Three research projects have been chosen as the inaugural honorees of the TCU Inclusive Excellence Research Grant program, established by the Office of Academic Affairs to foster Inclusive Excellence throughout our core mission. The grants provide up to $15,000 in project support.
Launched in October 2020, the IE Research Grant funds research that assesses existing or new activities to measure their impact on participants across multiple identities. An activity may be a course, co-curricular activity, student success program, employee training or development program, study abroad or research experience, or a multitude of other activities for students or employees. The goal is to ensure that TCU’s core institutional work is excellent (i.e., achieves intended outcomes) and inclusive (i.e., intended outcomes are equally achieved for people from all identities). All permanent full-time faculty and staff may apply.
“We received excellent submissions. The committee reviewed them thoroughly to designate grants to the activities that best met the criteria for collaboration between experts and researchers to define the focus, collect and analyze data, and use those findings to develop solid action plans,” said Floyd Wormley, associate provost of research and dean of graduate studies.
“These first honorees exemplify how the Inclusive Excellence Research Grant utilizes TCU’s considerable intellectual resources and practical applications to advocate and integrate inclusive excellence throughout the TCU campus,” said TCU Provost Teresa Abi-Nader Dahlberg.
Inclusive Excellence Faculty Learning and Course Development Program
Project Leader: Brandy Quinn, Associate Professor of Educational Psychology
Co-Investigators:
Susan Anderson, Associate Professor of Educational Technology
Gabriel Huddleston, Associate Professor of Curriculum Studies; Director of Graduate Comparative Race and Ethnic Studies
Endia Lindo, Associate Professor of Special Education
Samantha Bates, Assistant Professor of Social Work
Katie Lauve-Moon, Assistant Professor of Social Work
The Inclusive Excellence Learning and Development Program (LDP) is a year-long learning and development initiative that targets DEI-related curriculum reform. Funding will support training for and assessment of unit-level intercultural competencies, a structured process of DEI-focused learning, curriculum review and revision, student projects, and incentives for participant observers. The LDP is expected to impact student learning and the broader campus climate, especially in the classroom and faculty-student interactions. It will be facilitated through the College of Education in collaboration with select faculty members from the Department of Social Work, incorporate racial equity tools from the Center for Urban Education at University of Southern California, and draw from a faculty learning community model of professional development.
Introduction to University Life: Creating A Path Towards Inclusive Excellence
Project Leader: Zoranna Jones, Assistant Dean, School of Interdisciplinary Studies
Co-Investigators:
Omar R. Harvey, Associate Professor, College of Science & Engineering
Tracy Hicks, Assistant Professor of Professional Practice, Harris College of Nursing & Health Sciences
Francyne Huckaby, Associate Dean and Professor of Curriculum Studies, School of Interdisciplinary Studies
Jong-Keyong Kim, Doctoral Candidate, Department of English
Angie Taylor, Director, Student Affairs Office of Quality Enhancement
This project will advance Inclusive Excellence at TCU by intentionally incorporating diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives into a course that enrolls over 60% of TCU’s incoming class. The UNLF course actively initiates DEI learning and conversations in an academic and community setting at the very beginning of the student’s college experience. Through learning opportunities in the diverse Fort Worth community, students can begin to critically think through social factors and conditions that have been stifling DEI, and change their perception of themselves as well as the community in which they live. From an interdisciplinary lens, the community engagement activities are built upon the intersectional concepts in business, science, sociology, education, comparative, race and ethnic studies, and more. The quantitative and qualitative analysis of the project will entail an experimental group of UNLF sections that incorporate the community learning component, a control group of UNLF sections that do not incorporate the community learning, and a comparison group of first-year students not enrolled in UNLF and therefore also do not have the experimental experience. Study results will help elaborate TCU students’ sense of belonging to TCU and Fort Worth evaluation index.
Podcast Action Research: Exploring the State of Anti-racist, Justice-oriented, Culturally Sustaining Graduate Study Post-Pandemic
Project Leaders:
Stacie McCormick, Associate Professor, Director of African American and Africana Studies
Jason Helms, Associate Professor of English
Co-Investigators:
Gabriel Huddleston, Associate Professor of Curriculum Studies, Director of Graduate Comparative Race and Ethnic Studies
Gabi Kirillof, Assistant Professor of English
Carmen Kynard, Professor and Lillian Radford Chair of Rhetoric and Composition
Brandon Manning, Assistant Professor of English
Wendi Sierra, Assistant Professor of Game Studies, John V. Roach Honors College
This two-year research study focuses on the state of graduate education in light of shifting global dynamics, namely the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing racial rebellions in response to white supremacy. Such ground-shifting events have resulted in greater conversations in which graduate education is implicated. A critical question guiding the program’s inquiry is: What does anti-racist, justice-oriented, and culturally sustaining graduate study look like now? Faculty mentors will work alongside graduate students TCU’s Department of English, College of Education, and Comparative Race and Ethnic Studies, to investigate the question and come away with meaningful insights that support students’ intellectual and professional development at TCU, as well as uncover strategies to improve how TCU engages on important interdisciplinary issues currently animating the field of graduate study, all of which will inherently improve the graduate student experience and outcomes at TCU.
Applying for IE Research Grants for 2022
The call for proposals for the Inclusive Excellence Research Grant will be made in October. Proposals are due In February and grants are awarded in the spring. For information on the criteria, eligibility, process and deadlines, visit research.tcu.edu, Sponsored Programs, Internal Grants.