Roles and Responsibilities

PSU-SCSC Roles

PSU-SCSC Leadership Team - Coordinate & facilitate change that is aligned with Sloan expectations

• Tong Zhang, Assistant Dean for Inclusive Innovation, Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science

• Dara Shifrer, Associate Professor of Sociology and STEM equity researcher

• Mark Woods, Associate Dean of the Graduate School 

• Heejun Chang, Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Programs 

• Hannah Sean Ellefritz, Sociology doctoral student and PSU-SCSC Graduate Research Assistant

• Aaron Ho, Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science Grant Analyst

PSU-SCSC Faculty Program Leaders - Co-design SCSC change efforts & champion them in respective PhD program

• Applied Physics: Andrew Rice

• Chemistry: David Stuart

• Civil & Environmental Engineering: Peter Dusicka

• Computer Science: Shravas Rao

• Earth, Environment, & Society: Paola López-Duarte

• Electrical & Computer Engineering: David Burnett

• Engineering & Technology Management: Tim Anderson

• Mathematics + Statistics: Jeffrey Oval

• Mechanical Engineering: Chien Wern

PSU-SCSC Student Program Leaders - Co-design SCSC change efforts drawing on their lived experiences & those of their doctoral student peers

• Chemistry: Oluwaseyi (Seyi) Aderinboye

• Mechanical Engineering: Natalie Frank

PSU-SCSC Steering Committee - Guide change ideas that are tailored to PSU’s unique context

• PSU-SCSC Leadership Team

• PSU-SCSC Faculty Program Leaders

• PSU-SCSC Student Leaders 

• Rick Tankersley, Vice President of Research 

• Antonie Jetter, Associate Dean for Research

• Ame Lambert, Vice President of Global Diversity & Inclusion 

• Perla Pinedo, Director of Multicultural Student Success

• Araceli Cruz, Assistant Vice President of Global Diversity & Inclusion

• Karla Horgan Arevalo, Mentoring Academy Director

PSU-SCSC Faculty Affiliates - Participate in PSU-SCSC programming and contribute to systemic change within their program

• Any faculty member in a PSU-SCSC doctoral program

PSU-SCSC Student Affiliates - Participate in PSU-SCSC programming and contribute to systemic change within their program

• Any student in a PSU-SCSC doctoral program

PSU-SCSC Responsibilities

PSU-SCSC Leadership Team – biweekly as of January 2024 

• • • Confirm members and begin activities of the PSU-SCSC Steering Committee to include at least one faculty representative from each participating department, officers from the Global Diversity & Inclusion Office, directors from student support offices, a legal advisor from the Office of General Counsel, and graduate students

    • Create internal documentation of roles, responsibilities, and expectations for each member

    • Select a team of university representatives to participate in the Equity in Graduate Education Consortium

    • Develop PSU-SCSC programming for students and faculty

    • Offer monthly micro-convenings for PSU-SCSC “affiliate” faculty—seeking a roughly 50% participation rate from each PSU-SCSC department

      • Mentoring

      • Interdisciplinary collaboration

    • Provide targeted support for all PSU-SCSC faculty in integrating diverse perspectives/content into their curriculum, centering equity, and supporting student success

    • Ensure activities are consistent with Sloan expectations

    • Pursue additional funding

    • Develop and facilitate a robust self-study, leveraging guidance from Elrod et al.’s various resources

    •  Attendees

      • Expected of Leadership Team

PSU-SCSC Steering Committee Meetings – one per term as of spring 2024

• • • Map current recruitment practices

    • Co-design comprehensive outreach plan & legally sustainable selection criteria for future Sloan Scholars

      • Strengthen pathways from MSIs to PSU

      • Maximize PSU’s Dean’s lottery awards

    • Design a specific plan for Indigenous outreach/recruitment

    • Transition towards a centralized institutionalized model with a long-term staffing plan

    • Identify other funding opportunities for increased sustainability

    • Attendees

      • Open to PSU-SCSC Faculty Affiliates

      • Expected of Leadership Team & Program Leaders

PSU-SCSC Faculty & Student Program Leaders - one per month as of summer 2024

• • • Strengthen pathways from MSIs to PSU, including coordinating visits to at least 2 institutions over the course of the grant

      • PSU Grad School will be offering faculty travel funds to speak at feeder institutions

    • Value/purpose of mission statements that include DEI goals

    • Map current admission practices

    • Develop a centralized template for holistic admission review with PSU-SCSC departments:

      • Consistent deadlines

      • Integrate identity-neutral questions that assess students’ ability to contribute to the university’s DEI mission and their academic potential outside of test scores, research experience, etc.

    • Map current advising/mentoring practices

    • Develop a mentoring best practices document for each department to tailor and post on their website (as suggested in Sloan conference programming)

    • Attendees

      • Open to PSU-SCSC Faculty Affiliates

      • Expected of Leadership Team & Program Leaders

PSU-SCSC Student Affiliate Workshops - monthly one-hour meetings as of January 2025

• Create and pilot cohort-based programming and professional development through workshops, seminars, trainings

  • • Financial literacy / managing money

    • Opportunities for career exploration in / outside of academe

    • Mental health and well-being

    • Community belonging and peer mentoring

    • Academic support

• Attendees

  • • Open to any graduate or undergraduate student in one of the ten PSU-SCSC departments

    • Open to PSU-SCSC Faculty Affiliates

    • Expected of Leadership Team & Program Leaders

PSU-SCSC Student & Faculty Affiliate Seminars - one per term as of fall 2024 

• Develop skills in interdisciplinary collaboration through research presentations and group feedback

• Expose students to diverse mentoring / advising

• Increase community belonging

• Attendees

  • • Open to PSU-SCSC Student & Faculty Affiliates

    • Expected of Leadership Team & Program Leaders