The University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education launched a new research center, The Penn Center for Minority-Serving Institutions (CMSI). Dr. Marybeth Gasman, a historian and professor at the Graduate School of Education, has been named as director of this first-of-its-kind center, which is focused on furthering higher education for underrepresented populations.
The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, The Kresge Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Educational Testing Service, The Penn Provost’s Office, and the Penn’s Excellence Through Diversity Fund have contributed a total of $2.5 million in funding to date. The opening kick-off will include a special Penn town hall discussion, Envisioning the Future of Minority Serving Institutions: Challenges and Opportunities, followed by a public reception.
“We are very proud of this new Center and Marybeth’s unflagging efforts to create better access and equity for students in higher education,” said GSE’s dean, Andy Porter. “I have no doubt that the Center will be making transformative contributions to minority-serving institutions.”
The Center for Minority-Serving Institutions (CMSI) brings together researchers and practitioners from Historically Black Colleges and Universities; Tribal Colleges and Universities; Hispanic-Serving Institutions; and Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions. It will serve as a central hub for research, data, best practices, emerging innovations, and ideas surrounding Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs).
Upcoming projects include a state policy report on Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs) in Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Alabama; policy reports on Texas and California and their growing MSI populations; an investigation of HBCUs as leaders and teachers in STEM education; a research effort aimed at understanding doctoral pipelines for Latinos; research on MSIs as Community Colleges vs. Community Colleges as MSIs; and the development of a media toolkit for MSIs. Additionally, the CMSI will begin taking applications for its new Fellows program, which will award $5,000 to selected scholars to stimulate research about MSIs.
