NORTH CAROLINA ALLIANCE TO CREATE OPPORTUNITY THROUGH EDUCATION

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NORTH CAROLINA ALLIANCE TO CREATE OPPORTUNITY
THROUGH EDUCATION (NC OPT-ED) AGEP Brief to
AGEP National Conference March 19,
2009 Kenneth H. Murray, Ph.D. Associate Vice
Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Principal
Investigator, AGEP North Carolina AT State
University
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• SNAPSHOTS OF EXCELLENCE HIGHLIGHTS
• History and Goals
• Best Practices and Lessons Learned
• Infrastructure Changes
• Alliance Success

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NC OPT-ED AGEP PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS North
Carolina Agricultural and Technical State
University Kenneth H. Murray, Ph.D., P.E.
Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
and AGEP Principal Investigator North Carolina
State University David M. Shafer,
Ph.D. Assistant Dean for Outreach Diversity,
Graduate School and AGEP Principal Investigator
University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill Valerie S. Ashby, Ph.D. Gordon and Bowman
Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and AGEP
Principal Investigator

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• HISTORY OF THE NC OPT-ED AGEP PROGRAM
• 1999 Alliances for Graduate Education and the
  Professoriate (AGEP) grant then called Minority
  Graduate Education (MGE) Program
• North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State
  University (NC AT) and North Carolina State
  University (NCSU) - joint AGEP
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  (UNC-CH) - independent AGEP
• 2000 NCSU, UNC-CH and NC AT began a formal
  alliance, and later that year decided to
  integrate this university alliance with all other
  NSF-HRD supported programs in North Carolina
  called the North Carolina Alliance to Create
  Opportunity Through Education (OPT-ED)
• 2001 OPT-ED received an AGEP supplement to
  begin implementing a number of joint programs and
  to hire an Alliance coordinator
• 2005 NC AT, NCSU and UNC-CH received AGEP
  Phase II funding to expand and continue NC OPT-ED
• Since 2005 Added industry partners and
  provided support for new HBCU-UP programs

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• GOALS
• To substantially enhance efforts in North
  Carolina to increase the number of
  underrepresented minority (URM) students
  receiving PhD degrees and ultimately entering the
  professoriate in science, technology, engineering
  and mathematics (STEM) disciplines.
• To integrate the resources of existing programs
  and build a broader alliance to serve minority
  students.
• To build strategies for identifying and
  supporting underrepresented minority students who
  want to pursue academic careers in the STEM
  disciplines.
• To facilitate change in the culture of our
  institutions and to ensure a continued norm of
  inclusiveness and movement towards the above
  goals well after the end of the Alliance for
  Graduate Education and Professoriate (AGEP)
  support.
• To seek NSF/NIH, state and industry funded
  expansion opportunities into the partnership
  programs.

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• AGEP-FUNDED PROGRAMS AT
• NC STATE, UNC-CH, NC AT FOR OPT-ED STUDENTS
• Visitation Programs
• Academic Year and Summer Research Experiences
• Joint Summer Research Program Symposium at NC
  State
• 21 Programs 202 posters 55 institutions 21
  states and Puerto Rico
• Bridging and Transition Programs
• Research Support for Current MS Ph.D.
  Students
• Research Materials/Supplies Grants
• Assistantships
• Supplemental Fellowships
• Professional Development Workshops
• Travel Funds for Undergraduates and Graduate
  Students
• Future Faculty Recruitment Program

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• SUMMARY OF MAJOR NC OPT-ED (AGEP) ACTIVITIES
• Graduate Student Cross Talks
• Mentoring Workshop for Current and Future
  Faculty
• Summer Research Programs (Nationally)
• Steering Committee Meetings (Alliance-Wide)
• NC OPT-ED Alliance Day (National Conference)
• Professional Development Workshops
• Data Collection and Evaluation

Best practices
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• GRADUATE STUDENT CROSSTALKS
• Crosstalks are held 3 times a year alternating
  locations between each of the three AGEP (NC AT,
  NCSU, UNC-CH) institutions. The purpose of the
  graduate student crosstalks is to provide
  opportunities for underrepresented minority (URM)
  graduate students from across the NC OPT-ED
  Alliance to come together for informal
  conversations in the form of discussion groups,
  networking, programmatic activities and
  socialization. 
• Held on Friday evenings from 6 to 800pm. Often
  social activities are conducted afterwards led by
  the host institutions graduate students.
• Students select the topic for the next meeting

• Crosstalk Goals
• Enhance Graduate Student Retention
• Promote Advancement to the Ph.D. and
  professoriate
• Encourage peer mentoring networking
• Diversify the STEM workforce

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North Carolina State University, September 5,
2008 Topic Researchers Connect with Computing
Resources on the Open Science Grid Speaker
Stephanie McLean, Director of Education and
Outreach, Renaissance Computing Institute
(RENCI). Institutions represented NC AT, NCCU,
NCSU and UNC-CH
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University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,
November 14, 2008 Topic Managing the Stresses
of Graduate School to Ensure Success.
Speakers Dr. Peggy Dilworth-Anderson,
Professor/Director, Health Policy Management,
UNC-CH and Dr. Joanne Marshall, Distinguished
Professor, School of Information Library
Science, UNC-CH, also Yoga Instructor. Institution
s represented NC AT, NCCU, NCSU, UNC-CH
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North Carolina AT State University, January 30,
2009 Topic What next? Life after the Ph.D.
Speaker Russ Read, Executive Director,
National Center for the Biotechnology Workforce
Institutions represented NC AT, NCSU, UNC-CH,
UNC-G
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• MENTORING WORKSHOP FOR CURRENT AND FUTURE FACULTY
• NC OPT-ED annually sponsors faculty dialogues on
  mentoring
• Uses small group discussion and individual
  interaction
• Raises comfort and knowledge levels while
  presenting best practices
• Allows some one-on-one discussions
• Workshop brings together current and future
  faculty to share positive and negative
  experiences in mentoring
• Discusses institutionalization of best mentoring
  practices

• Mentoring Workshop Goals
• Expand and nurture mentoring skills
• Enhance graduate student retention
• Identify ways and means to institutionalize
  mentoring best practices
• Diversify the STEM workforce

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"Mentoring Diversity - Gateway to
Empowerment March 31, 2008 Breakout Sessions
Faculty breakout session and Graduate
Student/Post-Doc breakout session
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Mentoring Diversity - Gateway to
Empowerment March 31, 2008 Panel discussion
provided by 9 PAESMEM award recipients (From R
to L above) Martha Absher, Duke University Dr.
Winser E. Alexander, NC State University Dr.
Vallie Guthrie, NC AT State University Dr. Tony
L. Mitchell, NC State University Dr. Christine
Grant, NC State University Dr. Steven F.
Watkins, Louisiana State University Dr. Tanya
Furman, Penn State University Dr. Jonathan F.K.
Earle, University of Florida Dr. Ricardo B.
Jacquez, New Mexico State University
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• NC OPT-ED ALLIANCE DAY
• (National Conference)
• North Carolina LS-AMP co-sponsored
• Professional Development Informative Workshops
  By education level
• Student (Poster and Oral) Research Presentations
  High School through Graduate School
• Recruitment Fair
• Formal Network and Partnerships

• Alliance Day Goals
• Promote higher education in STEM fields
• Networking
• Develop solid presentation skills
• Learn about educational opportunities from
  recruiters
• Mentoring (peer and faculty)
• Test evaluation techniques with students at
  different levels

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NC OPT-ED ALLIANCE DAY CONFERENCE September 26,
2008 1005 Attendees Graduate, Undergraduate,
Community College, High School Middle School
Students from 10 different states 143 Total
Institutions 34 Undergraduate and Graduate
Recruiters
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(No Transcript)
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• NC OPT-ED AGEP INFRASTRUCTURE CHANGES SUPPORT
• On August 1, 2008, NCSU opened a new Office of
  Postdoctoral Affairs (OPA) to serve as a
  clearinghouse for information related to
  postdoctoral employment as well as to provide
  programs, resources and support to postdocs.
• Letters of Support were provided to the following
  grant proposals
• Winston Salem State University HBCU-UP Program
  Raising Achievement in Mathematics Science
• NC Mathematics and Sciences Education Network
  (Pre-College Program) Transformative Exposure
  to Classes that Heighten Interests in Technology
  
• Active partnership exists between NC OPT-ED
  Alliance, Atlantic Coast SBE Alliance, NIH
  Initiative for Maximizing Student Diversity
  (IMSD) Program as well as industries within North
  Carolina and professional organizations.

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PATHWAY TO THE PROFESSORIATE

• Prepare Future Faculty
• AGEP Institutional Programs
• CREST
• Alliance Day
• Crosstalks
• Seminars/Workshops
• Mentoring Workshop
• Future Faculty Recruitment Program

• Retention
• AGEP Institutional Programs
• CREST
• Alliance Day
• Mentoring Workshop
• Crosstalks
• Assistantships
• Supplemental Fellowships
• Professional Development

• Transition
• AGEP Institutional Programs
• Alliance Day
• Bridging Programs
• Seminars/Workshops

• Pre-College
• MSEN
• Alliance Day
• UG Research Symposium

• Grad School Prep
• LSAMP/HBCU-UP/AGEP
• Alliance Day
• Travel Funds
• Seminars/Workshops
• Research Experiences
• Visitations

Industry Partnership Burroughs Wellcome
Fund(BWF) Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute
(PARI) NC Biotechnology Center
(NCBC) Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI)
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PATHWAY TO THE PROFESSORIATE An example of SUCCESS
Gregory D. Goins, Ph.D. B.S. in Biology,
1988 University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill M.S. in Ecophsiology, 1991 North Carolina
State University Ph.D. in Ecophysiology,
1993 North Carolina State University USDA
Postdoctoral Research Associate,
1994-1995 University of Minnesota Associate
Professor of Environmental Biology PI, BLEND
Undergraduate Biomathematics InitiativeNorth
Carolina AT State University
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PATHWAY TO THE PROFESSORIATE An example of SUCCESS
Carin Ann Lightner SPGRE, summer 1998 University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill B.S. in
Mathematics, 1999 North Carolina Central
University M.O.R.(Masters of Operations
Research) - Mathematics, 2002 North Carolina
State University Ph.D. in Operations Research
Industrial Engineering, 2008 North Carolina State
University Adjunct Assistant Professor Department
of Economics Finance North Carolina AT State
University
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PATHWAY TO THE PROFESSORIATE On the way
Wanida Lewis B.S. in Chemistry, 2005 St.
Augustines College M.S. in Chemistry,
2008 North Carolina Central University Doctoral
Program, currently Food Science North Carolina
State University
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NC OPT-ED Partners from AGEP, NC LSAMP, HBCU-UP,
CREST and NC MSEN Programs
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• FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT
• Mr. Larry Campbell, Colonel, U.S. Army (Retired)
• NC OPT-EDProgram Manager and Alliance
  CoordinatorUniversity of North Carolina at
  Chapel HillDepartment of Chemistry
• Kenan Labs Suite A207
• Campus Box 3290Chapel Hill, NC
  27599-3290email lecamp_at_email.unc.eduPhone
  919.843.6903Fax [phone]

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http//www.unc.edu/opt-ed/