DECADE-Biological Sciences
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What is DECADE?
DECADE was founded at UCI in 2010 by Graduate Dean Frances Leslie. Originally funded through a Department of Education grant, the effort combined student programming with faculty mentorship in a comprehensive program to improve the overall climate in graduate education at UCI.
The term DECADE, Diverse Educational Community and Doctoral Experience, reflects the campus aspiration to achieve diversity parity in graduate programs with undergraduate education within 10 years. Since the founding of the program, however, undergraduate enrollment has grown dramatically. Faced with the challenges of fostering access to graduate school admission and retention and the growing enrollment gap, a great deal of work remains to meet the program's original goals.
In 2015, Provost Enrique Lavernia institutionalized the DECADE program, which is now funded by Graduate Division and the Office of Inclusive Excellence. In 2016, the Office of Inclusive Excellence appointed Professor Roxane Cohen Silver as the Associate Director for the ADVANCE Program. In this role, Associate Director Silver oversees the DECADE Faculty Mentor Program, with a focus on graduate admissions, mentoring current students, and engaging faculty with the graduate student population to ensure an inclusive environment. UCI Graduate Division continues to manage the gradate student portion of the DECADE program, including the DECADE Student Council, DECADE Press, DECADE Speaker Series, and the DECADE Journal Club, among other programming.
DECADE Mentors
DECADE Mentors are committed to fostering an inclusive environment within their academic programs, and promoting diversity within the graduate student population. They serve as a resource to graduate students and faculty alike, collaborating with Equity Advisors, Graduate Directors/Advisors, and Graduate Division to accomplish the program's goals.
There are currently 43 DECADE Mentors campus wide, each covering a specific graduate program within their Program or School.
Find out who your DECADE Mentor is:
| School | Graduate Program | DECADE Mentor |
|---|---|---|
| Biological Sciences | Ecology and Evolutionary Biology | Donovan German |
| Molecular Biology & Biochemistry | Melissa Lodoen | |
| Neurobiology and Behavior | Susana Cohen-Cory |
Student Council
Campus-Wide DECADE Student Council
Doctoral students across campus may get involved on a larger scale by working with the UCI Campus DECADE Student Council, who arrange on events and produce a quarterly newsletter. Visit their webpage for more information.
School Based Decade Student Councils
Several on campus currently have a school-based DECADE Student Council. Reach out to your DECADE mentor to get involved:
- Claire Trevor School of the Arts and the School of Humanities
- School of Biological Sciences
- School of Education
- School of Information & Computer Science and Samueli School of Engineering
- School of Physical Sciences
Interested in starting a DECADE Student Council in your school? Please discuss with your peers and your DECADE mentor, and reach out to Claudia Campos at cfcampos@uci.edu.
Get Involved
Campus-wide DECADE Student Council - Visit their webpage for more information and to get involved
School-Based DECADE Council - contact your DECADE mentor to get involved
Upcoming DECADE events - open to students and faculty
Faculty interested in getting more involved, please contact Samantha Anderson in the Office of Inclusive Excellence at sanders2@uci.edu.
Funding Opportunities
Mentoring Fellowships
Faculty Mentor Program (FMP) **
Dissertation Fellowships
President’s Dissertation Year Fellowship (PDY) **
Graduate Dean’s Dissertation Fellowship (GDDF) **
Differences between PDY and GDDF:
- Amount of funding: PDY pays $21,600 plus fees. GDDF pays up to $18,000 plus fees.
- Eligibility: PDY is a diversity fellowhip that has criteria similar to the Faculty Mentor Program. GDDF is a merit fellowship open to students in the following programs:
- All programs within the School of Humanities
- All programs within the School of Social Sciences except for Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience
- All programs within the School of Social Ecology except for Psychology and Social Behavior
- The Drama and Theatre program and the Integrated Composition, Improvisation and Technology (ICIT) program in School of the Arts
- The Management program in the School of Business
- The Statistics program in the School of Information and Computer Sciences
- You can apply to both programs but can only receive one fellowship.
*Typically announced in February
**Typically announced in March
Other Funding
DECADE Student Travel Awards - Graduate students who actively participate in DECADE are eligible and encouraged to apply for funds to support their travel to professional development or research conferences. Awards of up to $1,000 are available. [/fusion_toggle][fusion_toggle title="Find Out More" open="no"]
Students looking to find out more about the campus wide DECADE Student Council, please contact Claudia Campos at cfcampos@uci.edu. To find out more about forming a school-based DECADE council in your school, please contact your DECADE Mentor.
To find out more about upcoming DECADE events and activities, please visit the DECADE webpage.