08.20.08

UVa Remains Leader in Graduating Black Students

Posted in African, Education, Jacob Canon, The Oscar Show, UVa College of Arts & Sciences, University of Virginia at 11:04 am by Jacob Canon

In today’s show, adapted from an article written by Anne E. Bromley, Senior Writer, Editor for UVa’s Office of Public Affairs, we discuss UVa’s outstanding graduation rates among African-American students at all public universities in the nation.

For the 14th straight year, the University of Virginia’s African-American students posted the highest graduation rate among those at all public universities in the nation, according to the annual compilation published in the winter 2007-08 issue, of the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. The journal reports that U.Va.’s graduation rate of 87 percent makes it “the leader by far in successfully graduating black students” at flagship state universities.

William Harvey, U.Va.’s vice president and chief officer for diversity and equity, pointed out, “when comparing other Association of American Universities member institutions, the U.Va. graduation rate is the only public institution in the top 10.”

The next closest public universities are the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of California-Berkeley, both with 73 percent, and the University of Michigan, with 70 percent. The national average is 44 percent, compared to 63 percent for white students.

The journal, using data from the National Collegiate Athletic Association, deliberately highlights public universities because three-fourths of African-American students in college attend them.

Overall, U.Va. ranks 19th nationally, behind 18 private universities and colleges of varying sizes. The top group comprises 28 schools with black graduation rates of 86 percent to 96 percent, postaed by Harvard. In addition to comparing black and white students at highly ranked institutions, the journal analyzes the data several other ways, comparing by gender, comparing historically black colleges and universities to predominantly white institutions and comparing different types of institutions.

U.Va. reflects a trend across the country: African-American women’s graduation rates are surging ahead of their male counterparts. According to data from U.Va.’s Office of Institutional Assessment and Studies, 91 percent of black women graduate in a six-year period, compared to 83 percent of black men. The University’s overall graduation rate is about 93 percent, which includes white and Asian-American students.

Nationally, the graduation rate for African-American women rose to 48 percent compared to 37 percent for African-American men. Peter Yu, assistant dean of African-American Affairs said, “We need to do more for males. Women utilize support services and resources much more than males.” One of the key factors in the success of black students at U.Va. is the Office of African-American Affairs’ nationally known Peer Advisor Program. Associate dean Sylvia Terry, founder and director of the program, said, “the Peer Advisor Program picks up where the Admissions Office leaves off.” She credits the University’s Office of Admissions to the integral part it plays in recruiting the best students.

Terry said, “We want them to be successful and continue the excellence they bring to our institution. Our Office of Admissions is phenomenal in its work in recruiting students. They are attentive to students in responding to questions, presenting opportunities and working with parents. Our office picks up in the summer writing families and inviting t hem to the University of Virginia family.”

Dr. Maurice Apprey, who has headed African-American Affairs since 2006, recently said his office’s latest initiatives are designed to set the bar higher for black students, urging them to reach beyond the goal of graduating and improve their academic performance, take full advantage of all of the University’s opportunities and increase the number going on to graduate and professional schools. Despite the low national average graduation rate, the good news for African-Americans is that those who graduate have a median income close to that of white college graduates.

Terry noted one of the ideas of Freeman Habrowski, president of University of Maryland in Baltimore County, a leader in diversity in higher education: “the importance of recruiting the family when attracting [minority] students to predominantly white institutions. She said, “We have done this for years.”

You’ve been listening to the Oscar Show, I’m Jacob Canon. Join us for our next show, when we will well discuss the research of Jessica Voorhees Norris, a Ph.D. candidate in forensic chemistry at UVa, who has developed a method for handling rape kit evidence that reduces part of the DNA analysis time from 24 hours to as little as 30 to 45 minutes.

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07.23.08

Deborah E. McDowell recently named director of the Carter G. Woodson Institute for African-American and African Studies at UVa

Posted in African, Jacob Canon, The Oscar Show, UVa College of Arts & Sciences, University of Virginia at 11:04 am by Jacob Canon

In today’s show, adapted from an article written by Anne Bromley, senior writer and editor for UVa Media Relations, we look at well-known writer, scholar and editor of African-American literature for both academic and general audiences, Deborah E. McDowell who was recently named director of the Carter G. Woodson Institute for African-American and African Studies at UVa.

Well-known writer, scholar and editor of African-American literature for both academic and general audiences, Deborah E. McDowell, was recently named director of the Carter G. Woodson Institute for African-American and African Studies at UVa.

The Woodson Institute, an interdisciplinary teaching and research center, was established in 1981 in response to student and faculty requests for a more coherent African-American and African Studies program and a more aggressive program of minority recruitment at the University. It is named after Carter Woodson, the “father of African-American history,” to honor the Virginia-born founder of African and African-American Studies who also inaugurated Black History Week (now Black History Month).

William B. Harvey, U.Va. Vice President and Chief Officer for Diversity and Equity and a member of the institute’s advisory board, said her appointment is great for the University. “She is an outstanding scholar and a visionary leader. She has the qualities to make the Woodson Institute one of the best centers in the nation.”

The institute selects scholars working in the humanities and social sciences for two-year pre-doctoral or one-year postdoctoral fellowships. The program is intended to facilitate the completion of dissertations or manuscripts in African-American and African Studies and related fields. In addition to overseeing undergraduate majors and minors, the interdisciplinary institute sponsors pre- and postdoctoral fellowships and a visiting scholars program. About 120 graduate students have benefited from the fellowships.

Dr. Maurice Apprey, dean of the Office of African-American Affairs said, “McDowell is strongly motivated to advance the educational mission of the Woodson Institute, in ways that would propel the University into the forefront of African, Caribbean and African-American studies nationally. A professor of English with a strong interdisciplinary fund of knowledge and conceptual rigor, she is very much suited to promote the transfer of knowledge and methods of application that our undergraduate, graduate students and fellows need to succeed.”

McDowell, a member of UVa.’s English department faculty since 1987 and the Alice Griffin Professor of Literary Studies at the University of Virginia said, “Over the years, we’ve had an impressive record of fellows moving to academic appointments here and elsewhere.” Her plans include doubling the number of fellowships per term from five to 10 next year and to go up to 12 the following year.

McDowell, who received her master’s and Ph.D. degrees from Purdue University and her B.A. from Tuskegee University said, the institute has been allotted faculty positions dedicated to supplementing gaps in the curriculum, especially to better represent Africa. With the Department of Religious Studies, for instance, a concentration in religions of the African Diaspora is taking shape.

Another new program begun this year under McDowell is an occasional series, “Currents in Conversation,” which aims to bring together members of the University and the broader community to discuss a topic from current events. The first one followed Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama’s speech in March about the campaign, “A More Perfect Union.”

You’ve been listening to the Oscar Show, I’m Jacob Canon… Join us next week when we look at the Walter A. Ridley Distinguished Lecture at the University of Virginia, held recently in the Rotunda’s Dome Room.

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