The UW–Madison Graduate School has selected four project teams to receive funding through the Partnership Program in Graduate Excellence to bolster partnerships with Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs).
The program, now in its second year, seeks to create long-term and mutually beneficial relationships between UW–Madison and MSIs in areas such as research collaboration, faculty professional development, and student and faculty exchange programs.
The following teams have been awarded grants through the Partnership Program in Graduate Excellence this year.
Neuroscience Training Program partnership with Universidad Ana G. Méndez, Carolina campus
Representatives from the UW–Madison Neuroscience Training Program and the Universidad Ana G. Méndez have established plans for collaborative outreach programs and research opportunities for faculty and students at both institutions. UAGM is a Hispanic-serving institution in Puerto Rico and a primarily undergraduate institution. An exchange program between UAGM and UW–Madison can provide UAGM undergraduates with additional research opportunities that can further help them to pursue scientific career paths.
This funding will support two student and faculty exchanges over the coming year. UAGM students will visit UW–Madison to shadow Neuroscience Training Program students for outreach visits during the summer PEOPLE program. Then, Neuroscience faculty and students will visit the UAGM Carolina campus to host science outreach activities during Brain Awareness Week in March. The partnership team hopes that the mutual exchanges will produce research collaborations between faculty, create outreach workshop materials that can be incorporated into existing initiatives at both universities, and increase the number of UAGM students who apply for graduate studies at UW–Madison. In addition, both universities plan to use the activities supported by this funding to strengthen their applications for training grant renewals and to jointly apply for extramural funding.
UW–Madison partners: Ari Rosenberg, Associate Professor and Director, Neuroscience Training Program (NTP), and Principal Investigator, T32 Training Grant; Ana Garic, Manager, Neuroscience Training Program; Laura Knoll, Professor of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, and Associate Dean for Basic Research Training at the School of Medicine and Public Health; Danielle Anderson, NTP student and Co-Chair for the NTP Outreach Committee; Zikang Zhu, NTP student and Co-Chair for the NTP Outreach Committee; Angela Norris, NTP Recruitment and Admissions Coordinator.
Universidad Ana G. Méndez, Carolina campus partners: Loyda B. Méndez, Professor, Principal Investigator for NSF-S-STEM; Nilda G. Medina, Associate Professor, Co-Principal Investigator for NSF-S-STEM; Karlo Malavé-Llamas, Associate Professor, Principal Investigator for NSF-HIS-STEM; Karin Millan, Director, Natural Sciences Department; Jorge Torres, Dean, Academic Division of Science and Technology.
School of Education partnership with Northeastern Illinois University
Faculty in the School of Education have existing research collaborations with professors at Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU). In addition, NEIU undergraduates have studied in UW–Madison’s Summer Research Opportunities Programs and have gone on to study in UW–Madison PhD programs. This project team seeks to explore new potential research collaborations, create more opportunities for student exchanges, and submit joint grant applications to external funding agencies for undergraduate research opportunities that would prepare NEIU undergraduates to succeed in UW–Madison PhD programs for which NEIU does not offer doctorates.
The program’s initial focus will be in STEM education due to the expertise of program leaders Percival Matthews and Martha Alibali at UW–Madison, along with Andrew Young (a UW–Madison PhD graduate) and Lindsay Maldonado at NEIU. Funding provided through the Partnership Program in Graduate Excellence will support a semi-annual research forum and regular online meetings to further cultivate research relationships. It will also support participants in the Summer Education Research Program at the School of Education for NEIU students and research funding for NEIU undergraduates who are involved in School of Education research groups from their home institution.
UW–Madison partners: Percival Matthews, Associate Dean, School of Education Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion; Martha Alibali, Professor of Psychology and Researcher in the Wisconsin Center for Education Research; Maame Adomako, Graduate Program Manager, School of Education; Courtney Bell, Professor, Educational Psychology and Director of the Wisconsin Center for Education Research; Taylor Odle, Assistant Professor, Educational Policy Studies; Brian Burt, Associate Professor, Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis; Karla Ausderau, Professor, Kinesiology; Anthony Hernandez, Teaching Faculty, Educational Policy Studies.
Northeastern Illinois University partners: Sandra Beyda-Lorie, Executive Director for Teaching and Learning Innovations, Professor of Special Education; Andrew Young, Assistant Professor, Psychology; Lindsay Maldonado, Assistant Professor, Teacher Education; Ruth (Breckie) Church, Professor Emeritus.
Department of Medical History & Bioethics partnership with Tennessee State University and Fisk University
UW–Madison, Tennessee State University, and Fisk University are three of 15 members of the Black Health and Community Care Working Group. The group was established by organizers at Tennessee State University as a collaborative space for scholars and healthcare providers working at the intersection of race, public health, and community health engagement. Through the working group, members are currently creating an edited volume on Black Health and Community Care Work for Vanderbilt Press. Funds from the Partnership Program in Graduate Excellence will allow the group to continue this work and further expand scholarly collaboration between students and faculty at the three institutions.
The working group is committed to collaborating with community health professionals and approaches its work with equal commitment to equity. The grant from the Partnership Program in Graduate Excellence will continue to support the working group collaborators. In addition, the project team will plan a summer research grant and faculty mentorship pilot program for advanced undergraduate and early career graduate students interested in race, community care, and public health. They will also fund travel for faculty guest lectures and for a summer workshop to convene the Black Health and Community Care Working Group.
UW–Madison partners: Dana Landress, Assistant Professor, Medical History and Bioethics; Leigh Senderowicz, Assistant Professor and Ob-Gyn, Gender and Women’s Studies; and the Medical History and Bioethics Executive Committee.
Tennessee State University partners: Andrea Ringer, Assistant Professor, History and Africana Studies; Learotha Williams, Jr., Professor, History and Africana Studies; KT Ewing, Associate Professor, History and Africana Studies; Sekhmet Maat, Assistant Professor, History and Africana Studies; LaCrisha Johnson, Department of Psychology and Counseling.
Fisk University partners: Hannibal Hamdallahi, Assistant Dean, School of Behavioral Sciences.
Additional partners: Aaisha Haykal, Avery Center for African American History and Culture.
Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders partnership with The University of Texas at El Paso
Grant funding from the Partnership Program in Graduate Education will support the continuation of the existing Research Training Collaboration between the UW–Madison Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders and the Speech and Hearing Department at The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). The training collaboration’s goal is to increase opportunities for students from UTEP to participate in research opportunities and receive career mentorship in the field. With grant support, the project team hopes to build a sustainable research-training partnership that will include securing further, external funding.
The project team plans to help students understand academia in general, as well as the research enterprise in Communication Sciences and Disorders. As part of the project, students will attend the Annual Symposium for Research in Childhood Language Disorders and develop five-year career plans for graduate training in fields related to communication sciences. Initiatives supported by the Partnership Program in Graduate Excellence funds will build on an existing Summer Research Experience program for master’s students and faculty happening in July 2023. The added funding will help expand the program from two to three weeks.
UW–Madison partners: Carlos Benitez-Barrera, Assistant Professor, Communication Sciences and Disorders; Rebecca Alper, Assistant Professor, Communication Sciences and Disorders; Margarita Kaushanskaya, Chair and Professor, Communication Sciences and Disorders; Michelle Ciucci, Professor, Communication Sciences and Disorders; Audra Sterling, Associate Professor, Communication Sciences and Disorders; Ruth Litovsky, Professor and Oros Family Chair, Communication Sciences and Disorders; Erik Jorgensen, Assistant Professor, Communication Sciences and Disorders; Haley Dresang, Assistant Professor, Communication Sciences and Disorders.
The University of Texas at El Paso partners: Vanessa Mueller, Chair and Associate Professor, Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences; Amelia Rau, Clinical Assistant Professor, Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences.