ABOUT AGEP

The National Science Foundation's Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) program is intended to increase significantly the number of domestic students receiving doctoral degrees in the sciences, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), with special emphasis on those population groups underrepresented in these fields (i.e., African Americans, Hispanics, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians or other Pacific Islanders). In addition, AGEP is particularly interested in increasing the number of minorities who will enter the professoriate in these disciplines. Specific objectives of the AGEP program are (1) to develop and implement innovative models for recruiting, mentoring, and retaining minority students in STEM doctoral programs, and (2) to develop effective strategies for identifying and supporting underrepresented minorities who want to pursue academic careers.

ABOUT PROMISE: Maryland's AGEP

PROMISE: Maryland's AGEP is an alliance of the three public research universities in Maryland, led by UMBC, dedicated to the increasing the number and diversity of Ph.D. graduates in the sciences and engineering who go on to academic careers. AGEP is a program of the National Science Foundation. The initial award for Maryland's AGEP was funded in 2002 for 5 years. The PI for the first phase of Maryland's AGEP grant was former UMBC Provost Dr. Arthur T. Johnson. The second award for PROMISE was made in 2008 and has a duration of two years. The current UMBC Provost, Dr. Elliot Hirshman, became the PROMISE PI in 2008.

The Co-PIs on each campus are:

The alliance between UMBC, UMB, and UMCP encourages interaction between the university communities. Each university will develop its own set of activities in three areas: 1) cultivating new graduate students; 2) building a supportive community where students can excel; and 3) promoting professional development. Although some of the activities will be on individual campuses, one of the keys to the success of PROMISE: Maryland's AGEP is the development and implementation of activities that promote successful recruitment, retention, graduation, and professorial training that will involve and engage students from all three campuses.

PROMISE uniquely serves the needs of graduate students across three campuses through activities that range from retreats, seminars, and conferences, to informal discussions during breakfast. The services and programs of PROMISE are open to all graduate students who are seeking or interested in obtaining the PhD, regardless of discipline. The focus of the services and programs is geared toward one of the goals of PROMISE: To increase the numbers and diversity of Maryland's graduate student population in sciences, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. The services and programs of PROMISE will always reflect this goal. PROMISE seeks to increase diverse representation by designing programs that will successfully cultivate new students from diverse ethnicities; and facilitate retention, successful graduation through the PhD, and preparation for the professoriate.

Broadly, students can participate in PROMISE regardless of their status (full-time, part-time), ethnicity, discipline, or source of funding. Narrowly, students who are underrepresented will be strongly supported as they utilize the services and resources of PROMISE; these students can be encouraged to consider PROMISE to be one of their major mechanisms of support. Services and resources are available to underrepresented students, and to students of all ethnicities who work to achieve the goals of PROMISE at UMBC, UMB, and UMCP.

Signature programs of PROMISE include: Summer Success Institute, PROF-it (Professors-in-Training), Fall Harvest, Reflections Health & Wellness seminars, Research Symposium, When Faculty Say 'x', They Really Mean 'y', Community Building Retreat, and Dissertation House. Dr. Renetta Tull has served as the director for PROMISE since 2003 and became a Co-PI for the 2008-2010 PROMISE award.

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR, Dr. Renetta G. Tull

Personal Website: http://renettatull.wordpress.com

 

Read the latest information about PROMISE on our Forum

 

Publications and PAPERS:

J. K. Pollack, A. Starr, and R. G. Tull, PROFessors-in-training (PROF-it): Preparing Graduate Students for

Teaching Opportunities, Proceedings of the Best Practices in Graduate Student Recruitment and Retention Mini-Symposium, Northeastern Association of Graduate Schools Annual Meeting, April, 2009.

W. Carter, R. G. Tull, and J.C. Rutledge, Dissertation House, Proceedings of the Best Practices in Graduate Student Development Mini-Symposium, Northeastern Association of Graduate Schools Annual Meeting, April, 2008.

R. G. Tull, "Extending Expectations of Excellence: A Multi-ethnic Recruitment and Retention Guide for West Chester University's Graduate Programs of Study", (unpublished manual), April, 2006.

R. G. Tull, M. Jackson, and J. C. Rutledge, "The PROMISE of a Better Graduate School Community", In Chemistry, November/December, 2003.

S. A. Bass, R. G. Tull, J. C. Rutledge, M. Jackson, and M. F. Summers, Paving the Pathway to the Professions:

Institutional Practices to Facilitate the Success of a Diverse Doctoral Student Population, Journal of Higher Education Strategists, Vol. 1, No. 3, 2003.

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Selected Presentations and Workshops

Higher Education - Student & Faculty Recruitment & Retention (Audience: Faculty & Adminsitrators)

R. G. Tull, G. C. Anglon, and J. Warner-Cohen. Outdoor Community Building Retreats as Interventions to Improve Campus Climate for Graduate Students, 3rd Annual Conference on Understanding Interventions, Bethesda, MD, May 2009

J. K. Pollack, A. Starr, and R. G. Tull, Professional Development as an Intervention: Professors-in-Training (PROF-it) Better Prepare Future Faculty for Teaching, 3rd Annual Conference on Understanding Interventions, Bethesda, MD, May 2009

PROMISE: Maryland's AGEP. Successes in Recruitment and Retention of Underrepresented Graduate Students, (With Wendy Y. Carter, Gloria C. Anglon, Johnetta G. Davis, Janet C. Rutledge, and Jordan E. Warnick), NSF/American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Capacity Building Meeting, Washington, DC, Sept. 2008

Preparing Environments for Successful Underrepresented Graduate Student Recruitment and Retention , American Association of Physics Teachers Winter Conference, Baltimore, MD, January 2008.

Dissertation House - Facilitating the PROMISE, (With Wendy Y. Carter, Gloria C. Anglon, Johnetta G. Davis, Janet C. Rutledge, and Jordan E. Warnick), Joint Annual Meeting, Human Resources Division, NSF, Washington, DC, July 13, 2007.

Broadening Participation of Underrepresented Ethnic Minorities to Increase the Pipeline of Trained U.S. Citizens in Areas of National Need (Moderator and Session Author. Presenters: Patricia McAllister and Victor Santiago), Northeastern Association of Graduate Schools Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, March 2007.

Institutionalizing Success for Underrepresented Graduate Students: Weaving PROMISE into the Fabric of the University, IGERT-Institute for Broadening Participation Working Group Invitational, Nobleboro, Maine March 13, 2007

PROMISE: Maryland's AGEP Research Symposia: An Annual Alliance-wide Event Merges Community Building, Mentoring, Professional Development, and Preparation for the Professoriate, NSF AGEP Evaluation Meeting, San Juan, Puerto Rico, February 1, 2007 (With Gloria C. Anglon, Johnetta G. Davis, Janet C. Rutledge, and Jordan E. Warnick)

MIRTHE, AGEP, & BD - Directed Graduate Student Recruitment, Retention, and Training, Mid-Infrared Technologies for Health and the Environment (MIRTHE), NSF ERC Site Visit, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, November 14, 2006

From Ideas to Actions: Implementing Plans for Multi-ethnic Faculty Recruitment and Retention (Keynote), Office of Social Equity Seminar, West Chester University, October 5, 2006

Expecting and Achieving Excellence in Building a Multi-ethnic Graduate Student Population (Keynote), Graduate Studies Diversity Conference, West Chester University, April 21, 2006

The Changing World of Advising Graduate Students: Trends and Best Practices, Northeastern Association of Graduate Schools Conference, Portsmouth, NH, April 7, 2006

Retention and Progress to the Ph.D: Centralized Mentoring and Programming Encourages Students to Commit to Success, NSF AGEP Second Evaluation Capacity Building Meeting, San Juan, Puerto Rico, January 27, 2006

PROMISE: Maryland's AGEP: Programming Yields Progression, (With Janet C. Rutledge, Johnetta G. Davis, Jordan Warnick,

Gloria Anglon, and LaTisha Jones), NSF AGEP Evaluation Capacity Building Meeting, San Juan, Puerto Rico, Jan. 27, 2006

Graduate Student Involvement in MIRTHE: PROMISE: Maryland's AGEP and UMBC's Bridges to the Doctorate, Mid-Infrared Technologies for Health and the Environment (MIRTHE), NSF Engineering Research Center Site Visit (Funded, 2006)

Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, November 15, 2005

Tenure, Promotion, and Mentoring (Panel: Renetta G. Tull, Marilyn Demorest, Patrice McDermott, and Katherine Seley Radtke),

NSF UMBC ADVANCE Faculty Horizons Workshop for Aspiring STEM Faculty, Baltimore, MD, July 16, 2005.

Community Building at Coolfont: PROMISE: Maryland's AGEP Achieves Retention of Underrepresented Ph.D. STEM

Students Through an Alliance-Wide Weekend Retreat, (With Janet C. Rutledge, Jordan Warnick, Johnetta G. Davis, and Jill Pegues) Joint Annual Meeting National Science Foundation, Washington, DC, April 24, 2005.

Alliance-wide Mentoring: An Unexpected By-product of Centralized Programming in PROMISE: Maryland's AGEP (poster)

(With Janet C. Rutledge, Johnetta G. Davis, Jordan Warnick, and Jill Pegues) Joint Annual Meeting National Science Foundation, Washington, DC, April 24, 2005.

An Inclusive Approach to Stimulating Underrepresented Ph.D. STEM Student Retention and Progression, (With Janet C. Rutledge, and Scott A. Bass), 2nd Annual Bouchet Conference, Yale University, New Haven, CT, April 2, 2005.

PROMISE: Maryland's AGEP; Institutional Change via Holistic Approaches to Graduate Education (poster),

National Science Foundation Human Resource Development PI Meeting, Crystal City, VA, March 29, 2004.

Collective Responsibility: A Sample of Graduate School Alliances that Prepare Graduate Students of Color for the Professoriate, Faculty of Color Network Workshop, NSBE, Dallas, TX, March 18, 2004

A New PROMISE in Maryland: A Profile of Maryland's AGEP (poster), American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) AGEP Evaluation Meeting, San Juan, Puerto Rico, Jan. 20, 2004.

Graduate Schools' PROMISE, Graduate Students' Success, NAGS Annual Conference, Baltimore, MD, April 16, 2004.




Higher Education - Graduate School Completion (Audience: Graduate Students/Ph.D. Candidates)

Graduate Student Success: Beyond the Books. Graduate Student Institute, Society for Professional Hispanic Engineers, Phoenix, Arizona, November 2008.

Composing Elements of Your Graduate Student Life: PROJECT L.E.A.D., Future Faculty and Professionals Sympoisum, National GEM Consortium Conference, Las Vegas, NV, October 2007; Washington, DC, September 2008

Leading as You Learn: Optimizing the Graduate School Advisor-Advisee Relationship, AHTEHMS Graduate Student Conference, Society for Professional Hispanic Engineers, Denver, CO, January 2007

Mentoring vs. Advising, and Assessing Campus Climates, Alliance for Graduate Education in Mississippi (AGEM) Conference, Hattiesburg, Mississippi, Jan. 20, 2006

The Importance of Being a Good Citizen in Your Ph.D. Department: Graduate School Politics

and its Effects on Your Successful Completion of the Ph.D., SHPE, Orlando, FL, January 4, 2006

Popularity in the Department, Emerge Conference, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, September 23, 2005

Career Choices and Transitions, (With Michael Smith, Johney Green Jr., and Eric Sheppard), 7th Annual Future Faculty Professional Sumpoisum, National GEM Consortium Conference,Boston, MA, July 1, 2005





Higher Education - Graduate School Preparation (Audience: Undergraduate Students)

FOR Universidad Metropolitana: Model Institutions of Excellence Research Symposium, San Juan, Puerto Rico

- Taller Para Escuela Graduada, January 2009

- Preparation for Success, September 2008

- A Path to Leadership (Keynote), September 16, 2006

- Visualize Your Future with a Ph.D., (Keynote), Dec. 2004

- Know What Graduate Schools are Looking For, October 2004

FOR GEM: Grad Laboratory: Preparing and Applying for Graduate School (National GEM Consortium's Getting Ready for Advanced Degrees 'GRAD LABs' )

- Society for Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), Arlington, VA, February 2008; Phoenix, AZ, November 2008

- American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES), Phoenix, AZ, November 2007

- National GEM Conference, Las Vegas, NV, October 2007; Washington D.C., September 2008

- National Society of Black Engineers Annual Conference, Cincinnati, OH, March 2007, Las Vegas, NV, March 2009

Topics covered: Letters of Recommendation, Statement of Purpose, Graduate Record Exam (GRE)

FOR MIT: Office of Graduate Education, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

- Passion, Preparation, Planning: Be at Your Best, MSRP Summer Series, MIT, June 8, 2009

- Prepare for Graduate School: Optimizing Your Summer Research Experience, MSRP Summer Series, MIT, June 10, 2008

- Leveraging Your Undergraduate Experience for Graduate School Success, MSRP Summer Series, MIT, July 16, 2007

- Your Preparation for the GRE, MSRP Summer Series, MIT, July 11, 2006

FOR CORNELL: College of Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

- Understanding the GRE, Cornell University, College of Engineering, November 6, 2008

- Tools for Graduate School and Understanding the GRE, Cornell University, College of Engineering, November 14, 2007

- Master Keys for Understanding the GRE, Cornell University College of Engineering, April 25, 2007

FOR NSBE: National Society of Black Engineers National Conferences (Presentations not related to GEM)

- AGEP & IGERT: Supporting and Funding Your Graduate Education, with S. Thomas, Pittsburgh, PA, March 20, 2006

- Graduate school 101: An Introduction to Preparing COMPETITIVE Applications , Boston, MA, March 2005 .

- Preparing for Leadership, NSBE National Leadership Institute, North Carolina State University, June 1995.

FOR SHPE: Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers National Conferences (Presentations not related to GEM)

- Confidently Developing Competitive Graduate School Applications, Orlando, FL, January 6, 2006

- How to Prepare a Competitive Graduate School Application, Dallas, TX, January 2005

FOR AISES: American Indian Science and Engineering Society (Presentations not related to GEM)

- Preparing for Graduate School: Understanding the GRE, Phoenix, AZ, November 3, 2007

- An Introduction to the GRE, Charlotte, NC, November 2005

- Understanding Both the Current and the 'New' GRE, American Indian Science and Engineering Society Conference, Detroit, MI, Nov. 4, 2006 (also at National Institutes of Health, Fellowship Program, December 13, 2006

FOR UNIVERSITIES IN MARYLAND & VIRGINIA:

- Funding and Preparation for the GRE, Summer Horizons Conference, UMBC, July 14, 2009

- Understanding the GRE, Bill and Melinda Gates Millennium Scholars Leadership Academy, Baltimore, MD, August 9, 2008

- Preparing for the New (Revised) GRE, Graduate Horizons Conference, UMBC, October 20, 2006

- Preparing for the Current and the New/Revised GRE, University of Maryland College Park, October 6, 2006

- Tools for Doing Well on the GRE , UMBC Graduate Horizons, Baltimore, MD, October 29, 2005

- Elements of the Graduate School Application, UMBC Graduate School Fair, Baltimore, MD, October 19, 2005

- Strategies for Taking the GRE, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, October 7, 2005

- In Pursuit of the Professoriate, Hampton University, Hampton, VA, November 2004

- Expand Your HORIZON, Conquer the GRE, Fall Horizons, UMBC, Baltimore, MD, October 2004

- McNair Scholars,You WILL Score Well on the GRE , McNair Conference, UMBC, Baltimore, MD, September 2004