Effective dates of Plan: 09/22/2022 - 09/22/2024
Contact: Ellen Bass, Interim Sr. Assoc. Dean for Research and Professor (ellen.j.bass@drexel.edu)
Marie Fazio, Asst. Dean for Operations & Faculty Affairs; Diversity Officer (fazio@drexel.edu)
1. Context
Drexel University is a private university of 15 colleges and schools and an enrollment of 23,000+ students (14,300+ undergraduates and 8,800+ graduate/professional) with close to 4,600 online. In 2019, Drexel was awarded the R1 Doctoral University designation. The College of Computing & Informatics (CCI) is in University City in Philadelphia. CCI offers six undergraduate minors and degrees in: computer science (CS), computing & security technology (CST), data science (DS), economics and data science (EDS), information systems (IS), and software engineering (SE). CCI offers masters (MS) programs in 11 areas and PhD programs in CS and in IS. The Fall 2022 eligible student demographics are:
- 1663 undergraduates in CCI majors (19.5% women, 5.0% Black, 4.1% Hispanic)
- 723 MS students in CCI majors (CS majors: 24.7% women, 4.2% Black, 2.9% Hispanic; IS majors: 66.8% women, 12.9% Black, 6.3% Hispanic)
- 84 PhD students (CS: 20.4% women; IS: 65.0% women; Black and Hispanic percentages not reported due to small numbers)
2. Goals
Three goals are designed to increase enrollments of PhD students from historically underrepresented groups in computing (HUGs, students who identify as women, Black, and/or Hispanic) in CCI by 2024. They are listed with the Activities and Measurement.
3. Activities and Measurement
G1: Measure and increase by at least 5% CS and IS PhD assistantships for students from HUGs
A1-1: Enhance collaborations with Drexel's Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LS-AMP) Director to incorporate lessons learned from the Bridge to the Doctorate program (D. Breen, Associate Department Head of Graduate Affairs, Computer Science)
A1-2: Identify other government, industry and other funding opportunities including training grants and minority supplements that are available for students from HUGs (E. Bass, Interim Senior Associate Dean for Research)
A1-3: CCI faculty and staff will identify other forms of support (e.g., travel grants) for students from HUGs; they will distribute a list of these support opportunities to students; and they will support students in applying for them. (E. Bass, Interim Senior Associate Dean for Research)
M1: Number of students from HUGs funded through each activity
G2: Measure and increase by at least 10% CS and IS PhD applications from applicants from HUGs
A2-1: Targeted program to partner with HSIs and HBCUs (including Lincoln University, Delaware State University, and Cheyney University of Pennsylvania) to discuss opportunities for and the advantages of conducting cutting-edge research at CCI and the benefits of earning a PhD (D. Breen, Associate Department Head of Graduate Affairs, Computer Science)
A2-2: Identify undergraduate students from HUGs and invite them to CCI for paid summer camps/research internships (A. Shokoufandeh, Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Operations)
M2-1: Number of started PhD applications from applicants from HUGs
M2-2: Number of completed PhD applications from applicants from HUGs
M2-3: Number of predoctoral students from HUGs mentored
G3: Increase by at least 5% the CS and IS PhD enrollment of students from HUGs
A3-1: Provide mentoring and opportunity visibility to applicants through pairing applicant with faculty throughout the application and enrollment process and paid summer one-week visiting program for students from HUGs (D. Breen, Associate Department Head of Graduate Affairs, Computer Science)
A3-2: Characterize PhD climate (use tools including climate surveys that disaggregate by race, gender, and ethnicity) (A. Forte, Department Head, Information Science)
A3-3: Enhance and market community building/support system for PhD students with organizations including the Drexel Black Graduate Student Union, Drexel Graduate Women in Science and Engineering, National Society of Black Engineers, Queer People of Color, Society of Women Engineers, and the Women in Computing Society. (B. Schneider, PhD Program Manager)
M3-1: Number of PhD offers to students from HUGs
M3-2: Number of PhD acceptances from students from HUGs
M3-3: PhD ratings in climate survey
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