Sibrina Collins, Ph.D. Selected to Lead Graduate Diversity Recruitment Efforts

Despite increasing numbers of minority graduate and professional degree holders in the life sciences, medicine and business, the number of applicants in the science and engineering graduate pipeline remains a trickle.  This poses a challenge not only for academic institutions, but also in a very practical sense for the nation.  In particular, if the United States is to have a more representative workforce in higher education, we must be more effective in attracting a diverse student group to the science and engineering fields. 

To address this need, The Graduate School, in partnership with other University of Washington science/engineering-related programs, schools and colleges, has created a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Recruiter position to actively recruit diverse students in these disciplines.  Sibrina Collins, Ph.D. has been selected to lead the effort as Director of Graduate Diversity Recruiting.  Her role will enable The Graduate School to extend UW's visibility to numerous institutions for recruiting collaboration, while also refining the graduate recruiting and diversity student support programs.  This position was also created to engage more students and faculty from institutions that may not have a relationship with the UW and to bridge these programs to the UW in order to ensure a successful transition for students.

Collins states, "I am absolutely thrilled to be joining the UW as Director of Graduate Diversity Recruiting.  This position is truly 'tailor-made' for me.  My interest in diversity and recruitment issues really blossomed as a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Chemistry at Ohio State University.  During this time, I became more aware of the low participation of minorities and women in the STEM fields and I didn't quite understand why."

Collins explains that, "Early on in my career, I decided that I wanted to use my background and training to focus on the underlying factors that influence the lack of diversity within the sciences.  The UW provides the ideal environment for me to use my experience to further enhance the diversity and recruitment efforts already taking place on the UW campus.  In a nutshell, science is my pulse, but achieving diversity within the STEM fields is my true passion."

Collins' experience also includes writing for the American Association for the Advancement of Science and an Associate Professor of Chemistry position at Claflin University, a historically black college in South Carolina.

The development of this position continues an initiative spearheaded by the Graduate Opportunities & Minority Achievement Program (GO-MAP) to heighten awareness of the need for a diverse graduate population, as well as enhance the academic experience for every student at the UW through diversity.