Office of the Provost

ODEI Programs

Faculty Diversity Program

The Faculty Diversity Program is designed to assist campuses with the recruitment, retention, and promotion of outstanding scholars from different backgrounds, including individuals from groups that have been historically underrepresented in higher education.  Under this highly competitive program, state-operated campuses compete for salary support and start-up packages to recruit outstanding scholars who have attained a record of distinction.  The Faculty Diversity program provides state-operated campuses with a percentage of the faculty member’s salary for three years.  Effective for the 2011-2012 award cycle, the total amount that will be allocated for each faculty member appointed under this initiative will increase to $145,000.  The salary support will be allocated to the campuses as follows:

2011-2012 – 80% of negotiated salary up to $80,000

2012-2013 – 75% of negotiated salary up to $50,000

2013-2013 – 25% of negotiated salary up to $15,000

Campuses are also eligible to receive up to $15,000 to develop competitive start-up packages for faculty appointed under this initiative.

Graduate Diversity Fellowship Program

The Graduate Diversity Fellowship Program is a SUNY-wide initiative that offers fellowships to students who have been admitted to graduate or professional study.  This program is intended to assist in the recruitment, enrollment and retention of students in doctoral and master’s level programs who can demonstrate that they contribute to the diversity of the student body, especially those who can show that they have overcome a disadvantage or other impediment to success in higher education.

For the 2009-2010 year, ODEI distributed $5,976,499 to 24 campuses that awarded fellowships to 551  graduate students:   211 Latino recipients (38%); 190 African-American recipients (35%); 64 White recipients (12%);  26 Native American recipients (6%); and 35 Asian recipients (6%). Sixty-Five percent (65%) of the awards went to women, thirty five percent (35%) went to men. 

Empire State Diversity Honors Scholarship Program

The Empire State Diversity Honors Scholarship Program is a state-wide undergraduate scholarship program for students from a broad range of background who will contribute to the diversity of the student body in their campus or academic program.  Eligible students must be enrolled in a degree program and have demonstrated high academic achievement characteristic of an honors program.  For the 2009-2010 academic year, ODEI awarded scholarships averaging at $1,387.51 to 999 undergraduates at 46 institutions.

Native American Initiative

The Native American Initiative is part of a consortium of post-secondary institutions in the North Country and western part of New York State which have come together to provide programs that address the specific educational needs of Native American students.  SUNY’s support of the NAI funds programming at two campus locations – Fredonia and Potsdam.  The overall goals of these two programs focus on recruitment, retention and graduation of Native American students by providing activities and services such as campus and community involvement, student development, counseling, networking, information sharing, cultural events and academic support.

Doctoral Diversity Fellowships in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)

The Doctoral Diversity Fellowships in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics is awarded to academically exceptional students who have been admitted to SUNY’s doctoral degree granting institutions and will commence their graduate studies in STEM fields.  The President of the National Academy of Engineering explained that the nation’s economic leadership and national security would likely decline if universities fail to increase the participation of minorities in STEM fields.  As one of the nation’s largest public universities in one of the most demographically diverse states in the union, SUNY has a particular interest in developing creative approaches to expand diversity in its science and engineering doctoral programs.

Explorations in Diversity and Academic Excellence

The Exploration in Diversity and Academic Excellence initiative provides SUNY’s state-operated universities and colleges with support for innovative approaches that illuminate and strengthen the intersections between diversity and academic excellence.   Projects eligible for funding include, but are not limited to, those that involve improving the campus climate, improving access and success for students, course development and pedagogical innovations, conferences and symposia, film and speakers series, recruitment and retention of diverse faculty, campus-community dialogues, campus surveys that can be used to further any of the above, and other comparable programs. 

SUNY Replication Project

The SUNY Strategic Plan through its Seamless Education Pipeline emphasizes the need to create seamless transfer opportunities for the students from the community colleges to four-year institutions. A model for this seamless transfer exists in the Baccalaureate and Beyond Community College Mentoring Program established at Purchase College. The SUNY Provost’s Office and the SUNY Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (ODEI) has sought to replicate some of the Purchase College ideas for seamless transfer throughout the SUNY System. Called the SUNY Replication Project, it is headed up by the founder of the Purchase Program, Dr. Joseph Skrivanek. Dr. Skrivanek is Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Purchase and is coordinating the replication efforts through the SUNY ODEI.

The Baccalaureate and Beyond Community College Mentoring Program was founded twelve years ago with major funding from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, PepsiCo Foundation, and private donors and corporations. The goal of the program is to aid underrepresented minority, financially disadvantaged, and first generation community college students in completing a Bachelor’s degree in various fields of the liberal arts and sciences. Over 350 students have participated in the program. Eighty-three percent have completed their AA/AS degree and are transferring to four-year institutions and 71% of these students are completing their Bachelor’s degrees. These figures compare to a national transfer rate of 30% and a bachelor’s completion rate of only 17%. Thirty-three percent of the students are pursuing post-graduate opportunities. The Baccalaureate and Beyond Community College Mentoring Program received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Education Mentoring (PAESMEM) from President Obama.

Work on the Replication Project began with the “Building Bridges in STEM: Expanding SUNY’s Collaboration Among Community Colleges and Four-Year Institutions” Conference in November 2010, funded by grants from the SUNY Provost’s Office and the SUNY ODEI. The conference was attended by 30 two-year and four-year institutions. The purposes of the conference were to: 1) share information on the two-year to four-year transition; 2) explore elements of what a program would entail; and 3) formalize a consortium of interested institutions that would go forward with a funding proposal to major government and private foundations.

In discussions following the conference with the interested institutions and the SUNY Provost, a regional approach was decided upon. Twenty-eight two-year and four-year institutions have agreed to work on this project, and have been grouped into four regions:

The Regional Partnerships each have Advisory Committees composed of one faculty and one administrator from each institution. In addition there is an overall Steering Committee composed of the Project Director and two representatives from each of the regional partnerships. Under Dr. Skrivanek’s leadership, the SUNY ODEI is seeking additional funding for the Replication Project.

For more information contact ODEI by email or phone: (518) 320-1189