Overview

In June 2023, the United States Supreme Court delivered pivotal rulings on affirmative action, reshaping the terrain for admissions policies and practices in all institutions of higher education, including graduate education. As colleges and universities grapple with this shifting legal landscape, there’s a pressing need to explore innovative approaches to selection processes and practices that uphold diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion principles to allow graduate institutions to benefit from the nation’s full range of talent and foster creativity and innovation in science.

During this webinar, experts in graduate education and systemic-change management will discuss evidence-based practices and case studies of successful holistic admissions programs. The webinar will provide faculty, admission officers, and other higher education professionals with a roadmap for implementing mission-driven systemic change in graduate admissions.

This webinar is closely related to a webinar the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) hosted in 2023, “Creating Equitable and Inclusive Graduate Programs: From Recruitment to Admission to Retention.”

About the Speakers

Sara Xayarath Hernández
Associate Dean for Inclusion and Student & Faculty Engagement
Graduate School at Cornell University

As the associate dean for Inclusion and Student & Faculty Engagement for the Graduate School at Cornell University, Hernández serves as a member of the Vice Provost for Graduate Education’s senior leadership team providing vision and strategic management for Graduate School initiatives and policies related to access, diversity, inclusion, equity, and systemic change in graduate admissions and mentoring. In collaboration with partners within the Graduate School and the Provost Office of Faculty Development and Diversity, Hernández co-leads the Faculty Advancing Inclusive Mentoring Resource Center supporting faculty in their development as mentors and graduate students in their mentoring experiences.

Hernández is the principal investigator for a Sloan Foundation-funded grant focused on improving equity-based holistic admissions and mentoring practices for graduate students within the Sloan University Centers for Exemplary Mentoring and Sloan Indigenous Graduate Partnership communities. She is also a steering committee and leadership team member for the national Equity in Graduate Education Consortium. Additionally, Hernández serves on steering and advisory committees for the Ivy+ Faculty Advancement Network, Council of Graduate Schools, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration.

Hernández identifies as Chicana and Mestiza and is the child of first and second-generation immigrants. She grew up in a rural, Midwestern farming community where alongside her mother, she engaged in social equity work with migrant farmworker communities from an early age. She is a first-generation college graduate holding a Bachelor of Arts in Zoology from Ohio Wesleyan University and a Master of Regional Planning from Cornell University. Navigating life in partnership with her husband and keeping up with their young daughter bring her great joy and keep her grounded.

Denzil A. Streete, Ph.D.
Senior Associate Dean and Director of Graduate Education
Massachusetts Institute of Technology 

Dr. Streete serves as the senior associate dean and director of Graduate Education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he leads the team responsible for the wellbeing of the Institute’s 7,000+ graduate students. He previously served as the assistant vice provost for Graduate Studies and Chief of Staff at the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley and as assistant dean for Graduate Student Development and Diversity at Yale University’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Driven by his own Ph.D. experience, Dr. Streete has devoted his career to transforming graduate education, focusing on the recruitment and retention of minoritized students and expanding their post-graduate career opportunities.

In addition to speaking at campuses and national conferences, Dr. Streete employs web-based approaches to student recruitment. Notably, he initiated the “Pipeline to the Ph.D. Bootcamp” in 2018 and other disciplinary bootcamps, which have provided over 5,000 underrepresented students nationwide with tools and knowledge for applying to competitive doctoral programs. He also facilitates workshops for faculty and staff with individual graduate programs to enhance their recruitment strategies and departmental climates.

Born in Morvant, Trinidad and Tobago, Denzil moved to the United States for his college education. He graduated with honors from St. Francis College in Brooklyn, New York, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics. Later, he obtained his doctorate from Columbia University’s Teachers College, specializing in Comparative and International Education with a focus on the Economics of Education.

About the moderator

Brittany Haynes, Ph.D.
Program Director of Workforce Diversity and Equity
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Office for Disparities Research and Workforce Diversity 

Dr. Haynes is the program director of Workforce Diversity and Equity in the Office for Disparities Research and Workforce Diversity at NIMH. In this role, Dr. Haynes coordinates and promotes a research grant portfolio focused on achieving workforce diversity and equity at all scientific career levels, from undergraduate students to faculty, in the mental health space.

Previously, Dr. Haynes was a scientific program specialist in the Education Branch of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences’ (NCATS) Office of Policy, Communications, and Education. At NCATS, she worked to expand the translational science workforce by evaluating translational science training programs and developing translational science curriculums. Dr. Haynes received her doctorate in Cancer Biology from Wayne State University and completed her postdoctoral fellowship at the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Haynes was also an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)Science and Technology Policy Fellow in the NCATS Division of Preclinical Innovation intramural training office.

About the Office for Disparities Research and Workforce Diversity Webinar Series

The Office for Disparities Research and Workforce Diversity Webinar Series is designed for investigators conducting or interested in conducting research on mental health disparities, women’s mental health, minority mental health, and rural mental health.

Registration

This webinar is free, but registration is required .