As a member of the Big Ten’s Committee on Institutional Cooperation, Michigan State University will share an $8.1 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to prepare underrepresented students for graduate school and academic careers in the humanities and social sciences.
The 15 colleges and universities comprising the CIC will share the grant with the 14 colleges and universities that comprise the Associated Colleges of the Midwest. A seven-year initiative, the Undergraduate and Faculty Fellows Program for a Diverse Professoriate will provide funding for paid internships at research universities in the humanities, humanistic social sciences and the arts.
“One of the most remarkable features of American higher education since 1950 is its democratization,” said Mellon Foundation President Earl Lewis. “The number of colleges and universities has doubled, the number of first-time enrolled students has grown sevenfold and access has increased significantly. As we look to the future, it remains for the academy to develop a more diverse pool of talent that matches this continued democratization. This grant aids in that effort and it serves as a model for collaboration between the liberal arts college and research university sectors.”
The key components of the fellows program include:
- Undergraduate fellowships to support mentoring, career development and experiential research opportunities for 280 students from ACM colleges. These will include a paid summer research internship on a CIC campus. Students will work directly with a graduate professor in their field to give them first-hand experience with the benefits that could be achieved through graduate training.
- Faculty fellowships in tenure-track positions at ACM colleges for 30 new scholars with terminal master’s or doctoral degrees, preferably from CIC universities, whose backgrounds, life experiences and goals will enhance diversity on the ACM campuses. The program will offer mentoring and scholarly development support in the first two to four years of their faculty appointments.
- A series of annual ACM-CIC meetings and workshops focused on strengthening connections between the liberal arts colleges and research universities in the two consortia. These meetings will provide resources for colleges to create academic settings and hiring practices to support diverse and inclusive faculties.
“The fellows program will leverage the strengths of these two consortia, both individually and as partners in collaboration, to address the challenges of diversifying the professoriate,” said Barbara McFadden Allen, executive director of the CIC. “Together, we can connect undergraduate and graduate programs across research universities and liberal arts colleges. This allows us to foster a systemic approach to broadening access for new scholars, particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds, and preparing them for success as faculty.”
More information on how to apply for the program will be available this summer through the CIC and through CIC member university graduate colleges.