Resources & Activities for Historically Disadvantaged & Underrepresented Students of Color

Financial Resources

Prospective Students

The Graduate School at UW-Madison offers a limited number of application fee grants to qualified targeted applicants. See Application Fee Grants at http://info.gradsch.wisc.edu/education/diversity/funding.html

CHANGE-IGERT (Certificate on Humans and the Global Environment) Graduate Training Program at the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at UW-Madison: http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/soc/grad/change-igert.php (for incoming students)

Javits (federal, in-coming and 1st year graduate students are eligible; link to Javits homepage): http://www.ed.gov/programs/jacobjavits/index.html

Ford Pre-doctoral (foundation, 1st-3rd year graduate students are eligible; links for pre-doctoral fellowship): http://www7.nationalacademies.org/fordfellowships/

NSF Pre-doctoral (federal, 1st-2nd year graduate students are eligible):
http://www.nsf.gov/ (NSF homepage)
https://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/grfp/Login.do (link to NSF's GRFP info and application)

AOF (university, department nominated; general info about AOF): http://www.grad.wisc.edu/education/funding/aof.html

Funding resources at UW for grad students:
http://www.grad.wisc.edu/education/funding/index.html

Additional UW fellowships for grad students:
http://www.grad.wisc.edu/education/funding/gsfellowships.html

American Sociological Association's (ASA) extensive list of funding for grad students in sociology:
http://www.asanet.org/cs/root/topnav/sociology_depts/funding_sources_for_graduate_students

Other information for prospective graduate students: http://info.gradsch.wisc.edu/education/admissions/index.html

New Students

Welcome: http://info.gradsch.wisc.edu/education/gradstdntlife/welcome.html

Graduate School main page: http://www.wisc.edu/grad/index.html

Javits (federal, in-coming and 1st year graduate students are eligible; link to Javits homepage): http://www.ed.gov/programs/jacobjavits/index.html

Ford Pre-doctoral (foundation, 1st-3rd year graduate students are eligible; links for pre-doctoral fellowship): http://www7.nationalacademies.org/fordfellowships/

NSF Pre-doctoral (federal, 1st-2nd year graduate students are eligible):
http://www.nsf.gov/ (NSF homepage)
https://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/grfp/Login.do (link to NSF's GRFP info and application)

American Sociological Association's (ASA) extensive list of funding for grad students in sociology:
http://www.asanet.org/cs/root/topnav/sociology_depts/funding_sources_for_graduate_students
(general)
http://www.asanet.org/page.ww?section=Funding&name=Minority+Fellowship+Program (Minority Fellowship Program)

FLAS (internal, research-related language acquisition; link for FLAS info at UW): http://global.wisc.edu/funding/flas.htm

IRP (internal, poverty-related research; link for IRP fellowship info at UW): http://www.irp.wisc.edu/initiatives/trainedu/igrfp.htm

ITP (internal, education-related research; link for ITP fellowship info at UW): http://itp.wceruw.org/index.php

Link for funding resources at UW for grad students:
http://www.grad.wisc.edu/education/funding/index.html

Additional UW fellowships for grad students:
http://www.grad.wisc.edu/education/funding/gsfellowships.html

Continuing Students

The main Graduate School page: http://www.wisc.edu/grad/index.html

Ford Pre/post-doctoral (foundation, multiple grants with different eligibility requirements; with link for pre-doctoral and dissertation fellowships): http://www7.nationalacademies.org/fordfellowships/

NSF Pre/post-doctoral (federal, multiple grants with different eligibility requirements; with link to post-doc application): https://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/jsp/homepage/postdoc_fel.jsp

American Sociological Association's (ASA) extensive list of funding for grad students in sociology:
http://www.asanet.org/cs/root/topnav/sociology_depts/funding_sources_for_graduate_students (general)
http://www.asanet.org/page.ww?section=Funding&name=Minority+Fellowship+Program (Minority Fellowship Program)

Erskine A. Peters Dissertation Year Fellowship at Notre Dame: http://www.h-net.org/announce/show.cgi?ID=164278

FLAS (internal, research-related language acquisition; link for FLAS info at UW): http://global.wisc.edu/funding/flas.htm

IRP (internal, poverty-related research; link for IRP fellowship info at UW): http://www.irp.wisc.edu/initiatives/trainedu/igrfp.htm

ITP (internal, education-related research; link for ITP fellowship info at UW): http://itp.wceruw.org/index.php

Vilas Travel Competition (internal, research-related travel): http://info.gradsch.wisc.edu/education/gsc/vilas/vilasinfo.html

Link for funding resources at UW for grad students: http://www.grad.wisc.edu/education/funding/index.html

Additional UW fellowships for grad students: http://www.grad.wisc.edu/education/funding/gsfellowships.html

MRRC

Mission Statement

The Minority Recruitment and Retention Committee (MRRC) of the UW-Madison Graduate Program of the Department of Sociology and the Department of Community and Environmental Sociology is a group of graduate students, staff and faculty who meet regularly to actively recruit and retain historically disadvantaged and underrepresented students and faculty of color, monitor and improve racial climate, and seek out financial and other resources for underrepresented students. Prospective or current students should feel free to contact members of the Committee with questions about the graduate program, underrepresented students' perspectives, or the Committee's goals.

History/Origins

In 2003, the department established the MRRC to improve diversity in the graduate student population. The committee is made up of faculty, staff, and graduate students who are passionately concerned to meet the goal of improved representation. Because of this committee, and the goals that it set, the Department of Sociology was one of five departments in the UW College of Letters and Science selected to receive a share of an NSF grant that has considerably aided our recruitment and retention efforts. As a consequence of these efforts, the department increased the proportion of underrepresented students in the graduate student population from 7% in 2003 to 11% in 2008-an increase of over 150%. Every spring, the MRRC reports on the year's progress and sets the agenda for the upcoming year at a "town meeting" consisting of faculty, staff, and graduate students in the combined Sociology and Community and Environmental Sociology program.

Group Definitions

Our graduate program strongly encourages historically disadvantaged and underrepresented students of color to apply. There are several, sometimes inconsistent, definitions of underrepresented and disadvantaged groups. The University of Wisconsin-Madison adheres to federal definitions, which includes the following US-born groups

  • African American/Black
  • American Indian/Alaskan Native
  • Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Cuban
  • Cambodian, Vietnamese, Laotian, and Hmong
  • Indigenous Peoples of Hawaii, Alaska or the U.S. Territories (Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, Marianas Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands)

The MRRC is working to extend the definition of the Latino subgroup to include persons of other disadvantaged Latino ethnicities, since research has demonstrated that the levels of educational attainment among this subgroup are on par with other groups that are currently recognized as disadvantaged and underrepresented.

Activities/Events

The MRRC efforts focus on improving the department's academic, organizational, and social climate. On-going activities and events include: a minority solidarity group whose members gather regularly to share experiences and coping strategies; a department-wide student-to-student mentoring system to better integrate all graduate students; a data collection project on admission and retention of historically disadvantaged and underrepresented students of color; and a 10-year commitment to hold an annual department meeting to discuss minority recruitment and retention and climate issues. The main objectives of the annual meeting are to assess our program's progress regarding diversity issues and to provide a forum for faculty, staff, and students to gain a better understanding of the experiences of minority students in our department.

Members
Current Graduate Students

Current Faculty & Staff

Past Members

  • Cecilia Ceja (Graduate Student)
  • Aimée R. Dechter (Assistant Professor of Sociology)
  • Lena Etuk (Graduate Student)
  • Gary Green (Professor of Community & Environmental Sociology)
  • Hanna Grol-Prokopczyk (Graduate Student)
  • Marlene Lee (Senior Research Associate, Population Reference Bureau)
  • Mytoan Nguyen (Graduate Student)
  • Randy Stoecker (Professor of Community & Environmental Sociology)

Graduate Student Life

Campus Resources

Diversity@UW - Overview
http://www.diversity.wisc.edu/

Multicultural Graduate Network
http://www.grad.wisc.edu/mgn/

Association of Asian-American Graduate Students
http://aaags.blogspot.com/

MultiCultural Student Coalition (MCSC)
http://msc.wisc.edu/orgs/mcsc.php

Graduate Research Scholars Communities
http://info.gradsch.wisc.edu/education/diversity/gradscholar.html

Graduate Student Collaborative
http://info.gradsch.wisc.edu/education/gsc/index.html

Graduate Student Professional Development Academic & Professional Skills
http://info.gradsch.wisc.edu/education/gspd/skills.html

Graduate Student Life
http://info.gradsch.wisc.edu/education/gradstdntlife/index.html

Community Resources

The Madison Times (Minority-owned community newspaper)
http://themadisontimes.com/

ISTHMUS, The Daily Page (Community-wide events)
http://www.thedailypage.com/

Umoja Magazine (Publication geared toward the African American community)
http://www.umojamagazine.com/index.html

Centro Hispano (Programs geared toward the Latino community)
http://www.chdc.us/

La Movida (Madison Spanish radio station with links to activities and organizations)
http://www.lamovidaradio.com/indexen.php

Wisconsin Hmong Life Newspaper (no website)
P.O. Box 258038, Madison, WI 53725-8038, (608) 257-9692

Dane County Farmer's Market
http://www.dcfm.org/

Concerts on the Square
http://www.wcoconcerts.org/new/cos/concertsonthesquare.php

Overture Center
http://www.overturecenter.com/

Wisconsin Union Theater
http://www.uniontheater.wisc.edu/

Legal Resources

University, Office for Equity and Diversity
(includes information on filing discrimination and harassment complaints, and a summary of relevant laws, policies & regulations for Affirmative Action & Equal Opportunity)
http://www.oed.wisc.edu/

City of Madison, Office of Civil Rights
(includes an overview of the policies and procedures related to diversity issues within the city of Madison; for example, housing discrimination and access issues)
http://www.cityofmadison.com/dcr/