Environmental Health Information Partnership (EnHIP): Strengthening the capacity of minority serving institutions

The U.S. National Library of Medicine’s (NLM) Environmental Health Information Partnership (EnHIP) collaborates with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and other minority-serving academic institutions to enhance their capacity to reduce health disparities through the access, use, and delivery of environmental health information on their campuses and in their communities. The partnership began in 1991 as the Toxicology Information Outreach Panel (TIOP) pilot project, and through successive iterations it is NLM’s longest running outreach activity. EnHIP’s continued relevance today as an information outreach and training program testifies to the prescience of NLM director, Donald A.B. Lindberg M.D’s initial support for the program. Dr. Lindberg’s seeing to its continued success to benefit participating institutions and help achieve the societal goals of environmental justice serve as well to benefit NLM by increasing its visibility, and use of its resources in the classroom, for research, and in community outreach. NLM envisions an expanding role for EnHIP in advancing health equity as the impact of environmental exposure, climate change, and increasing zoonotic diseases disproportionately impact their communities.

Further Contextualizing Racial Identity: Multiracial Students at Hispanic-Serving Institutions

Despite the recent growth of literature on multiracial college students, there is still limited understanding about multiracial students at Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs). This qualitative study explores the interplay of racialized identity and the unique contexts of Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) using data from eight multiracial students attending two HSIs in the Midwest. Findings explore how students made sense of their multiracial identities within specific ecological contexts of HSIs, including a mesosystem of diversity and inclusion and an exosystem of Latinidad. Overall, multiracial students generally felt included and provide a promising platform to better understand the unique positioning of HSIs in serving an increasingly diverse student body.

“I Didn't Know What Anti-Blackness Was Until I Got Here”: The Unmet Needs of Black Students at Hispanic-Serving Institutions

Amidst institutional reckonings with anti-blackness, minority-serving institutions (MSIs) are thought to be an intervention. But, how do Black students perceive being served at Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs)? Analyzing focus groups ( n= 33), we find Black students perceived anti-blackness at an HSI from: overrepresentation of white personnel in power; lack of culturally attuned and financial support; racially hostile climate; and little solidarity from non-Black Latinx and other peers. We show that HSIs contend with anti-Black institutional embeddedness, too, and argue that the goals of HSIs to serve racially minoritized students will not be achieved unless they address institutional, organizational, and interpersonal anti-Blackness.

Faculty Perspectives on the Recruitment, Retention, and Preparation of Special Education Doctoral Students of Color

The field of special education continues to grapple with the presence and implications of disproportional representation related to race and ethnicity. While research focuses mostly on disproportional representation of students, there remains long-standing acknowledgment that too few students of color populate our special education university doctoral programs. The present study, therefore, surveyed current special education faculty members at doctoral degree granting institutions to understand the practices used to recruit and retain doctoral students of color and perspectives on their programs’ climate related to racial and ethnic diversity. In addition, the research team conducted a series of exploratory analyses to examine whether responses depended on respondent race or whether the respondent worked at a minority-serving institution. Results suggest a general commitment to increasing doctoral student diversity; however, there appears a lack of formalized plans and culturally relevant coursework. Findings of the exploratory analyses suggest that programs within minority-serving institutions may provide important leadership in this area. We conclude with limitations and recommendations for doctoral programs.

Challenges and Strategies of Successful Mentoring: The Perspective of LEADS Scholars and Mentors from Minority Serving Institutions

Mentoring continues to be a salient conversation in academia among junior and senior faculty and administrators. Mentors provide guidance and structure to junior faculty so that they can meet their academic and professional goals. Mentors also convey skills in balancing life and academic pursuits. Therefore, the purpose of this descriptive study was to provide additional insight from a training program called Leading Emerging and Diverse Scientists to Success (LEADS) regarding successful strategies and challenges of mentoring relating to lessons learned from the scholars and mentees’ perspective. The LEADS program provided multiple training platforms to increase skills and knowledge regarding research to promote expertise in grant writing and submission for funding opportunities among diverse scientists. These findings reinforce the knowledge about the value of a mentor in helping define the research pathway of their mentee and underscoring the importance of mentoring.