University of Illinois Chicago
PAE-8: Support Programs for Under-Represented Groups

Academic Center for Excellence (ACE) http://www.uic.edu/depts/ace/index.shtml is a multifaceted program designed to help UIC students accomplish their academic goals. ACE is open to all UIC students, from freshman through graduate level. African American Academic Network (AAAN) http://www.uic.edu/depts/aaan/index.shtml Thei mission is to increase the recruitment, retention, and graduation rates of African American students. In keeping with that focus, AAAN is also committed to establishing an inclusive and supportive campus environment. AAAN sponsors social and cultural activities to encourage student involvement, and advocates for the interests of its participants. CHANCE Learning Center http://www.uic.edu/depts/oaa/schoolrelations/index.html The CLC aims to assist incoming freshman, transfer and currently enrolled students make their transition to UIC by providing an arena that focuses on: academic preparation, study. Counseling Center http://www.vcsa.uic.edu/MainSite/departments/counseling_center/home/ The Center helps students with a wide range of personal problems, emotional and psychological difficulties, career questions, and relationship issues. They also conduct outreach and training programs and coordinate the InTouch Hotline. This is a free crisis intervention, counseling, and referral service offered to UIC students and members of the greater Chicagoland area. Center staff is committed to the highest standards of competency in meeting the needs of individuals from diverse backgrounds, including differences of culture, race, ethnicity, national origin, class, gender, ability, age, and sexual orientation. Disability Resource Center http://www.uic.edu/depts/oaa/disability_resources/index.html This center facilitates access for students through consultation with faculty and campus departments, and the provision of accommodations including interpreters, document conversion, and assistive technology. Office of International Services, http://www.ois.uic.edu/, provides comprehensive support, including advising on both immigration and related government and university policies, as well as offering cross cultural programming to the UIC community. OIS also coordinates the campus orientation for new international students. Latin American Recruitment and Educational Services (LARES) http://www.lares.uic.edu/ LARES seeks to empower students by providing personal growth and educational opportunities and to prepare leaders who will make individual and collective contributions toward the cultural and social advancement of the Latino community. Native American Support Program (NASP) http://www.vcsa.uic.edu/MainSite/departments/native_american_support_program/home/ NASP strives to increase the enrollment, retention and graduation rates of Native American students. NASP fosters a climate supportive of positive academic experiences for Native American students at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Office of Special Scholarship Programs (OSSP) http://www.uic.edu/depts/oaa/ssp/osspmain.htm OSSP assists UIC students in searching and applying for nationally competitive scholarships, fellowships and external scholarship awards. Mathematical Sciences Learning Center www.math.uic.edu/mslc The Center provides coursework assistance and tutoring for undergraduate students, and opportunities for students to work on challenging problems with classmates through innovative techniques of cooperative learning. Science Learning Center (www.chem.uic.edu/slc/) is a place in which all levels of expertise meet and exchange ideas. They provide tutoring, peer-led study groups, and gathering space for discussions in biology, chemistry, earth and environmental science and physics. Writing Center http://www.uic.edu/depts/engl/writing/ To help students learn about writing, UIC offers a special free resource, a peer writing center, where students work with other students to improve as writers. Programs: ASCEND (http://www.uic.edu/orgs/ascend/index.html)Assuring STEM Credential Expansion through Nurturing Diversity, is a multi-year program designed to enhance the experience of UIC students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Bridge to the Doctorate Program http://www.uic.edu/depts/mcam/gradiv/ This program, which is part of the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation, promotes the inclusion and retention of underserved minority students in PhD programs in science, engineering, technology, and mathematics (STEM)disciplines. The third cohort of BD fellows began in August 2008, and the fourth cohort is anticipated to matriculate in August 2010. The target for each cohort is 12 fellows. Graduate Pathways to Success Program (GPS) http://grad.uic.edu/cms/?pid=1000061 -This new initiative – formerly the Ronald E. McNair Post Baccalaureate Achievement Program – operates under the auspices of the Graduate College. The Program serves 10-15 students and is designed to prepare and recruit more underrepresented minority college students into graduate education. The Program strengthens and builds upon institutional relationships both internally and externally to also attract more underrepresented students to graduate study. Internally, the Program provides graduate school preparation activities and faculty-supervised undergraduate research experiences during the academic-year. Externally, the Program places students in research experiences as well as graduate programs in other institutions. Illinois – Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (I-LSAMP) Programs (http://www.math.uic.edu/~uicamp/index.html) formerly the Chicago Alliance for Minority Participation (ChAMP) was formed in 1993 in response to the National Science Foundation’s mandate to significantly increase the number of underrepresented scholars earning degrees in the disciplines of science, teaching, mathematics, and engineering (STEM). Partner universities all over the state emerged, supporting I-LSAMP's goal to provide programs to improve students academic preparation, offer more educational options to increase opportunities, and modify/reinvent gateway courses to more effectively educate students in order to enhance academic performance. Summer Research Opportunities Program (SROP) http://grad.uic.edu/cms/?pid=1000063 - SROP was first established in 1986 by the Graduate Deans of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC). The goal of SROP is to introduce domestic underrepresented sophomores and juniors to academic research experiences. Student participants work one-on-one with a faculty mentor giving them an opportunity to experience research and the graduate student experience. UIC launched its SROP in 1986, with a total of six minority undergraduate students. In its twenty-year history of hosting this program, UIC has had over one thousand student participants. Women in Science and Engineering http://www.uicwise.org/ - UIC's WISE Program is a support program for all women students studying science, technology, engineering, and mathematic (STEM) fields. They serve students as young as 6th grade to our women faculty members on campus. • Note: There are also a additional campus supported student organizations that offer peer mentoring and academic support – e.g., Brothers Reaching Out (BRO), Students for African American Sisterhood (SAAS), Student Chapters of: Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, National Association of Black Accountants, et.al. The full list of campus student organizations is at the Campus Programs website -- http://www.uic.edu/depts/chcc/programs/Campus/Files/]

•Council for Excellence in Teaching and Learning http://www.uic.edu/depts/oaa/cetl/ Provides a mechanism by which faculty, staff, and administrators can work collaboratively toward the improvement of instruction and the advancement of learning in UIC's culturally pluralistic community. •Underrepresented Faculty Mentoring Program (UFMP) This program began in January, 2004 as a faculty-driven initiative to address poor retention among Black tenure-track faculty. It was originally a joint project of the Department of African American Studies and the Chancellor’s Committee on the Status of Blacks, funded by the Office of the Provost, and has now evolved to include Latina/o tenure-track faculty and is housed in the Office of the Provost. UFMP creates structured mentoring opportunities for underrepresented faculty through small writing groups and professional development workshops, it provides community building, peer support, and professional development for underrepresented faculty as they work toward tenure. Although designed for UIC faculty, minority faculty from local colleges and universities have attended the speaker series. •Underrepresented Faculty Recruitment Program (UFRP) Provides salary and research support for new tenure-track or tenured faculty who are members of traditionally underrepresented minorities (African American, Latino/a, or Native American) or of groups currently underrepresented in their disciplines (e.g., women in science and engineering). Salary support is given to the college according to hiring rank: $20,000/year for Assistant Professors, $25,000 for Associate Professors, and $30,000/year for Full Professors. Support continues as long as the faculty member is at UIC, is increased along with promotions, and is meant to encourage units to develop additional diversity activities for recruitment and retention. Research funding of $10,000/year goes to the faculty member for either 2 or 3 years.

Chancellors Status Committees – please see following link for full list and description of all committees: http://www.uic.edu/depts/oae/ChancellorStatus.html •Academic Professional Advisory Committee (APAC) http://www.uic.edu/orgs/apac/ APAC is an elected body whose function, as defined by University of Illinois statutes, is to provide for the orderly voicing of suggestions for the good of the university, afford added recourse for the consideration of grievances, and furnish a channel for direct and concerted communication between the academic professional (AP) staff and the administrative officers of the university, its colleges, schools, institutes, divisions, and other administrative units on matters of interest or concern to the academic professional staff or any member of it. •Employee Development Program (EDP) http://www.uic.edu/depts/hr/uichr/develop/EDP/edp.html The Program supports the continued development of UIC’s Academic Professional and Support Staff.