SLOAN Scholarship

UCEM Experience

In 2014, USF received one of eight University Center of Exemplary Mentoring (UCEM) awards from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to combine resources from all levels of university faculty and administration and provide support at every step of a student’s career.  Our foundational approach is to create a sustainable, student-centered environment throughout USF that will enable minority graduate students to feel welcomed and valued.  Specifically, the UCEM includes five program components:

o   Recruit 90 new underrepresented (African-American, Hispanic/Latino, and Native-American doctoral students) in the College of Engineering, College of Arts and Sciences, and College of Marine Science over a nine-year (2014-2023) through new inter-institutional partnerships and bridge programs with targeted minority-serving institutions and URM focused student success programs ( NSF LSAMP, McNair, NIH RISE, NIH MARC U STAR, Meyerhoff and others).

o   Implement a Multi-Dimensional Mentoring Model to help mitigate academic isolation that may exist among URM students in STEM departments

o   Establish a Professional Development Certificate to foster increased intellectual exchange and post-graduate career awareness among URM and non-URM graduate students

o   Disseminate Best practices in minority student recruitment and mentoring  to provide faculty champions and graduate departments with a “toolbox” for inclusive excellence.

o   Initiate Inclusive Excellence activities (Distinguished Faculty Seminar Series, faculty and graduate student mentor awards, research mentor training, and others) to improve institutional climate within STEM departments.   

About the University of South Florida
The University of South Florida is a high-impact global research university dedicated to student success. Over the past 10 years, no other public university in the country has risen faster in U.S. News and World Report’s national university rankings than USF. Serving more than 50,000 students on campuses in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Sarasota-Manatee, USF is designated as a Preeminent State Research University by the Florida Board of Governors, placing it in the most elite category among the state’s 12 public universities. USF has earned widespread national recognition for its success graduating under-represented minority and limited-income students at rates equal to or higher than white and higher income students. USF is a member of the American Athletic Conference. Learn more at www.usf.edu.