The Effectiveness of an On-campus Open House Targeting Underrepresented Students
- Conference
- Location
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Salt Lake City, Utah
- Publication Date
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June 23, 2018
- Start Date
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June 23, 2018
- End Date
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July 27, 2018
- Conference Session
- Tagged Division
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Graduate Studies
- Tagged Topic
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Diversity
- Page Count
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9
- DOI
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10.18260/1-2--31091
- Permanent URL
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https://strategy.asee.org/31091
- Download Count
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359
Paper Authors
La'Tonia Stiner-Jones Ohio State University
Dr. Stiner-Jones is Assistant Dean of Graduate Programs and Assistant Professor of Practice in Biomedical Engineering at The Ohio State University’s College of Engineering. As Assistant Dean she provides leadership of graduate affairs and professional development for graduate students and postdoctoral trainees. She also oversees strategic recruitment of graduate students with a focus on increasing diversity. As Assistant Professor, she is responsible for participating in teaching, scholarship and service for the department.
Dr. Stiner-Jones received her Bachelor’s and PhD. degrees from Wright State University and her MBA from Capital University. After completing her PhD in Biomedical Sciences, she completed postdocs, in neuroimmunology and psychoneuroimmunology at Ohio State. Her work has been published in numerous scientific journals and presented both nationally and internationally. After completing her postdoctoral fellowship, Dr. Stiner-Jones accepted a faculty position in Ohio State’s College of Dentistry and served as Director of Minority Student Recruitment and DENTPATH, a post baccalaureate program to prepare disadvantaged students for dental school.
Abstract
The study highlights the outcomes of a program to increase diversity of the application pool by bringing prospective students to campus early in the application cycle. We identified active and early engagement of female and underrepresented minority prospective students in an on-campus event as a way to interest them in our graduate programs. During the one- to two-day event students have the opportunity to engage with faculty, staff and students in their program(s) of interest, prepare for the application process and learn about funding and faculty research. The demographics of the event has grown from 22% to 35% female and 39% to 44% underrepresented minority. Participants were provided pre- and post-event surveys to assess their knowledge and understanding of the graduate admissions process and graduate school. In fact, 100% of respondents who participated in the workshop on preparing an admissions application, indicated they had a better understanding of how to prepare one after attending the workshop. Of respondents who participated in the event, over 90% indicated the event influenced there decision to apply and nearly 90% indicated their intent to apply. Furthermore, 96.9% indicated they would recommend the event to a friend. We have been hosting this event for 4 years and between 50-65% of female and underrepresented minority attendees ultimately apply and are admitted. We are continuously seeking ways to improve the event based on participant and faculty, staff and graduate student feedback.
Stiner-Jones, L. (2018, June), The Effectiveness of an On-campus Open House Targeting Underrepresented Students Paper presented at 2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--31091
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