College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences

Mission Statement

Commitment to Diversity (within the CNAS Plan for Building Diversity)
The vision of the College of Natural and Agricultural Science (CNAS) at UCR is to become a premier college of science, mathematics, and agriculture. To achieve this vision, it is the top priority for CNAS to build an outstanding faculty – one comprised of excellent researchers and teachers and one that is more representative of UCR’s diverse undergraduate student body and the increasingly diverse graduate student population in the College. It is imperative that we diversify the faculty, to serve as effective role models for graduate and undergraduate students and to signal the College’s commitment and intention to achieve better ethnic and gender balance. The College also has a great responsibility in public service to the inland Southern California region and therefore we must also continue to build a more diverse staff, reflective of the extraordinary diversity in the population of Riverside and San Bernardino counties. This commitment to diversity is emphasized in the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences Academic Plan for FY 2005/06 to 2008/09 and is one of the principal goals of the CNAS Dean and Associate Deans.

Diversity Activities

CNAS  has several faculty lines open each year and can provide these positions to departments for top-quality faculty candidates.  These candidates are identified either in existing searches or as “targets of excellence.”

Each search committee has a woman and/or minority member and is tasked to consider diversity as they formulate a search plan and consider applications. The pool of applicants should at the very least reflect the national availability of minorities in the area of the search.

Prior to sending out invitations for interviews, the Dean or an Associate Dean reviews all files in a search to see that diversity has been taken into account and that any minority candidates with competitive records are included in the interview pool.

The SALSA program offers workshops to enhance the success of our new and current junior faculty, professional researchers, and postdoctoral fellows program by providing guidance for the challenges in grantsmanship, publications, and laboratory management

Nurturing CNAS Freshman Scholars Learning Community program.  Students who enroll in such a community l take their Fall course discussion and lab sections together in groups of 20-24.  They are grouped in one of three tracks (Physical Science, Life Science or General Science), with the idea that small communities of students with similar interests and levels of preparation will better learn to work together with each other in achieving their academic goals.
 
Aggressively recruiting Regents’ and Chancellors’ scholars by sponsoring receptions for students as soon as names are obtained.
 
Expanding opportunities for undergraduate student research through the College’s Coordinator of Undergraduate Research, the California Alliance for Minority Participation and MARC U* STAR programs.

Enhancing student advising with the consolidation of the location of the Biological Sciences Undergraduate Advising and Student Academic Affairs Offices.

Providing a clear route for students with an interest in the allied health professions that is open to the entire campus and is integrated with all majors/tracks and opportunities in the College.

Expanding opportunities for learning and personal growth for undergraduates through genuine research opportunities has been a particular focus of the College. The Dean’s Fellow Summer Internship program offers selected students a paid, full-time summer research position under the mentorship of a faculty member, including weekly group meetings with the Dean to discuss their research projects. In addition, outstanding students are selected each year from the CNAS Scholars Program for eight-week summer research experiences

CNAS has a record of working cooperatively with the Graduate Division in recruiting efforts. As an example, the College together with the Graduate Division and Office of Research  assisted with the development of a successful National Science Foundation IGERT grant in chemical genomics. A $2.9 million grant from the NSF Integrative Graduate Education and Research Trainee (IGERT) program, led by PI Julia Bailey-Serres in the Center for Plant Cell Biology, will train 23 Ph.D. students in cell biology, chemistry, computational sciences and engineering. As part of the grant, NSF provides a highly attractive stipend of $30,000 per student for each of two years – funding that affords a powerful recruiting incentive for the most highly qualified graduate students, including those from underrepresented minority groups.

Future Diversity Activities

To work cooperatively with the Graduate Division Academic Preparation and Outreach Office to recruit and retain a diverse group of graduate students. Success will require a partnership effort between the Graduate Division, which coordinates graduate student recruiting on behalf of the entire campus, and each academic unit, which creates the environment in which students may flourish.
To encourage more of our undergraduate students to pursue postbaccalaureate studies, thereby “growing-our-own” pool of potential graduate students.

To facilitate student participation in undergraduate research conferences, such as the Southern California Conference on Undergraduate Research, Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students, and the conference of the Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science.

To develop a consistent advertising presence in relevant local, regional and national media (including ethnic media).

Contacts

• Don Cookse
• Angie Guzman
• Linda Walling
• Gary Scott
• CNAS Faculty
• CNAS Dean’s Office