Diversity

The California Teachers Association (CTA) indicates the state faces a massive shortage of highly qualified teachers – especially those who can teach math, science and special education — and early childhood caregivers and educators.

Studies show these shortages disproportionately affect students in high-poverty, rural areas, students from low-income families and students of color, amplifying the persistent achievement gaps between those students and wealthier peers.

UC Merced is partnering with UC Santa Barbara and two California State University campuses — Fresno and Channel Islands — on a project to create a more diverse STEM faculty at colleges and universities nationwide.

The quartet has been awarded a total of $2 million from the National Science Foundation’s Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) program for a joint research project intended to increase the number of underrepresented minority faculty members in STEM fields.

The goal is to develop a model that’s applicable — and replicable.

UC Merced is part of a consortium of more than 40 institutions and organizations from the public and private sectors at the forefront of a national effort to increase the number of Hispanic students who participate in computing.

UC Merced is part of a concerted effort to dramatically increase diversity in physics and astronomy over the next five years.

The campus is one of nine University of California campuses and 15 California State University campuses awarded a $5 million grant from the National Science Foundation through the Cal-Bridge North program.

A new grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation will help UC Merced further diversify its community of graduate students and faculty, beginning with the humanities and humanistic social sciences.

UC Merced is venturing into the bright lights of YouTube shows and junior Kamyar Nekoui is leading the charge.

Tuesday marks the release of the first online episode of Nekoui’s project, a recorded talk show titled “Crucial Conversations.” The show, formatted to mirror popular talk shows like “The View,” is the first of its kind at the university.

UC Merced is venturing into the bright lights of YouTube shows and junior Kamyar Nekoui is leading the charge.

Tuesday marks the release of the first online episode of Nekoui’s project, a recorded talk show titled “Crucial Conversations.” The show, formatted to mirror popular talk shows like “The View,” is the first of its kind at the university.

UC Merced psychology Professor Anna Song and biology Professor Jennifer Manilay had a special dinner with UC President Janet Napolitano at her Oakland home recently to honor the faculty members for their work on first-generation student initiatives.

Two of UC Merced’s newest postdoctoral researchers, Colleen Cheverko and Maria-Elena Young, received the Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellowship (CPFP) for 2018-2019.

The fellowships, which are for one year with a potential one-year renewal, provide professional development and faculty mentoring to outstanding postdoc scholars whose research, teaching and service contribute to diversity and equal opportunity at the University of California.

UC Merced is uniquely positioned to be a change agent in how the academy addresses diversity in STEM, said Professor Donna Riley, the Kamyar Haghighi Head of Purdue’s School of Engineering Education.