Graduate Opportunity Program (GOP)
Research Assistantship

2012-2013 Application

Please familiarize yourselves with the application process before submitting your materials to MyGrad Program and Catalyst, and contact the GO-MAP office with any questions.

Deadline to Submit: Monday, December 5, 2011 at 5:00 p.m.

Notifications will be made: Friday, December 23, 2011

Call for Applications

Departments are invited to apply for the Graduate Opportunity Program Award (GOP), a merit-based research assistantship designed to increase the quality of education and research at the University of Washington by assisting departments in developing a diverse community of scholars. This year, we will be providing an option for both full and partial (one or two quarter) awards. Only departments that are able to make up the difference (i.e., can provide an additional two quarters of funding if they apply for a single quarter of funding) are eligible to apply for partial awards. The review process for all awards will be the same.

As outlined below, GOP applications will consist of Departmental Contact Information, the department’s GOP record for the past five years, and the Departmental Diversity Plan-Narrative (3 pages).

Please note: The following departments are not eligible to apply for the GOP award:
Professional degree programs (Law, Medicine, Dentistry); Self-sustaining/fee-based programs (i.e., Evening Degree or Extension programs) and study-abroad programs

Purpose

GOP funding is provided to assist departments in recruiting:

1. Underrepresented minority students who have achieved academic merit despite significant obstacles in their pursuit of higher education;
2. Students who are the first generation to attend college or graduate school; and
3. Students whose academic participation, scholarship and research explore and support cultural diversity.

GOP awards are based on the merit of departmental diversity plans and other related criteria described below under Procedures and Guidelines. No individual student nominations are required as part of departmental diversity plans.

Award Description

A full GOP award consists of a standard 9-month research assistantship and a partial GOP award consists of a one or two quarter standard research assistantship for students beginning graduate study at either the master’s or Ph.D. levels during the 2012-2013 academic year. Departments must provide one-to-one matching departmental support.

GOP award recipients cannot hold concurrent UW employment, graduate service appointments, traineeships, or other comparable fellowships. Award recipients must be citizens or permanent residents of the U.S., and they must be entering their first year of graduate study at the UW. Approximately 12-15 awards are available for 2012-2013.

Procedures and Guidelines

1. To be eligible for consideration, departments must submit a completed GOP application consisting of Departmental Contact Information and a Departmental Diversity Plan Narrative (maximum 3 pages) using MyGradProgram, and the Departmental Record of GOP Awards (for the past 5 years) using Catalyst.
2. GOP Applications must be submitted electronically via MyGradProgram and Catalyst. Paper copies will not be accepted.
3. The GOP application must be developed under the guidance of the Chair or Graduate Program Coordinator and be approved by the department’s faculty.
4. GOP awards will be determined by a faculty committee chaired by Associate Dean Juan Guerra of the Graduate School.

Filling out the Application

Part 1: Instructions for Departmental Diversity Plan Narrative

Please provide a brief narrative, no more than 3 pages, describing your department’s Diversity Plan. Be sure to use the list of items below (1, 2, 3, etc.) to explicitly organize and identify the different parts of your Departmental Diversity Plan-Narrative to make it easier for evaluators to assess your submission. You may want to use the Criteria for GOP Award Selection for ideas about how to address the items listed below substantively. Your Departmental Diversity Plan Narrative is to be submitted in Step 2 of the GOP request in the GSFEI section of MYGrad Program.

The Diversity Plan should address the following items:

1. The Department’s current efforts to recruit minority and underrepresented graduate students.
2. Current efforts in place in the Department to increase the yield (i.e., the number of students admitted as it relates to the number of student made offers) of admitted minority and underrepresented graduate students: Are these efforts successful? If not, why not? How can they be improved? Please specify the amount and form of departmental resources used in this effort. This should include any TA, RA, or fellowships (full or partial) that have been used or are dedicated to support this effort.
3. The Department’s future plan to recruit minority and underrepresented graduate students: What changes do you plan to effect to better recruit minority and underrepresented graduate students? Are you productively involving current graduate students in recruitment efforts when prospective students inquire or visit? What is it about your particular department/field/discipline that can or does work toward the successful recruitment of minority and underrepresented students? How can you build on those particularities? What structural or procedural obstacles peculiar to your department/field/discipline hinder the successful recruitment of minority and underrepresented groups? How can you address those hindrances?
4. The Department’s efforts to retain minority and underrepresented graduate students: What are the issues around mentoring minority and underrepresented students? What issues most affect the retention of minority and underrepresented students in your department or program? How has your department begun to address these issues? Are departmental funds used for this purpose?
5. The Department’s examples of ways it nurtures an atmosphere of inclusiveness: What organizational structures in your department promote inclusiveness? What organizational structures and what subtle interactions lessen or deter inclusiveness? How has your department built on its strengths in this area? How has your department addressed its weaknesses in this area?
6. The Department’s matching of GOP and other GO-MAP diversity fellowships and awards (e.g., Bank of America, Presidential, Stroum, or tuition fellowships) with subsequent funding. At the outset, how many years of funding do your students typically receive? What creative ways has your department identified in order to match GOP funding? Does your department work with cognate departments to identify funding opportunities? Departments will be expected to provide a one-to-one match of a GOP award (e.g. provide one quarter of department funding for each quarter of GOP funding requested/received.)

Part 2: Instructions for Departmental Award History

This portion is to be submitted using the 2012-2013 GOP Application Catalyst WebQ. Please see the information below to help you prepare your submission.

Departments are asked to identify departmental recipients of GOP awards over the past five years (2007-2011). Please be sure to include the following information:

• Name of student recipient of award
• Student's research advisor
• Funding for past and future years

Application Resources

Call for applications announcement (email sent on 11/8/2011)

Checklist

• GOP Application was developed under the guidance of the Chair or Graduate Program coordinator, and approved by the faculty.
• Submitted completed Departmental Contact Information/Diversity Plan Narrative via MyGradProgram.
• Submitted Departmental Record of GOP awards for the past 5 years via Catalyst.

 

---

Graduate Opportunities and Minority Achievement Program (GO-MAP)

G-1 Communications, Suite 034  |  Box 353770  |  Seattle, Washington 98195
Phone: 206.543.9016  |  Email: gomap at u.washington.edu