Summer 2008:
MURF – 29
students, from 23 different colleges and universities, are accepted
into the 2008 MURF class! Caltech’s
MURF program provides support for talented undergraduates to spend
a summer working in a research laboratory on the Caltech campus.
The MURF program aims to increase the representation of underrepresented
students (such as African American, Latino, and Native American)
in science and engineering graduate programs and to make Caltech’s
programs more visible to students who are not traditionally exposed
to Caltech. The program supports Caltech’s commitment to training
a diverse set of science, technology, engineering, and math leaders.
The Caltech Young Engineering and Science Scholars
(YESS) Program hosted 30 brilliant students
in this year’s three-week summer
residential research program. Taught by highly talented graduate
students, these exceptional underrepresented high school students
explored the excitement and rigor of neuroscience and physics this
summer. In the past several years, many of the top students from
the YESS program have applied to and attended competitive colleges
and universities such as Caltech, MIT, and Stanford. This program
aims to cultivate a thriving and engaged community of forthcoming
scholars by giving these accomplished students from all over the
country the opportunity to interact with each other.
Twelve incoming freshmen participated in the five-week Freshman
Summer Research Institute (FSRI), a summer program designed
to enhance the transition from high school to a research-based education.
With a specific focus on the challenges faced by underrepresented
populations in the sciences and engineering, top-notch Caltech professors
teach and assist incoming first-year students to develop learning
behaviors that will help them excel at Caltech.
The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship (MMUF) provided
8 undergraduates—who
have research interests in geology, physics, computer science and
mathematics—a unique opportunity to join the distinguished
Mellon community of scholars. The fundamental objective of MMUF is
to increase the number of underrepresented students who pursue PhDs
in core fields of the arts and sciences. This program specifically
provides the following:
• Summer Research Stipend
• Up to $10,000.00 in undergraduate debt forgiveness
• Annual Mellon conference support (national and regional)
• Mentoring sessions
• Support for applying to graduate school
May 2008:
Jean-Lou Chameau establishes the President’s Diversity
Council to initiate a new structure for Caltech’s
diversity efforts. This council serves as the primary body for gender
and diversity issues on the Caltech campus and has the power to initiate,
monitor, and assess programs as directed by the President. Tasks
of the Council will include:
• Proposing a set of policies and procedures intended to
diversify the Caltech faculty, the postdoctoral scholar population,
the student body, and the staff.
• Monitoring, developing, and evaluating programs for improving
the campus climate with respect to diversity.
• Fostering a data-driven basis for program development
and outcomes analysis.
• Recommending sub-groups, which may include non-committee
members, to develop, implement, and evaluate programs.
AY 2007-2008:
The Caltech Reaffirming and Increasing Scholastic
Endeavors (RISE) Program seeks to academically
support students of the Pasadena Unified School District in math
and science and to help them prepare to become stronger candidates
for college. Coordinated by the Caltech Y in partnership with Student
Affairs and the Pasadena Unified School District, this program
consists of small tutoring groups and exam preparation for the
high school exit exam and state and national standardized exams.
Additionally, students receive information about college through
seminars and college campus visits.
In the 2007-2008 academic year, there were nearly 30 Caltech tutors
serving over 60 high school students, 87% of which were of African-American
or Latino descent.
December 2007:
Most domestic undergraduates entering in the Fall of 2008 whose total
family incomes are $60,000 per year or less will be offered a financial
aid package that eliminates loans and replaces them with gift aid
such as scholarships and grants.
October 2007:
Eva Graham joins Caltech as Director of the Office
for Minority Student Education. Her focus is to provide
a supportive environment where all undergraduates and graduates gain
equal access to academic, community, and professional resources,
so that they become the leaders for which Caltech is recognized.
April 2007:
Laser
Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) hosts
field trips (sponsored by regional chapters of educational
programs) to encourage low-income and minority students to explore
science and math.
Caltech
Classroom Connection receives additional
support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in the form of a
four-year grant that establishes partnerships between Caltech volunteers
and local educators.
Fall 2006:
Moore Foundation Diversity Grant to Caltech – 2006-2007
Update
$5 million, 5-year grant to increase diversity within the student
body and faculty by supporting a variety of activities and fellowships.
April 2006:
Caltech adopts a new Statement of Community:
Excerpt: “The Statement of Community is intended to articulate
the values and standards that are important to the success and health
of our campus. It was developed with input and feedback from the
campus community, and as a "living" document, it will continue
to develop and grow as our community does the same…”
September 30, 2005:
Caltech’s 3rd Diversity Retreat.
March 2005:
Hispanic Magazine ranks Caltech fifth among the top 25 colleges for
Latinos.
June 2004:
The Task
Force on Gender and Academic Climate presented their findings and recommendations to President Baltimore and the Faculty Board.
December 2003:
Shirley Malcom: Let Nurture Take Its Course:
Diversifying the Talent Pool for Science and Engineering, 11/11/2003 Lecture
[56k modem] [cable/DSL] [broadband] 39 minutes
Dr. Shirley Malcom, head of the Directorate for Education and Human
Resources Programs at the American Association for the Advancement
of Science, presented this talk as part of the Caltech Presidential
Lecture Series on Achieving Diversity in Science, Math, and Engineering.
Also a Caltech trustee, she is nationally recognized for her leadership
on issues facing underrepresented minorities and women in the sciences
and engineering.
January 2001:
President Baltimore writes an editorial
on “Gender
Equity and Caltech’s Academic Climate” in 336,
the Caltech newspaper,
Excerpt: “In January 2001, I signed on behalf of Caltech
a Statement on Gender Equity in Academic Science and Engineering,
along with the presidents of eight of our peer institutions: MIT,
the University of Michigan, Princeton, Stanford, Yale, UC Berkeley,
Harvard, and the University of Pennsylvania. The pledge calls for
all our institutions to meet the challenge of increasing the proportion
of women in science and engineering in the United States, and to
remove the barriers that still exist to the full participation of
women in these fields. The focus is on faculty issues because everyone
agreed that dealing with gender discrepancies at the faculty level
will help the situation at all levels…”