Welcome
Diversifying Pathways from the Bachelors to the Professoriate
AN OPEN ACCESS RESOURCE GUIDE
About Us
About
Academic Pipeline Programs are initiatives that support and propel URM students along their educational journey by providing programming related to research, career and life preparation.
The Academic Pipeline Programs website is a resource for underrepresented populations to diversify the pathway from the bachelors to the professoriate
The Academic Academic Pipeline Project, LLC works with several institutions, including the
To contact the Academic Pipeline Project, LLC consulting team (Dr. Byrd and Dr. Mason), email academicpipelineproject@gmail.com
Authors & Consultants
Dr. Curtis D. Byrd
Special Advisor to the Provost for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Georgia State University
&
Dr. Rihana S. Mason
Research Scientist
Urban Child Study Center
Georgia State University
About the Academic Pipeline Programs Book
This publication serves as a comprehensive resource guide to support the readership’s (i.e., parents, undergraduate and graduate students, post docs, faculty, college/university and graduate school administrators) awareness of pipeline programs that recruit individuals from diverse ethnic, gender, and economic backgrounds. We are focusing on groups that are categorized as underrepresented relative to their representation in colleges and universities.
This guide illustrates initiatives that prepare individuals for the journey from the undergraduate degree to careers in academe. This resource will provide an in-depth discussion regarding these pipeline programs using the newly created THRIVE Index which will contextualize each program into comparable and quantifiable frameworks for the reader.
The Interactive GIS Mapping system and database was created in partnership with the Morehouse College HBCU STEM-US Center.
LEARN MORE ABOUT LEVER PRESS
Media
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
Webinar Series to Focus on Best Practices to Diversify Academic Pipeline
Social Science Research Space
Understanding Diversity in STEM WMPD Day Webinar
Webinar Series: Building Successful Academic Pathway Programs
Inside Higher Ed article HERE
"Lever Press Sets Gears in Motion"
Pipeline Program Survey
THRIVE INDEX
Assessment Tool for Pipeline Programs
Type (T) Where it falls in the pipeline structure
History (H) Context, milestones, longevity, educational outcomes
Research (R) Research preparation and program components
Identity/Inclusion (I) how programs are inclusive of students on campuses
Voice (V) how each program creates a positive environment for students to enhance their voice
Expectations (E) Expectations of what the student gains from the program
AUTHOR BIOS
Dr. Curtis D. Byrd
Dr. Rihana S. Mason
Dr. Rihana S. Mason
Dr. Curtis D. Byrd is the Special Advisor to the Provost at Georgia State University (GSU). Dr. Byrd consults and provides leadership in GSU faculty and graduate student diversity and inclusion efforts. He has amassed over 25 years in faculty and student diversity and inclusion programming on college campuses. Most recently he served as a research associate and consultant for the HBCU STEM Undergraduate Success Center at Morehouse College. Prior to his time at Morehouse he served for eight years as the Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies and Sr. Associate Director of Graduate Enrollment at Clark Atlanta University. Before this he served as Director of Special Programs (Undergraduate Research) and Associate Director of the McNair Scholars program at University of Florida and Director of the McNair Scholars Program at Georgia State University. Dr. Byrd’s honors and appointments include the following: serving on the National Advisory Board for Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program, conference co-chair of the Annual National SAEOPP McNair Conference in Atlanta, GA, and being awarded the National Association of Graduate Admissions Professionals (NAGAP) Enrollment Management grant for his doctoral research on Innovative Strategies for Diversifying the Professoriate. For three years (2013-2016) Byrd served as an Action Research Consultant for the Southern Regional Educational Board’s Doctoral Scholars Program (DSP). He has several publications on innovative strategies to diversify graduate students and faculty ranks, and currently is working on a book called Academic Pipeline Programs-Diversifying Pathways from the Bachelors to the Professoriate. Dr. Byrd earned both his B.S. in Psychology and M.Ed. in Higher Education at Iowa State University. In 2016, he graduated with his Doctorate in Education (Ed.D.) in Adult Leadership Education from the University of Georgia.
Dr. Rihana S. Mason
Dr. Rihana S. Mason
Dr. Rihana S. Mason
Dr. Rihana S. Mason received her doctorate in Experimental Psychology with an emphasis in Cognitive Psychology from the University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC in 2004. She is now a Research Scientist at the Urban Child Study Center at Georgia State University and an Adjunct faculty member at Spelman College, her undergraduate alma mater. As an undergraduate at Spelman, she participated in the National Institutes of Mental Health Careers and Opportunities in Undergraduate Research Training Program (NIMH-COR) and was later named a NIMH-COR star in 2007. She began mentoring her own students in 2005 and has served as a faculty mentor for NIMH-COR, Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (RISE), and the Ronald E. McNair Programs. She was awarded the Ronald E. McNair Faculty Appreciation Award in 2008 for her dedicated service. Having served in a dual capacity, both a mentee and mentor, she has accumulated an array of knowledge as it relates to forging mentee/mentor relationships in the academy and common pedagogies that exist across undergraduate research training models. She served as an Associate Professor in Psychology at Emmanuel College for several years where she helped to expand the undergraduate curriculum to include courses which emphasized research and writing in psychology. During her tenure at Emmanuel she was awarded the Firebaugh Memorial Faculty Award in 2015. She serves as the chair for the Committee for the Equality of Professional Opportunity (CEPO) under the Southeastern Psychological Association (SEPA) and as a member of the Psi Chi Diversity Committee.
Dr. Freeman A. Hrabowski
Dr. Freeman A. Hrabowski
Dr. Freeman A. Hrabowski
FOREWORD
Dr. Freeman A. Hrabowski, President of UMBC (University of Maryland, Baltimore County) since 1992, is a consultant on science and math education to national agencies, universities, and school systems. He was named by President Obama to chair the President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans. He also chaired the National Academies’ committee that produced the report, Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation: America’s Science and Technology Talent at the Crossroads (2011). His 2013 TED talk highlights the “Four Pillars of College Success in Science.”
Named one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World by TIME (2012) and one of America’s Best Leaders by U.S. News & World Report (2008), he also received TIAA-CREF’s Theodore M. Hesburgh Award for Leadership Excellence (2011), the Carnegie Corporation’s Academic Leadership Award (2011), and the Heinz Award (2012) for contributions to improving the “Human Condition.” UMBC has been recognized as a model for inclusive excellence by such publications as U.S. News, which the past eight years has recognized UMBC as a national leader in academic innovation and undergraduate teaching. Dr. Hrabowski’s most recent book, Holding Fast to Dreams: Empowering Youth from the Civil Rights Crusade to STEM Achievement, describes the events and experiences that played a central role in his development as an educator and leader.
Dr. Ansley A. Abraham Jr.
Dr. Freeman A. Hrabowski
Dr. Freeman A. Hrabowski
AFTERWORD
Dr. Ansley Abraham is founding director of the Southern Regional Education Board State Doctoral Scholars Program in Atlanta, GA. Under Dr. Abraham’s direction, the board has developed one of the nation’s best-documented and nationally recognized programs for producing minority Ph.Ds. who seek faculty careers. The Doctoral Scholars Program is successfully producing minority graduates—almost 1,000—have earned their degree and are employed on college and university campuses. Currently, more than 500 scholars are progressing toward the Ph.D. The Doctoral Scholars Program annually sponsors the Compact for Faculty Diversity Institute on Teaching and Mentoring. The Institute is a nationwide effort of state, federal, and private agencies and organizations committed to faculty diversity. More than 1,200 minority Ph.D. scholars and their mentors come together to learn the skills and knowledge necessary for the successful completion of the doctoral degree, improve departmental environments, and transition into academic careers. The Institute is the largest gathering of minority Ph.D. students in the nation. Dr. Abraham has directed studies at SREB that covered several topics, including perception of the campus climate by minority and majority group students on historically black and predominantly white campuses. Dr. Abraham also completed two widely acclaimed studies on statewide assessment and placement standards and the need for developmental education for entering college students in the SREB region. As a result of his research, Dr. Abraham has published numerous articles and monographs.
Dr. Abraham earned his B.S. in sociology and psychology, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in sociology (with an emphasis on sociology of education and race/ethnic relations) from Florida State University. He has worked as a program specialist in the Florida State Department of Education and management analyst in the Florida Governor’s Office.