The University of Mississippi Graduate School

Graduate students and administrators worked together to win a national honor for diversity in graduate education. The Council for Graduate Schools awarded its prestigious CGS/Peterson's Award for Promoting an Inclusive Graduate Community to UM, basing its decision on a proposal jointly authored by Graduate School student leaders and Dean Maurice Eftink.

The $10,000 award recognizes "creative approaches that enhance current recruitment practices and that can serve as models for other institutions."

"Essentially, this award is a way to recognize universities that are doing a good job of promoting diversity in graduate education," Eftink said. "This award should go a long way to dispel notions about the University. It says we've made a lot of progress toward diversity across our campus, and it says we have a support network for students of all races, all ages, and from all countries."

A group of graduate student leaders contributed to the proposal, titled "Graduate Student Gumbo." This group, along with graduate administrators, "brainstormed for weeks," said Stephen Monroe, president of the English Graduate Student Body and director of graduate affairs for the Graduate Student Council.

"We had so many good ideas that it was a real challenge to limit our text to the allowable size," he said. "I think the breadth of programs was a real strength of our proposal."

Monroe accompanied Eftink to San Francisco in November to accept the award, along with John Bowling, past president of the Graduate Student Council; Carla Cotwright, vice president of the GSC; and Michael D. Smith, president of the Black Graduate and Professional Student Association.

Since receiving the award, the grant committee has begun planning and implementing its proposed programs, including a writing assistance program for international graduate students, which builds on the success of the Writing Center's English as Second Language (ESL) reading service.