Conference: Cal-Bridge Summer Institute Alumni Conference

The University of California Santa Cruz will organize and host the Cal-Bridge Summer Institute Alumni Conference, July 16-23, 2023. Participants will be doctoral students who are alumni of Cal-Bridge, a partnership between the University of California (UC) and the California State University (CSU) systems. Cal-Bridge was designed to provide pathways into research and the professorate for historically underrepresented students. During this summer program the learning community will focus on how people learn and on evidence-based teaching practices. The group will continue with regular virtual meetings throughout the academic year to promote the exchange of ideas and best practices. This award will cover the workshop costs for former Cal-Bridge students who are doctoral students at non-UC campuses. The Cal-Bridge Summer Institute, a series of professional development workshops, will have two major thrusts: 1) developing effective pedagogues, and 2) developing effective research leaders. In addition to these, the conference will include a variety of shorter professional development mentorship sessions, and community and cohort building activities. This conference aims to address two systemic points of loss along the professorial and professional researcher pathway for Cal-Bridge alumni currently in PhD programs outside of the University of California system: completion of the PhD, and entrance into the workforce. Specifically, the award will: 1) Broaden the impact of the professional development being offered to a larger group of doctoral scholars from diverse backgrounds, and 2) Provide space for Cal-Bridge Doctoral students to hold discussions and activities to build up their professional network and community. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.