

While projects are listed under the campus of the lead applicant, some of the proposals that were funded will involve more than one campus, and all involve outreach to the university and wider community.

Boulder

Proposal Title Author(s) Amount Awarded
CU-LEAD Alliance Annual Student Symposium: Synthesizing High Impact Practices for First Generation and Underrepresented Students Through Interdisciplinary Engagement and Dialogue Valerie Gallegos, Sheryl Koutsis, May Penuela, LaRuth McAfee and Rob Pyatt $3,000
The Annual CU-LEAD Alliance Student Symposium showcases the creative and scholarly projects and research of first-generation and underrepresented students across all disciplines at the University of Colorado Boulder. The event provides an interdisciplinary platform for students, staff and faculty to exchange ideas and engage in discourse, create space for learning opportunities, and encourage students to consider pursuing a postgraduate education.  Funds from the Diversity and Excellence Grant will fund student scholarship awards and a keynote speaker for the event.
Giving Youth a Voice: Pairing Photography and Word to Strengthen the Voice of Latino Youth on the City of Boulder Tori Derr, Alex Zinga and Rebecca Stumpf $3,000
Growing Up Boulder will partner with the Youth Services Initiative and photographer Rebecca Stumpf to initiate a Neighborhood Photovoice project in January 2013. Middle school Latino youth will learn photography skills and take field trips to their own and other neighborhoods to photograph the places where they live. Through photography discussions, critiques and written word, youth will develop literacy skills and life skills in learning to voice their lived experiences and desires.
Broadening Participation of Blind Students in Computer Science at CU through Scalable Game Design Tom Yeh, Alex Repinning and Clayton Lewis $3,000
This project will organize a two-day workshop in Summer 2013 for high school mainstream blind students to gain exposure to programming and computer science by designing computer games.  This effort will be organized by blind students as well as sighted students within the Department of Computer Science.
Library on Video Tutorial Hub for International Students Xiang Li and Laura Burfield $2,000
This project will create a series of videos for international students that provide a virtual tour of the libraries on campus.  These videos will be produced in Chinese, Korean, Arabic, Japanese and English and will showcase the libraries’ collections, study space, computer labs and service desks that support students’ learning, teaching and research.
TRANSforming Gender Symposium Scarlet Bowen $2,000
Since its inception, the TRANSforming Gender Symposium has hosted nationally and internationally recognized speakers who have spoken to issues of transgender and genderqueer health care, civil rights, education and cultural representation. This year, the symposium will use funds from its Diversity and Excellence Grant to bring Eli Clare as the keynote speaker for the event. He is the author of Exile and Pride (essays) and The Marrow’s Telling (poetry) as well as numerous peer-reviewed articles on disability, queerness and gender identity.
Pathway to CU: Creating Opportunities in Engineering through Denver Area Youth Programs Tanya Ennis and Beverly Louie $2,000
The Broadening Opportunity through Leadership and Diversity (BOLD) Center intends to significantly increase the representation of Black youth who are interested in, and prepared to, pursue engineering to choose the University of Colorado Boulder’s College of Engineering and Applied Science as their college destination. Through partnerships with strong community, youth-serving organizations, the BOLD Center will a) present educational workshops to build engineering understanding and interest to the leadership teams and participants of the organizations; b) establish a student-to-student mentoring program; and c) strengthen the personalized recruiting strategies that expose students to the inclusive environment created by the BOLD Center at CU-Boulder.
An Empirically Supported Video Intervention to Promote an Inclusive Climate at CU Glenda Russell $2,000
This project intends to make a series of online videos that would help members of the CU community – and faculty in particular – to gain concrete information about inclusive practices in the classroom.  The content of the videos will be based on published research about both explicit and implicit attitudes in higher-education settings as well as on the gathering of anecdotal data from a variety of targeted groups and advocacy professionals at CU.
Dynamics of Inclusion Tracy Ferrell, Andrea Feldman, James Walker, Frances Charteris and Olivia Chadha $1,000
This conference offers undergraduates majoring in any discipline and affiliated with any department, a unique opportunity to share their research, writing and/or multimodal productions with a diverse audience.

Colorado Springs

Proposal Title Author(s) Amount Awarded
Pueblo First-Generation Scholars Program Josephine Benavidez $3,000
This project will renew the recruitment endeavors in Pueblo School District 60 and Pueblo County School District 70 while also offering a pilot project to service students starting at the sixth-grade level.  This satellite program is designed to deliver Pre-Collegiate services and workshops at the Pueblo target school locations while also offering opportunities to visit the University of Colorado Colorado Springs campus to participate in various activities.  The Diversity and Excellence Grant will specifically fund a weekend Summer residential Mini-University Program in the UCCS Dormitories for rising seniors during summer 2013.
Documentation: Exhibit and Related Programs Daisy McConnel $3,000
Documentation features the work of two photographers and their compelling personal narratives. Artist Matt Chmielarczyk’s iPhone-generated and social-media shared photography of his daughter’s life-changing surgery explores the line of personal versus public and invites our viewers to become a part of one family’s community of support and empathy.
Exploring the African Diaspora through Traditional and Contemporary Guinean Dance and Music Jane Rigler $3,000
This collaborative five-day residency with African-American choreographer Jessica T. Pearson and Guinean musician Fara Tolno will explore traditional and contemporary Guinean dance and music and the translation of the African Diaspora in African American Concert Dance.
America's Backyards Caitlin Green $3,000
America’s Backyards will bring thousands of people together to discuss, experience and examine the suburban American experience, racial and ethnic diversity in America and shared cultural values. This project will consist of the following: two mainstage productions, staged readings, backyard outreach parties, lectures and discussions.

Anschutz Medical Campus

Proposal Title Author(s) Amount Awarded
MCAT Academy Learning Style Based Approach Christian Valtierra, Ian Abeyta and Jim Do $2,864
This project will engage students of personal financial hardship with an educational opportunity to promote high-quality scores on the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT).  This project will offer a 16-week MCAT study academy for undergraduate students from CU-Boulder, CU Denver and UCCS.
Health Professions Opportunity Day (hPod): Bridging Middle School and High School Health Careers Larry Armenta and Dominic Martinez $3,000
The Health Professions Opportunity Day (hPod) program targets middle and high school students from underserved backgrounds interested in pursuing careers in health.  The purpose of the program is to expose participants to the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.  Participants will learn about the educational tracks available on campus through various hands-on activities as well as how to prepare for each respective career.
Student Academic Success Center (SASC) Pre-Health Community Scholars Program and Students Enriching Communities (STEM) Summer Program Dominic Martinez, Sophie Low, Jim Do and Olga Chesnokova $3,000
This program creates a partnership that forms a pipeline for first-generation, low-income, underrepresented students at CU-Boulder to gain access to the Anschutz Medical Campus. Through this program, students will complete the following:

  • bi-monthly Saturday academy to increase leadership skills, science experiment exposure, and improved mentor relationships.
  • Participation in the two-week Summer Intensive, thus exposing participants to health careers and providing them with leadership opportunities.
Molecular Technology Boot Camp: Building a molecular toolbox to enlighten and empower Leslie Palacios-Helgeson $3,000
This project supports an intensive molecular technologies boot camp targeted at 20-30 undergraduate students from underrepresented backgrounds.  Students will learn tangible, useful laboratory skills that will teach them the universal language of science.

Downtown Denver

Proposal Title Author(s) Amount Awarded
Summer Bridge Program Omar Montgomery and Donna Langston  $3,000
The Summer Bridge Program is a summer educational enrichment program aimed at preparing 25 admitted incoming freshmen for the rigors of higher education. Participants will attend two six-week college preparatory workshops for math and writing and will receive three core credits for a freshmen seminar course taught through the Ethnic Studies Department.
Including our housekeepers: Basic computers, written Spanish/English, Great World Cinema Andres Lema-Hincapie  $2,995
This project introduces CU Denver housekeepers to some of the cultural benefits offered at the university, including training on the basic use of computers and how to write in Spanish and English using free internet tools.
The Ivory Tower of Babel: Linguistic Diversity and the American University Philip Joseph  $3,000
The project will result in a 30-minute documentary on the place of foreign languages in American universities and the role that universities have played in the spread of global English.
Community College Urban Education Pipeline Initiative Jason Clark, Shelley Zion, Aswad Allen, TJ Cole, Rebecca Martinez and Jeannine Carter  $1,500
This event will expose approximately 200 community college students from underrepresented backgrounds to the fields of education and human development, and provide access and resources for those interested in obtaining a bachelor’s degree to apply and pursue that opportunity within SEHD or other CU Denver schools/colleges.
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