The New Mexico Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate:

Statistical Counterflow

David JohnsonDean of Graduate Studies

New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technologydjohnson@nmt.edu

27-Jan-06

Graduate School decision-makers include:

• Graduate school and Academic Deans, Provosts and other administrators

• STEM Departmental Chairs

• STEM Departmental Admissions and Selection Committees

• STEM Departmental Graduate Program Directors or Advisors

• STEM Faculty

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The New Mexico Alliance:

• New Mexico State University (NMSU; lead)

• University of New Mexico (UNM)

• New Mexico Tech (NMT)

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NMSU

UNM

NMT

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About New Mexico Tech:

• Located in Socorro, New Mexico at the center of an hispanic majority state

• Socorro is a small (~10,000 pop.) community with historical ties to mining.

• Nearest metropolitan center is Albuquerque @ ~75 miles

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• New Mexico Tech is small with ~2,000 students of which ~500 are graduate students.

• Institute of Engineering and Science – particularly noted for its doctoral programs in hydrology and astrophysics.

• Change at NMT has been “attenuated”

Departmental Admissions/Selection Committees – the Practice at New Mexico Tech

NMT is a small school with many fewer administrative layers.

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Admissions/Selection Committees

• Departments make admissions decisions employing a wide variety of approaches.

• How do we maximize consideration of qualified underrepresented minority applicants?

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• Meet with departments/committees – regularly

• Steering Committee as advocates for UM admission

• Financial Incentives – for the student and for the departmental participation in UM recruitment.

• Other incentives – Support letters for “Criterion 2”

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Practically, how can we get URM applications in front of faculty and departments?

… and how can departments be “encouraged” to give these applications serious consideration?

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The Graduate Office pre-screens UM applications

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Collect the data:

• Number of UM applications to each department

• UM Percentage admitted

• UM Percentage matriculated

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Distribute the (disaggregated) data:

• To the departments

• Cc the provost