We hold that the Office of Pre-Professional Advising expands their efforts to engage more students of marginalized groups through the process of moving from undergraduate to professional school. This includes but is not limited to: the application process, availability and acquisition of resources and aid, and/or overcoming other barriers to entry. In addition, we hold that the office:
a) Complete a comprehensive research study investigating how many medical, dental, law and other professional school matriculants have come from the University of South Carolina, by race since 2000.
b) Develop innovative methods and key partnerships with other university offices and entities to better connect with underrepresented and in-state students so these students receive the university resources needed to become competitive applicants for professional school.
c) Increase peer-to-peer mentorship opportunities between undergraduate and graduate students to serve as an avenue for educational development.
Strategies/Action Plan
- Creation of the Career Studio Peer Education (CSPE) program which has allowed for
expansion of service hours and diversification of staff
- Timeline: Complete
- Who is responsible: The Office of Pre-Professional and Graduate Advising
- Diversifying professional and para-professional/graduate student staff and undergraduate student
employees
- Timeline: Complete
- Who is responsible: The Office of Pre-Professional and Graduate Advising
- Complete a comprehensive research study investigating how many medical, dental, law
and other professional school matriculants have come from the University of South
Carolina, by race since 2000.
- Timeline: Fall 2021
- Office of the President has allocated $30,000 in one-time funding for support staff to complete historical study.
Develop innovative methods and key partnerships with other university offices and entities to better connect with underrepresented and in-state students so these students receive the university resources needed to become competitive applicants for professional school.
Strategies/Action Plan
- Development of continuous feedback loops with students to improve service and access
- Development of a student advisory board comprised of students representing various populations
- Maintain critical relationships with key student organizations, which are directly connected to pre-professional tracks
- Potential grants to expand resources on new initiatives supporting underrepresented students
- Potential expansion of Richter Scholarship, which has historically supported students
pursuing unpaid, non-profit work experiences, into other aspects of professional development.
- Timeline: Ongoing
- Who is responsible: Career Center/ Office of Pre-Professional Advising
- In order to increase peer-to-peer mentorship opportunities between undergraduate and
graduate students to serve as an avenue for educational development a new platform,
The Mentorship Hub will be launched
- Timeline: Fall 2021
- Who is responsible: Career Center/ Office of Pre-Professional Advising
- Based on feedback during from 2020 Revision working group highlighting a need for
career advising to focus on supporting graduate students, we recommend expansion of
staffing to offer specialized support and services for the graduate student population.
- Office of the President has allocated $73,000 in recurring funding to recruit a career advisor for graduate students