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FIRST Action Team

Meet & Greet

September 26, 2019

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What is FIRST?

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Fostering Inclusivity & Respect in Science Together

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  • Five-year, $1 million HHMI Inclusive Excellence grant

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  • Identify, analyze, and address factors that hinder student success in science

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FIRST Action Team Students

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Spring 2019 Fall 2019

• Claudia Hernandez ‘20 (CHE) • Claudia Hernandez ‘20 (CHE)

• Sabid Hossain ‘21 (PHY) • Sabid Hossain ‘21 (PHY)

• Jonathan Kim ‘19 (BIO) • Wilbert Garcia ‘21 (CSC)

• Kasey Leung ‘21 (PHY) • Tanatswa Muchenje ‘22 (BIO)

• Haleena Phillips ‘21 (BIO) • Roy Toston ‘20 (BIO)

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FIRST Consultants Team

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Challenge = insufficient student feedback

• SP19 Action Team: BIO (2), PHY (2), CHE (1)

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Solution = Consultants Team

• Advise FIRST Action Team

• Guide project directions

• >30 students & alumni

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Barriers

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• Lack of diversity in Davidson natural science and math (NSM) faculty members and students

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• Lack of NSM justice, equality, & community (JEC) courses

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• Lack of support for NSM/pre-health students of color (SoCs)

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• Lack of SoC voices in NSM departments

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• Disconnects between white faculty and SoCs

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STEM Truth Infographics

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Highlight demographic disparities at Davidson

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MILE: More Inclusive Learning Environments

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Student-Faculty Pedagogical Partnership

• Students are experience experts

• Faculty members are content experts

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• Fall 2019: PHY125 first MILE pilot

• Spring 2020: four NSM MILE pilots

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Justice, Equality, & Community (JEC) Courses

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• Implement more NSM JEC courses to emphasize how scientific knowledge promotes diversity and inclusion

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• Recommend a NSM JEC course specifically examining how research biases affect marginalized communities

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• BIO161 Being Human in STEM (Spring 2020)

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NSM Seminars

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Challenge = lack of diversity in NSM faculty & speakers

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Result = limits student experiences with

researchers from marginalized groups

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Goal = interdisciplinary speakers who

Consider issues through different lenses

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Upcoming Speakers:

11.20.19 Smith Lecture Hakeem Oluseyi (NASA/FIT)

11.22.19 Sara Giordano (UC Davis)

02.10.20 Karmella Haynes (Emory)

02.25.20 Nathan Alexander (Morehouse)

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~ Q & A ~