Rackham Graduate School announces the awardees of the 2018–19 Faculty Allies Diversity Grants. These grants are designed to fund activities for current graduate students to enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts in the areas most relevant to the students in a designated graduate program. The grants are meant to be useful for those seeking seed money to pursue ideas that are new and innovative for their graduate program as related to DEI.
This year’s awardees’ activities intentionally target needs specific to their graduate programs. In an effort to address completion and retention of their graduate students, awardees plan to implement programs that support high quality mentored writing opportunities, student peer-led workshops, peer-mentoring programs, and travel grants. When considering academic and professional development of their graduate students, many programs designed activities around alumni career development speaker series, proposed to hold a career day, and made plans to provide support for mentor-mentee engagement. As DEI climate is another area of great concern for graduate programs, awardees received funding for activities that promote dialogue and understanding of the role of diversity, equity, and inclusion; for workshops designed to strengthen skills in addressing issues of DEI; and for monthly departmental DEI events.
Rackham has also actively recruited participants from non-Rackham programs, and this year the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences will be the first non-Rackham program to receive funding.
Programs may apply for one Rackham Faculty Allies Diversity Grant per year up to $12,000, and applications are due in mid-February. In addition, faculty can apply for a Student Ally for Diversity Grant of up to $5,000 to support graduate students partnering with the program’s Faculty Ally on implementing their grant activities. Together, the Faculty Ally and Student Ally provide intellectual, social, and programmatic support so that graduate students from all groups—including those that have been historically underrepresented in higher education—feel welcome and thrive in their studies at the University of Michigan.
2018–19 Rackham Faculty Allies Diversity Grant Awardees
Richard Altschuler, Neuroscience Graduate Program, Medical School
Sarah Burgard, Department of Sociology, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
Patricia Coleman-Burns*, School of Nursing
Gabriela Cruz*, School of Music, Theater, & Dance
Charlotte Karem Albrecht, Department of American Culture and Department of Women's Studies, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
Anuj Kumar*, Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
Geeta Mehta*, Department of Macromolecular Science and Engineering, College of Engineering
Shahzad Mian, Department of Ophthamology and Visual Sciences, Medical School
Marie O'Neill*, Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health
Akira Ono, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical School
Ivette Perfecto*, School for Environment and Sustainability
Malini Raghavan*, Graduate Program in Immunology, Medical School
Stephanie Rowley, Combined Program in Education and Psychology
Teresa Satterfield Linares, Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
Amy Schulz*, Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, School of Public Health
Audrey Seasholtz, Department of Biological Chemistry, Medical School
Denise Sekaquaptewa, Department of Psychology, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
Allison Steiner, Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering, College of Engineering
Ruth Tsoffar*, Department of Comparative Literature, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
Westley Weimer, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, College of Engineering
Melanie Yergeau*, Department of English Language and Literature, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
Dimitrios Zekkos*, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering
* Indicates a recipient of an additional Student Ally Grant.
