NC State is committed to creating and improving efforts to make our campus a diverse and inclusive community. To support these efforts, the Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity has awarded eleven University Diversity Mini-Grants to faculty and staff for projects related to diversity, inclusion or research that furthers the academic mission of the university.

The Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity annually solicits proposals from faculty and staff for programs. The initiative emphasizes the importance of university-wide efforts and endorsement of NC State as a place to learn, work and grow. Projects this year include initiatives focusing on pre-college outreach, undergraduate recruitment, graduate recruitment, student and faculty retention in STEM, faculty and graduate research, faculty and staff cultural diversity training, further developing oral history archives and student leadership development.

The Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity (OIED) is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2016-17 University Diversity Mini-Grant Program:

Social Justice Leadership Retreat
Principal investigator(s): Brian Mathis and Rebekah Dunstan

College Students Accounts of Microaggressions in their Daily Lives
Principal investigator(s): Maxine Seaborn Thompson and Casey Strange

Wolf Tales: Capturing Voices of Diversity at NC State
Principal investigator(s): Virginia Ferris and Todd Kosmerick

Native Education Forum
Principal investigator(s): Justin Richardson and Ronnie Chalmers

Fostering Recruitment of Underrepresented Students with Fossils
Principal investigator(s): Terry A. Gates and Jamila Simpson

Ni Hao Wolfpack: Chinese Cultural Campus Training
Principal investigator(s): Anna Dunaway and Lauren Bell

African American Family Science and Engineering Day
Principal investigator(s): Frank Hunte

Proposition Envision
Principal investigator(s): Carolyn Veale and Genia Skute

A Department-Wide Mentoring Initiative to Encourage Underrepresented Minority Student Success in Statistics
Principal investigator(s): Emily H. Griffith and Herle Gowen

Women in Science Speaker Series
Principal investigator(s): Jelena Vukomanovic

Training for Underrepresented Students Interested in Veterinary Specialty Programs
Principal investigator(s): Brittany Southern

Each year, the program seeks to engage a broader spectrum of faculty and staff. Proposals for projects or research that achieve one or more of the following target areas are encouraged:

• enhance the quality of teaching and learning about diversity;
• enrich the diversity experiences of all students;
• create a welcoming and inclusive work and learning environment where differences are respected and valued, that offers opportunities for and supports the success of all students, staff and faculty;
• improve recruitment, retention and graduation of students from historically underrepresented groups; and
• increase recruitment, retention and success of faculty from historically underrepresented groups.

The University Diversity Mini-Grant Program was established fifteen years ago. Proposals may request a maximum of $3,000 to build a new initiative or enhance a current initiative. Previously funded proposals may reapply; however, a project or initiative can be funded for a maximum of two years. The Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity awards $25,000 or more each year to a broad range of projects. A 10-12 person panel of faculty, staff and students reviews the proposals and makes funding recommendations. This year’s process included 41 proposal submissions, a 52% increase from 2015-16, which yielded 27 proposals.

The work of the University Diversity Mini-Grant program does not typically conclude at the end of the grant cycle. Several previously funded proposals have continued beyond the granting period to become ongoing programs and initiatives. A snapshot of some of those efforts include:

• The College Bound Program, funded in 2011-2013 under the leadership of Principal Investigator Kimberly Bush.

• Diversity and Inclusion AdVenture Experience (DIVE), funded in 2012-13 under the leadership of Principal Investigators David Crye and Ashley Gray
  

• University-Wide Language Diversity Initiative, funded in 2013-14 under the leadership of Principal investigator(s): Stephany Brett Dunstan, Walt Wolfram, Audrey Jaeger & Danica Cullinan
  

• Recruiting Higher Education’s New Generation of Diverse Scholar Leaders funded in 2014-15 under the leadership of Principal investigator(s): Dr. Tiffany J. Davis and Joy Gaston Gayles. This program in now in its third year.

• Conscious/Unconscious Bias Awareness (CUBA): Improving Admission Review, Retention and Completion, funded in 2014-15 under the leadership of Principal Investigator: Joe Johnson.

See University Diversity Mini-Grant Program for complete details and past recipients.

Dr. Tracey Ray is assistant vice provost for student diversity in the Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity.