Georgia Institute of Technology
PAE-8: Support Programs for Underrepresented Groups

Challenge is a signature bridge program. It is a five-week, intensive program that is held every summer for incoming Georgia Tech freshman. In Challenge, students are immersed in the Georgia Tech environment; they live in a freshman dorm, take classes provided by Georgia Tech professors, and participate in social and academic workshops provided by upper-class Tech students.

OMED TRANSITIONS is a one-day program designed to help acclimate you to the academic and social environments at Georgia tech. You will be introduced to the many resources available for you here at Georgia Tech and will have the opportunity to network with faculty, staff and current students.

OMED’s Team Coach is a peer mentoring program that supports Tech freshmen, dual degree, and transfer students academically and socially throughout their first year. Upperclassmen, serving as coaches, mentor participants as they acclimate to the new responsibilities and challenges of Georgia Tech.

Hispanic Initiatives offers and supports programs designed to recruit, retain, and promote the success of students of Hispanic/Latino origin. The programs promote sustainable change, have a long-term impact on the campus, and enhance the personal and professional development of Hispanic/Latino students with the support and involvement of the Georgia Tech community, including faculty, staff, and alumni. Hispanic Initiatives’ role and contributions have been instrumental to the success achieved in the recruitment and retention of Hispanic students during the past several years.

Minority Faculty Development Workshop
The Minority Faculty Development Workshop (MFDW), supported by the National Science Foundation, offers career development opportunities to African American, Hispanic, and Native American graduate or postdoctoral students.

College of Engineering Faculty Mentoring Award
The faculty of a university is one of the most important factors in creating an intellectually enriching environment for students and each other, the Georgia Tech College of Engineering recognizes the importance of providing research and teaching development for faculty members. To recognize the efforts of the many faculty members on campus who already mentor other faculty members, and to encourage mentoring among the faculty, the College of Engineering and the SUCCEED Faculty Development Program at Georgia Tech have established the College of Engineering Faculty Mentoring Award.

The College of Engineering Faculty Mentoring Award recognizes a Georgia Tech mentor and mentee who together have demonstrated an exemplary teaching and/or research mentoring partnership. Both the mentor and mentee must be permanent Georgia Tech employees who are academic faculty. Thus, nominees may be of the same or different ranks, and of the same or different schools. The award will be given annually and will consist of $5,000 to be equally shared between the faculty members to enhance their teaching, research, and/or mentoring activities at Georgia Tech, and $5,000 to the school of the faculty recipients to be utilized to enhance faculty mentoring activities within the school.

Goizueta Foundation Endowment
Georgia Tech established a comprehensive package to support Hispanic students and faculty through permanent scholarship and fellowship endowments using a gift from The Goizueta Foundation, established by the late CEO and chairman of the board of directors of the Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Company, Roberto C. Goizueta.

The package created an endowed chair and an endowed professorship, plus support for new undergraduate scholarships and graduate fellowships – all with preferences for people of Hispanic origin. In addition, the gift funds a staff position tasked with overseeing Tech’s efforts to recruit and retain Hispanic students.

Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)/Minority Institutions (MIs) Research Outreach Program
Georgia Tech has created a Web site to assist its faculty members in undertaking research collaborations with their counterparts at HBCUs/MIs. This site identifies the research programs and faculty at HBCU/MI institutions available to participate in joint proposals on a broad cross-section of research topics. The website also offers information about services and resources available to Georgia Tech faculty seeking research collaborations with HBCU/MI faculty. The Web site will continue to update collaborators and resources for the Tech community.

http://www.diversity.gatech.edu/initiatives/faculty

Diversity initiatives for staff are organized and led by the Office of Human Resources which has designed a people strategy with workforce goals in support of performance excellence. Polices and programmatic support that build community and foster inclusion are indicated below.

Mentoring and Networking
Mentoring has been cited as best practices in industry and in higher education. Research studies show that people who have mentors are more successful in their careers. Georgia Tech supports the practice of mentoring and values this powerful tool to engage employees, and promote employee career and leadership development.

Mentor Tech
Mentor Tech is an Institute-sponsored program run by the Office of Human Resources. The nine-month program seeks to empower employees to further their career development by tapping into the wealth of experience and talent possessed by other Georgia Tech employees. The three objectives of Mentor Tech are (1) to offer professional career and leadership development, (2) to provide an informal advisor to help others succeed and grow in the Georgia Tech environment, and (3) to enhance performance in current employment role. The program also exposes participants to diversity issues at Georgia Tech.

For more information on Mentor Tech, contact Deborah Covin Wilson.

Informal Mentoring and Networking Opportunities
"Opportunities" is a focused initiative for the staff in parallel with faculty initiatives of this kind. Periodic networking opportunities are designed to further informal connections that will assist employees with successfully navigating their careers at Georgia Tech and beyond. Such initiatives have included: Minorities in Management; Women Leading@ Tech; and a Diversity Roundtable inclusive of a diverse cross-section of staff employees. Emerging plans include enhancing the performance management system with robust career intelligence and talent management components. Informal learning and development opportunities will continue to be a part of these plans.

For more information about how you can get involved, please contact Pearl Alexander, Senior Director for Human Resources and Diversity Management.

Workplace Education Programs
The workplace education program at Georgia Tech is comprised of three components: GED/Skills Enhancement, English as a Second Language (ESL), and Workplace Spanish. Each of the three components requires commitment from the Institute, department, and the employee in order to be successful.

GED/Skills Enhancement Program
The objective of this program is to improve the basic reading, language, and math skill levels of employees, which will enable them to work to obtain a GED. This program also assists employees who already possess a GED or high school education but need to improve their skills. Several outcomes can be achieved through this program: (1) improved employee retention rates, (2) improved employee morale, (3) improved overall skill level of the workforce, and (4) increased potential for upward mobility.

English as A Second Language (ESL)
The objective of this program is to provide basic English language communication skills to employees with little or no English proficiency. As Georgia Tech continues to identify and recruit from a diverse pool of applicants, one of the barriers to successful employment is the lack of the ability to orally communicate in English. Many companies have found that providing these skills increased loyalty, reduced turnover rates, and increased the opportunity for upward mobility.

Workplace Spanish
The objective of this program is to provide supervisors and other employees with basic Spanish skills in order to communicate effectively with employees with little or no English proficiency. This program works hand in hand with the ESL program. As more employees are hired who are non-English speakers, there is a need to communicate effectively with them. This class is also becoming a necessity for many of our employees who serve our diverse student body.

For more information on Georgia Tech’s Workplace Education Programs, contact Deborah Covin Wilson.

Work/Life
Human Resources provides guidance on the implementation of flexible work arrangements, and in partnership with other campus units, promotes employee work/life programs. For more information visit www.ohr.gatech.edu/worklife.

http://www.diversity.gatech.edu/initiatives/staff