2012 Diversity Grant Recipients Announced

University of Cincinnati Chief Diversity Officer Mitchel D. Livingston, in conjunction with the President’s Diversity Council, has awarded six competitive grants totaling $45,000 to promote the recruitment and retention of a diverse student and employee population.

“Proposals submitted covered a wide range of ideas which made a challenging review process for the selection team,” said Livingston.

The funded initiatives were selected from 20 proposals submitted in this, the fourth year of the grant program, in response to an invitation from the President’s Diversity Council. Applicants were strongly encouraged to find matching funds to extend the impact of the grants.

The following six awards have been granted for the 2012 diversity incentive proposals.

College of Education, Criminal Justice & Human Services
Gen 1House
Award Amount: $8000
Matching Funds: $9000
The Partner for Achieving School Success program at the College of Education, Criminal Justice & Human Services will expand its Gen-1 Theme House to provide services for up to 36 new freshmen residents and up to 15 sophomores and approximately 30 juniors and seniors who are continuing in the expanded Gen-1 program. Participants are first-generation students who are Pell-eligible. This unique program and its staff have been cited in local, regional, and national media for successful efforts to alleviate barriers for underrepresented students at a public, research-extensive university.

College of Law
Bridge Program
Award Amount: $3400
Matching Funds: $3,205
The College of law will create a pilot “bridge” program for entering law students from diverse backgrounds to master the foundational skills required for the successful study and practice of law. The program represents a collaboration between the McMicken College departments of English and Philosophy, and the College of Law. The six-day program is designed to increase student competencies in critical thinking and analysis as well as composition and drafting.  

Administration & Finance Division/Human Resources
Diversity Benefits Series
Award Amount: $6600
Matching Funds: $6598
The award will support a series of online training courses to provide management tools for faculty and administrators who are responsible for understanding diversity issues. The Diversity Benefits to All Employees series demonstrates how a diverse population can positively impact the university. The series covers topics ranging from respect for cultural traditions to managing a multigenerational workforce to LGBT issues in the workplace.

College of Business
Today’s Learners, Tomorrow’s Leaders (TL2)
Award Amount: $9000
Matching Funds: $32,530
The TL2 program is a summer program bringing a diverse selection of high school students to campus for foundation study in economics and the opportunity to earn standing credit. The coursework includes field experience to introduce these students to the UC environment and the Cincinnati economy.

McMicken College of Arts & Sciences
Putting Retention 1st in the Zest for Excellence (PR1ZE)
Award Amount: $9000
Matching Funds: $12,495
PR1ZE will expand its program to an additional 30 students and bolster academic engagement through undergraduate research. The PR1ZE mentoring program was designed in 2008 to help increase the retention and graduation rate of African-American students in the College of Arts and Sciences. With funding from the Diversity Council, the program expanded in 2010 to include all African-American Students campus-wide.

College of Allied Health Sciences
Diversity Enhancement
Award Amount: $9000
Matching Funds: $9000
The Diversity Enhancement program includes a mentoring component in which college alumni are matched with current students and a dual enrollment component to enroll Hughes High School students from the health pathway sequence in college classes.