Impact Grant Recipients

Bridge program builds inclusive pathways for arts, humanities and social sciences students

College of Arts & Sciences – Administration

The College of Arts and Sciences received a seed grant to develop a one-year bridge program for first-generation and underrepresented students in the arts, humanities and social sciences. The program has sought to increase student retention by facilitating a sense of belonging through an identity-conscious curriculum and cohorted community-building programming; preparing students for academic achievement by teaching them the “hidden curriculum” and field-relevant learning skills; and connecting students to enrichment opportunities within their respective fields of study.

Academic center proposes a student-center support plan for Latine students

College of Arts & Sciences – Administration

The Latin American and Latinx Studies Center received a grant to establish a student-centered support plan to assist the trajectory of students who identify as Latino, Latina, Latinx or Latine through financial, academic, professional, emotional and community support during all their years at CU Boulder. The center requested funding to enhance the existing graduate student cluster and to create a new undergraduate advisory cluster. LALSC is resourced to support Latine students through curriculum, faculty, staff, grants, community partners and academic and community events.

A&S works to create inclusive environment through disability symposium

College of Arts & Sciences – Administration

Research shows that individuals who are diagnosed with a disability are less likely to graduate college and take longer to graduate than individuals who have not been diagnosed with a disability. The College of Arts and Sciences submitted a proposal outlining some of the unique challenges faced by students with disabilities, what the college and campus partners at large can do to assist in creating an inclusive environment, and the positive revenue implications for improving inclusion.

Program unites students, faculty through cultural celebrations, co-curricular activities

College of Arts & Sciences – Administration

The College of Arts and Sciences received a grant to unite students and faculty in residential academic programs or RAPs around cultural heritage month curricular and co-curricular activities. Throught this effort, the college has sought to support student retention by enhancing a sense of community and belonging among first-year students; highlighting and retaining RAP faculty from diverse backgrounds; and encouraging students to connect content in their RAP courses with the diversity of society. The college has worked to identify the program's successes and shortcomings by expanding assessment tools used in the RAPs.

Grant supports coordinator for My Voice Matters peer mentoring program

College of Arts & Sciences – Administration

The Peer Mentor Program support coordinator assists the Office of Pre-Health Advising (OPHA) with its peer mentor program, which focuses on giving students who are underrepresented in health care fields a paid leadership opportunity to showcase their skills and knowledge. Peer mentors engage in an asset-based model of diversity, equity and inclusion work, developing leadership skills for professional school applications. The support coordinator for the peer mentor program develops diversity, equity and inclusion training, oversees peer mentors and plans community-building events.

Math for All leverages an inclusive mathematics event

College of Arts & Sciences – Natural Sciences

Math For All (M4A) is an inclusive mathematics event in Boulder consisting of year-round activities and an annual conference. The event's goals are to provide an inclusive and friendly environment to discuss mathematics. It provides a welcoming space that allows all students, in particular students from underrepresented groups, to develop a sense of belonging in mathematics by interacting with participants from diverse backgrounds. M4A provides participants with resources to become competitive academic and industry job candidates.

Learning at warp speed: program supports first-year students interested in space research

College of Engineering & Applied Science

The Colorado Space Grant Consortium (COSGC) Space Professional Education, Enrichment and Development or WARP-SPEED program engages an interdisciplinary student cohort interested in space-related research in their first semester. To diversify the aerospace workforce, engaging and retaining underrepresented populations during the undergraduate experience through immersion in experiential learning and research is key. WARP-SPEED students work on experiential, NASA-aligned projects in a collaborative, positive and healthy environment where they can build technical, communication, interpersonal and leadership skills while developing a science, technology, engineering and math or STEM identity.

Grant funds internships, conferences and other career opportunities for engineering students

College of Engineering & Applied Science

The Inclusive Culture Council Student Professional Development Program allows eligible students from historically marginalized populations to gain access to and engage in opportunities offered at professional conferences such as internship and career opportunities, expanding their professional networks in industry, connecting with professional mentors, and gaining knowledge and resources to share with CU Boulder chapters. The program supports engineering students from the College of Engineering and Applied Science's BOLD Center societies by providing full conference and travel funding for 45 students with high financial need.

Louis Stokes Alliance builds bridges to doctoral programs

College of Engineering & Applied Science

The Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation Bridge to the Doctorate program has funding from the National Science Foundation for stipend and tuition support of new, diverse PhD students in computer science, engineering and physics. The College of Engineering and Applied Science requested diversity, equity and inclusion Impact Grant funds for associated professional and social activities to build a community among a cohort of incoming PhD students to help ensure their success in student achievement outcomes and prepare them for participation in a diverse democracy.

CMCI creates a Center for Race, Media and Technology

College of Media, Communication & Information

The Center for Media, Race and Technology in the College of Media, Communication and Information centers race and racial inequalities related to social and technological systems. The center researches, promotes and develops a community focused on the everyday experiences of Black, Indigenous and other people of color with and within media and technological experiences broadly. CMCI received grant funding to support the center's initial emphasis on collaborative research, promotion and dissemination and curricular initiatives.

Graduate School establishes inclusive mentoring program

Graduate School

The CU Boulder Graduate School received seed grant funding to establish a multifaceted Graduate Inclusive Mentoring program focused on using peer and faculty mentoring to improve the experiences of graduate students from diverse backgrounds. Critical determinants of graduate student well-being and success include the mentoring relationships they develop with peers and academic mentors. The school has worked to develop a comprehensive program to build a community of faculty mentors trained through the Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research or CIMER; an assessment program to provide feedback to mentors; and a near-peer mentoring program focused on diversity, equity and inclusion.

Leeds program invites students to consider doctoral degrees in business

Leeds School of Business

The Leeds Diverse Doctorates in Business program invites historically underrepresented undergraduate and graduate students at Leeds and students from the PhDProject.org to consider pursuing a PhD in a business discipline. DDB scholars work directly with tenured/tenure-track faculty to develop and/or strengthen their research skills to prepare them for the possibility of a future business faculty research career and receive direct mentoring and networking support to help make their PhD applications as competitive as possible.

CU in the City Student Internship Program promotes professional opportunities in Boulder

Office of the Chancellor

The CU in the City Student Internship Program engages historically excluded student populations in paid, community-based internship positions that serve existing needs within the Boulder community. Program recruitment has targeted students who identify with one or more historically excluded or minoritized identity groups (race, gender, sexuality, ability, first-generation status, citizenship and socioeconomic status). CU Boulder has worked with city of Boulder managers to create meaningful opportunities within city departments. The program is managed by the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and CU Boulder’s Office of Government and Community Engagement.

RIO working to build a research learning community at CU Boulder

Research & Innovation Office

As CU Boulder's focal point for research, the Research and Innovation Office or RIO seeks to create and sustain a research learning community through a series of workshops bringing together Black, Indigenous and other people of color and/or faculty focusing on justice, equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility (JEDIA) research/creative work from across campus to learn to identify funding opportunities for Black, Indigenous and other people of color and/or JEDIA-focused faculty; to draft grant proposals for one of these opportunities (to be reused for others); and to respond authentically to emerging questions on grant applications about JEDIA ideals, practices and challenges at CU Boulder.

School of Education seeks to diversify instructional teams with help of undergraduate learning assistants

School of Education

The School of Education seeks to increase the visibility of the learning assistant model as a mechanism for enhancing student voices, disrupting power structures, enhancing socioacademic inclusion and belonging, and improving the campus climate. Learning assistants or LAs are undergraduate students who serve on the instructional teams of courses and work alongside professors to implement learner-centered environments. By studying how the LA model affects two new departments in terms of its effect on diversity, equity and inclusion influencing traditionally valued outcomes, the school has worked to demonstrate how diversity, equity and inclusion efforts mediate student success.

School of Education develops graduate dialogue program grounded in diversity, equity and inclusion

School of Education

The School of Education received seed grant funding to develop a comprehensive dialogic classroom training initiative that includes a 10-week training program for 20 graduate students to earn a microcredential grounded in diversity, equity and inclusion as a classroom pedagogy. The initiative includes a campuswide “Dialogue Day” of facilitated dialogue. This collaboratively designed initiative works to build well-informed, scalable practices in inclusive dialogue through its focus on providing training in dialogic pedagogy grounded in diversity, equity and inclusion for graduate student instructors to integrate in classes and providing dialogue programming for undergraduate students.

Libraries, museum receive grant funding for employee Spanish, ASL learning

University Libraries

The University Libraries and the CU Museum of Natural History sought funding to continue a pilot language program in collaboration with the Anderson Language and Technology Center. The language program offered basic Spanish and American Sign Language courses for employees during the 2023-24 academic year. The professional development opportunity allowed employees to engage with a broader range of patrons with the goal of shaping the way the Libraries and the CU Museum work to create more inclusive environments for the campus and the Boulder community.

Summer performance academy works to broaden access to classical music

College of Music

Historically, the classical music world has been exclusive – unavailable to a wide range of people from diverse backgrounds. Musicians start playing at a very young age, and only those with financial and other means have been able to receive the support and private lessons necessary to excel in the field. To help break down these barriers, the CU Boulder College of Music is partnering with the Sphinx Organization in support of greater equity and inclusion in the classical music field. The Sphinx Performance Academy at CU Boulder, a summer bridge program, focuses on chamber music, solo performance and cultural diversity.