OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE VICE CHANCELLOR - ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
January 12, 2021
ALL ACADEMICS AT UC SAN DIEGO
2021 Request for Proposals for the UC-HBCU Initiative
The UC Office of the President has announced the 2020-21 Request for Proposals for the UC-HBCU Initiative. This is a system-wide initiative designed to assist UC faculty interested in developing and encouraging efforts to achieve a more inclusive educational environment of excellence. The goal of the UC-HBCU Initiative is to increase the number of scholars from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) enrolling in UC academic doctoral programs. UC faculty grants are available to support HBCU students conducting summer research with faculty at UC San Diego. Funds are also available to support departmental efforts that facilitate increased applications from HBCU scholars to UC graduate programs.
The Initiative is credited with creating wider engagement and awareness at HBCU partner institutions of opportunities for graduate study at UC, and has attracted additional applicants who have not participated in the program. Since the Initiative’s first summer of 2012, 640 HBCU students (at various stages in their academic career- from sophomore to master’s-level students) have participated in summer research internships at 9 UC campuses. Two hundred and eight UC-HBCU students have applied to UC graduate programs thus far and 113 have been admitted (13 to master’s programs). There are currently 70 PhD students and two master’s students enrolled across eight UC campuses, 12 of the current matriculants are enrolled at UC San Diego. Of those 12, 10 participated in UC San Diego’s HBCU summer research programs. Currently UC San Diego has three active HBCU grants: Dr. James Nieh (awarded in 2017), Dr. Claire Adida and Dr. David Lake (awarded in 2019), and Dr. Conor Caffrey (awarded in 2019).
We encourage you to write a proposal for this important initiative. Please know that the Graduate Division stands ready to support you in proposal preparation, and in providing an infrastructure for a summer program. Proposals must be submitted to the UC Office of the President via the proposalCENTRAL system by Monday, March 15, 2021 at 12:00 Noon PT and awards will be announced in July 2021. Details regarding the call for proposals and a helpful PowerPoint tutorial for faculty interested in applying can be found on the UC-HBCU website.
In addition to the Internship and Pathways grants, new for this year are grant awards up to $50,000 to be used for research projects designed to improve inclusion and the experience of UC-HBCU students generally, and Black students in particular, enrolled in UC PhD programs. Research may focus on a myriad of topics related to this goal, including but not limited to: program/department climate; faculty behaviors, accountability and incentives; inequities in program trends, including faculty/researcher behavioral influences and student outcomes; and understanding and improving effective mentoring of Black students and other students of color. Research may focus on students within particular UC programs, departments, schools, colleges and/or campus(es).
The initiative is in direct support of Appointment and Promotion review and appraisal criteria as established in the Academic Personnel Manual: APM 210.
This effort also supports the Diversity Statement, adopted as policy by the UC Regents in 2007. If you have further questions, do not hesitate to contact Dean of the Graduate Division James Antony at graduatedean@ucsd.edu, or Assistant Dean April Bjornsen at abjornsen@ucsd.edu.
Elizabeth H. Simmons Executive Vice Chancellor – Academic Affairs
Becky R. Petitt Vice Chancellor – Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
Sandra A. Brown Vice Chancellor – Research Affairs
James Antony Dean – Graduate Division
University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92093