Dr. Renetta Garrison Tull

Reed, A. M., & Tull, R. G., & Delaine, D. A., & Williams, D. N., & Sigamoney, R. (2016, June), Building Global Infrastructure for Diversity and Inclusion in Engineering Education Paper presented at 2016 ASEE International Forum, New Orleans, Louisiana. https://peer.asee.org/27237

" ... the field of engineering is at a critical crossroads, at which it is imperative that thought-leaders from multiple nations across academia, industry, and the government, come together to initialize a… Show more

Reed, A. M., & Tull, R. G., & Delaine, D. A., & Williams, D. N., & Sigamoney, R. (2016, June), Building Global Infrastructure for Diversity and Inclusion in Engineering Education Paper presented at 2016 ASEE International Forum, New Orleans, Louisiana. https://peer.asee.org/27237

" ... the field of engineering is at a critical crossroads, at which it is imperative that thought-leaders from multiple nations across academia, industry, and the government, come together to initialize a global scale collaborative effort to diversify the field. This paper describes one such diversity effort that took place at the 2015 World Engineering Education Forum (WEEF) in Florence, Italy, that resulted from prior meetings and conversations at the 2014 WEEF meeting in Dubai, UAE, and the 2015 ASEE meeting with UNESCO in Seattle, WA, USA, which in concert expand on the International Federation of Engineering Education Societies’ (IFEES) increased emphasis on inclusion." Show less

Orbits surrounding engineering departments can have negative effects on diverse scholars, and challenges related to broadening participation in engineering can be metaphorical black holes. As an example, inadequate mentoring can cause graduate students to leave engineering degree programs. However faculty mentoring can be influenced by cultures within departments or colleges, under the leadership of chairs and deans respectively. Problems that diverse graduate engineering students experience… Show more

Orbits surrounding engineering departments can have negative effects on diverse scholars, and challenges related to broadening participation in engineering can be metaphorical black holes. As an example, inadequate mentoring can cause graduate students to leave engineering degree programs. However faculty mentoring can be influenced by cultures within departments or colleges, under the leadership of chairs and deans respectively. Problems that diverse graduate engineering students experience, and positions that faculty take regarding these experiences, can be described loosely using physics metaphors, e.g., dark matter, black holes, Massive Compact Halo Objects (MACHOs), Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs), and event horizon. Dark matter doesn’t emit light and includes MACHOs and WIMPs.

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This paper uses physics to describe problems that occur within graduate student and faculty mentor relationships, with emphasis on experiences from underrepresented students. Physics metaphors coupled with social science research and graduate student data present an interdisciplinary approach to demonstrate that student motivation and success are possible with purposeful attention to the academic environment. Show less

This article, published by Revista Cruce, VERSIÓN IMPRESA, cruce v.3 año 2015, is available online through ResearchGate. The article describes systems of support for graduate students who are studying in other countries, giving specific attention to students from Latin America who come to the U.S. to pursue graduate degrees. The PROMISE AGEP program is described as an alternate, familial system of support, and a model that can be considered when administrators make plans to purposefully develop… Show more

This article, published by Revista Cruce, VERSIÓN IMPRESA, cruce v.3 año 2015, is available online through ResearchGate. The article describes systems of support for graduate students who are studying in other countries, giving specific attention to students from Latin America who come to the U.S. to pursue graduate degrees. The PROMISE AGEP program is described as an alternate, familial system of support, and a model that can be considered when administrators make plans to purposefully develop supportive environments where students can thrive. Show less

In this paper, we describe the results of a National Science Foundation project focused on exploring international engagement through the experiences of 15 women faculty and graduate students from underrepresented, minority backgrounds. The analysis utilizes a constructivist, hybrid study that paired focus group responses with those generated in an online community during an international engineering conference. Participants from the online community provided 188 qualitative responses to a… Show more

In this paper, we describe the results of a National Science Foundation project focused on exploring international engagement through the experiences of 15 women faculty and graduate students from underrepresented, minority backgrounds. The analysis utilizes a constructivist, hybrid study that paired focus group responses with those generated in an online community during an international engineering conference. Participants from the online community provided 188 qualitative responses to a series of questions such as “Is there a research benefit to meeting someone in person versus using technology to connect?,” and “How did this international engagement experience influence your career strategies?”

Responses included concerns that are common among women: missing family, finding the time to travel, and balancing family concerns during the travel (e.g., child-care), course loads, research responsibilities, and financial barriers. However, the discussion included additional challenges such as acceptance in an environment where their skin color is completely different from that of the people in the region, and concerns about language or overall communication barriers. Responses from the participants suggest that inspiring a culture of international engagement among women faculty of color should start early, as undergraduate or graduate students. Early training can tackle potential fears of the unknown, increase language skills, and address other intercultural competencies. We analyze the concerns, challenges, and barriers to international engagement based upon four areas: personal, institutional, external, and sociocultural. Show less

Graduate students in engineering and IT do not have many chances to participate in study abroad opportunities, and those who do, may do so as individuals based on their graduate advisor’s collaborations. In this globalized world of technological advances, developing international collaborations between scholars within the STEM fields is not only beneficial; it is essential, thus opportunities should not be limited to a select few. The National Academy of Engineering has developed a list of… Show more

Graduate students in engineering and IT do not have many chances to participate in study abroad opportunities, and those who do, may do so as individuals based on their graduate advisor’s collaborations. In this globalized world of technological advances, developing international collaborations between scholars within the STEM fields is not only beneficial; it is essential, thus opportunities should not be limited to a select few. The National Academy of Engineering has developed a list of Grand Challenges, and there is growing concern that there won’t be an international workforce with enough training to develop solutions for real-world issues. Despite involvement of some graduate students in international research, there remain subsets of graduate students from underrepresented minority (URM) groups who have neither been encouraged nor invited to participate in international projects. The Council of Graduate Schools has encouraged graduate students to participate in global conferences as means to engage, and serves as the premise for our strategy to broaden participation of URM graduate students in international projects. The Graduate School at UMBC and the National Science Foundation’s PROMISE: Maryland’s Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) program have started to develop cohorts of students and faculty who travel to international conferences and report on their experiences. Cohort travel models are not unique in undergraduate circles; however, for our group of participants, the model serves as a pathway to broaden the participation of STEM-trained women and minorities in international engagement. The model includes immersing the cohort into a culture through participation in an international conference, presentations at a host university to develop collaborations with faculty and students, scientific excursions, discussion sessions addressing research questions, and plans for building on the short-term experience. Show less

(Tull, 2015)

Global Exposure: To increase diversity, engineering programs should promote overseas experiences for underrepresented minorities.

“The Jessica Effect” is a conceptual method of student engagement that is being used to mentor underrepresented graduate students at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC: An Honors University in Maryland), and within the University System of Maryland as part of the National Science Foundation’s project, PROMISE: Maryland’s Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP). The concept was recently mentioned at the White House College Opportunity Initiative workshop held… Show more

“The Jessica Effect” is a conceptual method of student engagement that is being used to mentor underrepresented graduate students at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC: An Honors University in Maryland), and within the University System of Maryland as part of the National Science Foundation’s project, PROMISE: Maryland’s Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP). The concept was recently mentioned at the White House College Opportunity Initiative workshop held at UMBC in 2014, and again during The Atlantic’s discussion, “A New America: Empowering Hispanic Millennials for Tech Leadership.” Dr. Renetta Tull and her colleagues at UMBC developed “The Jessica Effect” in memory of a beloved graduate student, Jessica Soto Pérez, who was tragically killed in 2004. In memory of Jessica, Tull and colleagues developed a series of initiatives for graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty, that include family as part of the academic experience. In the paper, Tull and colleagues make the following statements:

“Students bring their values to graduate school, and these values shape their performance and socialization into their departments and their graduate communities. However, values for minority students are thought to be shaped differently from those of majority students. Recent literature suggests that graduate students from “collectivist cultures” (e.g., Latino, African American) place strong emphasis on personal relationships in school, which may interfere with internally focused and task-driven characteristics that are needed for graduate school success. This is different from students from an individualist culture who may instead place more focus on traditional activities associated with advanced graduate work, and less focus on relationships to others in the program (Taylor and Antony 2000; Davidson and Foster-Johnson, 2001).” Show less

Tull, R. G., Rutledge, J.C., Warnick, J. W., and Carter, F. D. (2012). PROMISE: Maryland’s Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate Enhances Recruitment and Retention of Underrepresented Minority Graduate Students. Academic Medicine, 87(11), p. 1562-1569.

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PROMISE: Maryland's Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP): increasing underrepresented minority PhDs in STEM.

The Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) is a federally funded initiative facilitated by the National Science Foundation [3]. AGEP addresses the need to recruit and retain underrepresented minorities to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. The University System of Maryland's (USM) PROMISE AGEP-T, a transformative initiative of the AGEP, is a program that includes all of the public universities within the USM. This program started with an… Show more

The Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) is a federally funded initiative facilitated by the National Science Foundation [3]. AGEP addresses the need to recruit and retain underrepresented minorities to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. The University System of Maryland's (USM) PROMISE AGEP-T, a transformative initiative of the AGEP, is a program that includes all of the public universities within the USM. This program started with an initial alliance between three universities: the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), the University of Maryland Baltimore (UMB), and the University of Maryland College Park (UMCP). The PROMISE AGEP requires campuses to develop activities in three focus areas: 1) new graduate student cultivation; 2) community building that supports students and helps them excel academically; 3) professional development [12]. The Universities are encouraged to collaborate with each other to support student success with the goal of promoting successful recruitment, retention, graduation, and professorial training of participants. This paper links four theoretical retention frameworks to the intended outcomes of the PROMISE AGEP. An overview of Tinto's (1993) theory of individual departure [16], Giuffrida's (2006) self determination and job involvement theories [6], Bean and Eaton's (2000) psychological model [17], and Padilla's (1997) heuristic knowledge model [14] is presented and subsequently tied to PROMISE AGEP goals and outcomes with a discussion about the usefulness of linking theory to practice.

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