By Dr. Ge Chen

Spring 2013 is a busy but exciting semester for the programs in the portfolio of Academic Diversity Initiatives working toward achievement of the Pipeline Goal of the DDCE Strategic Plan. There are numerous end-of-year events to celebrate participants’ academic achievements and graduating seniors as they move on to college, graduate school and their first professional jobs.

208 Pre-College Academic Readiness Program (PCARP) and UT Outreach students from Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and the Rio Grande Valley have been admitted to UT Austin for the fall 2013. These students participated in the full campus experience at Longhorn Preview Day on Friday, February 22. They met with many faculty, staff and students to learn about different aspects of college life. They heard motivational speeches from Dr. Gregory J. Vincent, Vice President for Diversity and Community Engagement, and from Dr. Leonard Moore, Associate Vice President for Academic Diversity Initiatives and Civic Engagement. They had a residence hall tour, lunch in Jester, and visited with Longhorn Center for Academic Excellence (LCAE) staff to learn about the many programs offered though the center.

Staff at LCAE hope that all of these students will join the 2017 Longhorn graduating class and participate in LCAE programs in Fall 2013. LCAE is also working closely with Admissions and other academic success programs to invite other incoming freshmen. 600 selection letters went out in mid-March. As of today, over 250 students have confirmed their participation in the Gateway Scholars Program or Longhorn Link Program. In response to the 4-year graduation initiative, the Gateway Scholars Program is expanding to serve over 500 freshmen in the 2013-14 academic year.

As a part of the data gathering process in the diversity planning partnership between the College of Fine Arts and Campus Diversity and Strategic Initiatives (CDSI), the results of the Fine Arts Diversity Committee (FADC) climate assessment conducted in spring 2012 are now available online, in an executive summary and a full report. The survey, completed by 702 students, faculty and staff (26% of the college overall), asked about perceptions of diversity, climate, intergroup relations and discrimination within COFA and UT-Austin.

Overall, survey respondents indicated that the college promotes a welcoming and inclusive environment and that diversity is integrated to varying degrees in the curricular, performative, scholarly and social aspects of the college. Still, those taking the survey indicated a greater need for sensitivity and inclusion of diversity in the COFA experience and there was less satisfaction with particular aspects of the environment noted by those identifying with underrepresented groups within the college.

Some examples of the assessment’s findings include:

• 86% of survey respondents agreed that skills related to diversity are needed for the professional success of COFA graduates.
• Two-thirds of survey takers felt comfortable discussing diversity in the classroom or workplace.
• 60% of respondents said that the curriculum prepares students for careers that recognize the needs of diverse populations. People of color and those who identified as low-income, lesbian, gay, bisexual and queer were more likely than their peers to disagree.
• 61% of survey respondents felt that diversity is adequately reflected in COFA’s productions, performances, exhibitions and events.
• People of color, women and people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual and queer were more likely than their counterparts to say they had experienced or witnessed discrimination on campus.
• Respondents indicated that students, faculty and staff interacted most positively across three types of diversity — sexual orientation, national origin and disability — and slightly less positively across differences of socioeconomic status, religion, race/ethnicity and gender.

During the spring semester and beyond, the Fine Arts Diversity Committee will use the data collected in the climate assessment, along with data from other college and university surveys and upcoming focus groups and stakeholder interviews in the college, to set goals and objectives for COFA’s inaugural Diversity Plan.

The next step in the diversity planning process includes FADC holding focus groups in the college with faculty, staff, and students from February 18-28.  The committee is interested in creating a space for open dialogue where participants can share their perspectives and insight on diversity and equity in the college.

In fall 2012, the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement completed an update on progress toward implementing the inaugural strategic plan. The 2012-2013 progress report provides highlights of accomplishments from the first implementation year (2011-2012) and priorities for the second year (2012-2013). It is also available in the sidebar on the right of this page.

The Division also released an overview of the full strategic plan, which is now posted on The Plan page. A special thank you to Senior Graphic Designer for DDCE, Ron Bowdoin, and Digital Media Manager, Jason Molin, who make the strategic plan come to life on the page and on screen!

The University of Texas at Austin honored one organization and three individuals for outstanding public service and work on civil rights at the Sixth Annual Community Leadership Awards Ceremony at the Carver Museum and Cultural Center on December 6, 2012. The event was co-sponsored by the Office of the President and the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement. This year, University of Texas Regent Printice L. Gary joined President Bill Powers and Vice President Dr. Gregory J. Vincent presenting the awards. The Community Leadership Circle Award was recently renamed to honor Dr. James L. Hill, the first African American vice president of UT Austin and longtime educator who died September 2.

The honorees were:

• Special Recognition — Edwin R. Sharpe, clinical professor, Department of Educational Administration, The University of Texas at Austin; former UT System executive vice chancellor and former UT Austin vice president for administration
• Community Partnership Award — The Villager Newspaper, published by T. L. “Tommy” Wyatt, who was a founding member of the Capital City African American Chamber of Commerce and the Texas Publishers Association
• Dr. James L. Hill Community Leadership Circle Award — Nelson Linder, president of the Austin chapter of the NAACP since 2000 and founder of the Garvey/Allen/Washington Project
• Dr. June Brewer Legacy Award — The Honorable Wilhelmina Delco, former state representative who served for 10 terms and was the first female speaker pro tempore of the Texas Legislature

DDCE’s annual Community Leadership Awards presentations support the strategic plan’s Community Engagement objective to build a comprehensive community relations program. Thank you to all of our campus and community partners who make these events possible.

By Dr. Rose Martinez

It was not your typical high school visit, but that was precisely why DDCE’s Pre-College Hispanic Initiatives and the Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection joined forces. Together, the partners created a unique and memorable experience for 57 English Language Learners (ELL) from Austin’s Akins High School. “The catalyst was Dr. Cinthia Salinas, Associate Professor in the College of Education, who asked if a program could be designed to provide ELL students with a brief history of Latin America and the significance of Latinos in the region,” explained Dr. Rose Martinez, Executive Director for UT Outreach of South Texas and Pre-College Hispanic Initiatives.

Dr. Martinez welcomed the students to campus and Patrick Patterson, Executive Director for UT Outreach Austin, invited students to join the local pre-college awareness program. A panel of undergraduates shared personal accounts of their transition from high school to college and encouraged the students to consider applying to UT Austin. Afterward, students toured the campus including stops at DKR Memorial Stadium, the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library and Museum and the Nettie Lee Benson Latin Collection.

Ms. Margo Gutierrez, Librarian for U.S. and Latino Studies at the Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection, arranged for the students to receive a rare opportunity to glimpse history. She displayed a few artifacts from the 1500s and provided a mini-presentation on the impact of Latinos in the Americas.

Margo Gutierrez, Nettie Lee Benson Collection Librarian, offers comparisons of a current map and a map painted in the 1500s.

“UT Austin has one of the most outstanding collections of Latin American works and artifacts and who better to describe a few of these historical gems in the collection than Ms. Gutierrez,” Martinez explained.

Ms. Gutierrez provided examples of the types of books, music CDs, conference recordings, and rare collections available to the public. “On a large table, she placed a rare map and a letter from the 1500s for students to examine. The students were excited to learn that the museum has such a vast collection of materials,” shared Dr. Martinez. Dr. Salinas closed the program by challenging the students to take active steps now to prepare for a successful transition to college.

Akins High School students enjoy the view outside the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library and Museum.

The University of Texas at Austin celebrated three individuals, a family and two nonprofits for their commitment to education and service to the Hispanic community at an awards ceremony at the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center on October 3 in Austin. The ceremony is sponsored by the Office of the President and the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement.

Two active community leaders who support causes affecting human rights and the arts received the Community Leadership Circle Award: David Garza, owner of Garza Design & Construction; and Dr. John Hogg, physician and Austin Radiological Association partner. Jody Conradt, former head women’s basketball coach for UT Austin, received special recognition as a founder of the Neighborhood Longhorns Program (NLP), which celebrates its 20th anniversary as an educational incentive program for students in grades 2-8 at Title I schools in the Austin Independent School District (AISD).

Nonprofit Con Mi MADRE, which has helped Hispanic girls graduate and attend college since 1992, received a Community Partnership Award. A second nonprofit recipient was the Tejano Monument Inc., which recently unveiled a multistatue monument adjacent to the Texas Capitol that celebrates the contributions of the early Spanish and Mexican pioneers.

The family of Severiano (“S.A.”) and Viola Garza, both alumni of UT Austin and members of the Texas Exes Hispanic Alumni Network, received the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long Legacy Award for their long-time support and leadership to the university. Among the honored Garza Family members was Rudy Garza, who served as the Chairman and President of the Texas Exes in 2009-2010.

DDCE’s annual Community Leadership Awards presentations support the strategic plan’s Community Engagement objective to build a comprehensive community relations program. Thank you to all of our campus and community partners who make these events possible.

Led by founder and director Dr. Rick Cherwitz, professor of Communication, the Intellectual Entrepreneurship (IE) Pre-Graduate School Internships within DDCE connect undergraduate students with faculty and veteran graduate students in their field of study to explore unique aspects of graduate study that make it distinct from the undergraduate experience.

Several researchers analyzed and published the impact of the innovative internships in peer-reviewed journals over the past year, including:

Hartelius, E.J. (2012). Revisiting Vico’s pedagogy of invention: The Intellectual Entrepreneurship Pre-Graduate School Internship. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 98(2), 153-177.

Hartelius is an assistant professor at Northern Illinois University and a former UT Austin Pre-Graduate Internship director.  In her article, she captures IE’s unique approach to learning and pedagogy – one grounded in problem-solving and engagement.

Reddick, R.J., Griffin, K.A., Cherwitz, R.A., Cerda-Prazak, A.A., & Bunch, N. (2012). What you get when you give: How graduate students benefit from serving as mentors. Journal of Faculty Development, 26(1), 37-48.

In this research article, the authors utilized a social exchange framework to analyze the qualitative narratives of 81 graduate student mentors participating in the IE Pre-Graduate Internship.  Findings suggest that in addition to personal benefits, mentorship has four major professional benefits: a deeper perspective both on themselves and their academic discipline; the development of advising and mentoring skills; contributing to the diversity of their academic and professional field by assisting an emerging scholar from an underrepresented population; and knowledge that mentoring can assist both mentees and mentors in reaching their goals.

Expanding knowledge and sharing best practices are at the heart of the DDCE research strategic goal.  Both of the scholarly articles above demonstrate the groundbreaking ways in which IE positively impacts students, faculty, and the university!

The College of Fine Arts Diversity Committee recently announced the creation of a blog to chronicle the college’s diversity planning collaboration with Campus Diversity and Strategic Initiatives. The committee, which this fall welcomed the addition of undergraduate and graduate student members and a representative from Texas Performing Arts, continues its work collecting data and developing a strategic diversity plan to implement in the college. The partnership — the first of its kind on campus — is a pilot designed to create a process that diversity committees may use in the future at UT-Austin, a component of DDCE’s strategic plan that is designed to advance diversity initiatives on campus. Read more about the collaboration here and visit the Fine Arts Diversity Committee blog.

By Dr. Kiersten Ferguson and Dr. Victor B. Sáenz

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board recently awarded Project MALES  (Mentoring to Achieve Latino Educational Success) a $50,000 grant, which will provide support for the Project MALES Student Fellows Mentoring Program and will expand the number of fellows and extend mentoring to a second high school in the Austin Independent School District. In partnership with the X-Y Zone program of Communities in Schools, the mentoring program seeks to create a critical mass of young, engaged, and civic-minded Latino male students to positively affect their academic success and college readiness through mentoring bonds across multiple generations.

Led by Dr. Victor B. Sáenz, DDCE faculty fellow and assistant professor in the Department of Educational Administration, Project MALES is made up of two interrelated initiatives: a research project focused on exploring the complex experiences of Latino males in higher education; and, a pilot mentoring project that aims to cultivate an engaged support network for Latino males at UT-Austin and the Central Texas community.

For more information about Project MALES, please contact Dr. Victor B. Sáenz, at projectmales@gmail.com

By Dr. Rose Martinez

There was not a seat unfilled when UT Outreach San Antonio hosted a Gates Millennium Scholarship Information Session at Café College on Thursday, October 18. Sarah Rodriguez, a UT doctoral student and Gates Millennium scholarship recipient, provided a comprehensive session on the application process. Ms. Rodriguez included a writing activity to provide students with constructive critiques of their GMS application responses and an overview of how the scholarship had benefited her.

“The purpose of the GMS workshop was to provide high school seniors with a clear understanding of the application process and to share insightful tips that could increase the strength of their submission,” said Dr. Rose Martinez, Executive Director for UT Outreach of South Texas. “I have invited Sarah to share the information to our UT Outreach students for the last two years and she has always been accommodating. The Gates Millennium Scholarship is like a golden ticket given the unmatched financial support and professional development provided.”

UT Outreach Director, Lori Reyes arranged the event and was pleasantly surprised by overwhelming response from both students and parents. Café College, a city operated facility created specifically for the dissemination of information on preparing and enrolling in college, provided free accommodations for the event.

Students from many of the five UT Outreach high schools were present at the workshop including Edison High School and Sydney Lanier High School. Edison senior Mandy Fernandez explained, “The Gates Millennium Info Session was beneficial to me by giving me more insight as to how to get the reader’s attention for the essay portion of the application. I got a better idea of how to make myself sound unique. I was able to ask simple but important questions and I got a better idea of how the applicants are chosen.” Andrea Arispe, an 11th grade at Lanier, interjected, “I was amazed at some of the things it will cover, like a house or a car! I think I’m somewhat ready and prepared now to take on the challenge!”

Sarah Rodriguez has provided GMS Information sessions for the last two years at the invitation of Dr. Martinez and Ms. Reyes. When asked why she volunteers her time, she responds, “GMS instills a sense of responsibility among its scholars and reminds us to whom much is given, much is expected. GMS has invested extensive funding and resources in my future, and it is up to me to see that I pay it forward. I want to make a difference, even if just in the life of one student, I want to know that I have touched a life and encouraged their pathway to success.”

In order to be eligible to be considered for the GMS scholarship, a complete application must be submitted online by Wednesday, January 16, 2013 11:59 PM Eastern Standard Time (EST).To learn more about GMS, go to  http://gmsp.org/.