Goal 3: Objective 3.4 | Penn State College of Health and Human Development

Goal 3: Expand, Diversify, and Support Our Community

Objective 3.4: Prepare more students from diverse backgrounds to become the next generation of professional leaders and scholars in health and human development.

Action Item 3.4.1

Implement a holistic review process that better recognizes the potential of all prospective HHD applicants in the awarding of graduate fellowships.

Implementation Tasks

Capitalize on acceptance of virtual events during pandemics to continue post-pandemic and continue to explore the integration of new platforms, such as Remo, to enhance and strengthen the overall virtual experience for participants.
Extend access to other College programming (e.g., Dean’s Lecture Series) to alumni, friends and parents.

Responsible party: HHD Alumni Relations

Metrics: Virtual alumni events incorporated into regular alumni event calendar; access to college programming routinely extended to alumni.

Start and end dates: Fall 2021 – Fall 2022 then ongoing

Action Item 3.4.2

Evolve graduate program admission criteria toward being based on a holistic review process that better recognizes the potential of all prospective HHD applicants.

Implementation tasks

Develop a three-part virtual alumni-institute series focusing on one specific theme within the college (nominal charge for this type of programming)
Partner with other colleges, campuses, or alumni chapters to broaden the reach of alumni-focused programming.

Responsible party: HHD Alumni Relations and HHD Communications

Metrics: Institute offered; partnerships cultivated.

Start and end dates: Fall 2021 – ongoing (planning); first alumni-institute by end of AY2023

Action Item 3.4.3

Create resources that support and incentivize pursuit of training grants and related extramural funding opportunities (R25, diversity supplements, foundation grants) that incorporate a focus on diversity

Implementation Tasks

Identify someone in each academic unit (liaison network) to assist with Alumni in the Classroom and other alumni visitation initiatives.
Develop processes/mechanisms for sharing information about alumni with ongoing interest in student engagement between Alumni Relations and academic units.
Develop other resources that support broader alumni engagement with students across our academic units
Develop a processes/mechanisms for tracking. activities that feature alumni in student engagement at the college level.

Responsible Party: HHD Alumni Relations Team; Undergraduate Education Mentoring Group; academic unit designated mentoring liaison

Metrics: Liaisons identified, processes/mechanisms developed.

Start and end dates: Fall 2021 (liaisons) Fall 2022 (processes/mechanisms)

Action item 3.4.4

Coordinate efforts across individual graduate programs throughout HHD’s academic units to reach and interest applicants from under-represented groups.

Implementation Tasks

Hold a meeting each semester for Affiliate Program Group (APG) faculty liaisons and academic unit heads
Help better align APG goals with academic unit priorities (e.g., securing internship sites, mentors, being responsive to Dept. priorities) through the development of an annual APG engagement plan that includes goals related to these special populations.

Responsible Party: HHD Alumni Relations; APG faculty liaisons; Academic Unit Heads.

Metric: Meetings with APG faculty liaisons/dept. heads held; APG engagement plans developed.

Start and end dates: Fall 2022 and ongoing

Action Item 3.4.5

Develop a college-level, cross-program peer support network(s) for graduate students and postdocs from diverse backgrounds.

Implementation Tasks

Engage graduate student community (through Graduate Student Council and Academic Program student groups) and college post-doc community (through direct outreach) in a process to determine best structure for peer-support network
Create and resource graduate/postdoc cross-program peer-support-network(s) for HHD graduate students and postdocs from diverse backgrounds to meet, create community, support scholarship and advance professionalism.
Develop strategy to collect feedback from participants annually.

Responsible Party: Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Education and Diversity and Inclusion Office

Metric: A standing program is established for HHD graduate students and postdocs, to begin in Fall 2022.

Start and end dates: Fall 2022 - ongoing

Key Performance Indicators

Increased numbers of students from under-represented minority groups admitted to HHD’s graduate programs and increased sense of community among graduate students from diverse backgrounds across our programs.