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UC San Diego Announces Steady Progress in Addressing Diversity Issues

By Judy Piercey | Oct. 4, 2010

The University of California, San Diego has made steady progress in instituting programs and policies that will enhance campus climate and welcome a diverse community. The Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program for Academic Diversity and an undergraduate scholarship fund for African American students are among recent efforts that focus on the need for more support for women and minority students. To review the progress that UC San Diego has made in addressing the diversity and climate initiatives detailed in the commitment from March 4, please visit http://campusclimate.ucsd.edu.

“It is essential that our UC San Diego community work cooperatively to remove barriers to academic success for underrepresented students and to ensure a positive and welcoming campus climate for all,” said Chancellor Marye Anne Fox. “We are committed to continuing and advancing all of our ongoing diversity-related efforts across campus, including our campus celebrations of diverse cultures.”

The Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program for Academic Diversity offers postdoctoral research fellowships and faculty mentoring to qualified scholars in all fields whose research, teaching and service will shape and expand the campus diversity initiatives at UC San Diego.  Administered by the University of California, 15 to 20 postdoctoral fellowships will be awarded annually to postdoctoral fellows throughout the UC system. At UC San Diego postdoctoral fellowships in the 2010-11 academic year include a position in minority health and health disparities, as well as the Dr. Percy Russell Fellowship, awarded annually to a graduate student engaged in biological research and displaying an exemplary record of service to underrepresented groups.

The Black Alumni Scholarship Fund (BASF) raised $41,000 in the fiscal year ending June 2010, for an endowment administered by The San Diego Foundation. The new funds, received as gifts from The James Irvine Foundation, the Dr. Floyd Gaffney Fund and the San Diego Alpha Pi Boulé Foundation have been added to the endowment total. Proceeds from the endowment are distributed annually to African American students at UC San Diego.

For the 2010-11 academic year, BASF awarded $40,500 to a total of 25 students. Fifteen of the scholarships were new and 10 were renewals. Retired UC San Diego faculty and staff, as well as UC San Diego alumni, comprise the BASF committee, which raises money each year for the fund. There are two scholarship funds in the BASF endowment, one for students studying the arts and humanities and one for students studying engineering, mathematics and science.

“A very important part of what we do as a university is to increase the opportunities to support a diverse student body,” said Dr. Sandra P. Daley, UC San Diego’s associate chancellor and chief diversity officer, and professor of pediatrics. “It is equally important to have a diverse community of individuals supporting the students on our campus,” she said. “It is our job to find these new and emerging philanthropic groups and provide vital information to them so that they can make good decisions about where they give their support.”


Recent diversity-related actions taken by UC San Diego include:

  • Twenty students from Compton High School participated in a hands-on, three-week summer course at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego. The program, “Focus on the Future: The Compton– UC San Diego Connection,” was a specially designed set of activities at Scripps for the students, presented through UCSD Extension’s Academic Connections Program. Click here to learn more.
  • Revelle student Victor Brown shared his story
    during a recent event on campus.
  • The campus has authorized 33 new faculty searches for the 2010-11 academic year. Twelve of these searches (36 percent) are specifically identified to contribute to diversity, equity and climate of inclusion at UC San Diego – a number above and beyond the six unfilled faculty positions that UC San Diego originally agreed to reactivate to advance diversity. Funding for the new faculty positions is from the Academic Affairs division operating budget. Click here to learn more.
  • As part of its ongoing focus to enhance diversity systemwide, the University of California has asked that each of its 10 campuses establish advisory councils on climate, culture and inclusion. The UC San Diego Council on Climate, Equity and Inclusion will be advisory to the Chancellor and will comprise individuals with substantive expertise in diversity from represented constituencies including faculty, students, alumni, staff and administrators and community members.  Click here to learn more.
  • UC San Diego is celebrating California Native Americans with 10 diverse activities over three months. The series of events is part of the university’s ongoing commitment to honor and recognize the heritage, culture and traditions of our Native American tribes, to educate the campus and community about California’s rich and dynamic history and culture, and to promote and enhance the relationship between local tribal communities and UC San Diego students, staff and faculty. Click here to learn more.

As classes get underway, UC San Diego reports that a record number of underrepresented new students will attend the university this year, up a significant 23 percent for both freshmen and transfer students, compared to last year. For further information about current diversity actions at UC San Diego, please go to http://campusclimate.ucsd.edu.

 

 

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