Initiatives
Ongoing Initiatives
Admissions
Admissions Task Force is beginning to think about suggestions for a “Diversity Statement” on the application, and whether or not this would help or hurt applicants from different backgrounds.
Department Climate
Climate Survey is almost ready to send out a grad student/postdoc focused department climate survey.
Pronunciation Guide: working on adding pronunciation guides next to names on the Steward Observatory directory.
Allyship Program is accepting allies on a rolling basis. If you have any questions about the program or the application process, please direct questions to astro_allies [at] list.arizona.edu.
Ongoing events are organized to celebrate the diversity that Steward scholars.
Mentoring
Working on two surveys, one for grads and one for postdocs, aimed at evaluating the mentoring practices that go on within Steward. They worked with faculty liaisons to come up with informative questions on the APC survey
Recruiting & Retention
Joining forces with the Admissions task force to help plan the prospective visit and complete other relevant tasks.
Completed Initiatives
Admissions
Prospective Student Checklist: Students applying for graduate school at Steward Observatory can now access an application checklist for easy organization. Checklist can be found here.
Updating the Personal Statement: The admissions task force updated the wording of the personal statement as it is presented in the application.
Department Climate
CAPS Resources: In conjuction with Diversity Journal Club, Counseling & Psych Services (CAPS) gave a presentation on general CAPS resources and mental health in grad school. The slides can be found here: https://www.as.arizona.edu/diversity_coffee/slides/CAPSAstronomy2.pdf
Allyship Program aims to help new international scholars transition to life in the United States.
Mentoring
Created a website where they can share all of the mentoring resources they have collected thus far: https://sodei-mentoring-practices.github.io/MentoringPractices/
Recruiting & Retention
Undergraduate Clubs/Programs Videos: Many clubs and programs exist at the department and university-wide level that are meant to help students prepare for their futures beyond a Bachelor's degree(s), connect with students as part of support network, overcome academic obstacles, etc. Yet, many of these clubs/programs are unknown or under-utilized. As part of its commitment to boost retention, the R&R Task Force created a series of short, informative videos highlighting each of these clubs/programs. They were stitched together and presented to undergraduate Astronomy and Physics classes.
Undergraduate Social Event:
Presence at Conferences Serving Scientists from Underrepresented Backgrounds: As part of its goal to increase recruitment of students from diverse backgrounds, members of the R&R Task Force attended SACNAS 2020 and CUWiP 2020