Campuses: Oakland, Boston

The project co-creates with students an online, self-guided learning course for faculty to develop skills that will translate to creating a sense of belonging both in and outside the classroom. The course will be developed recognizing students as experts and using backward design, working from what faculty need to be able to do within and beyond the classroom, and creating actionable, scaffolded, deliverable-based lessons that faculty can apply to their work. 

Team members:

Jennifer Evans – Assistant Teaching Professor & Director of Curricular Innovation, Department of Health Science (DHS), Bouvé College of Health Sciences (BCHS)

Samantha Garbers – Teaching Professor & Undergraduate Program Director, DCS, BCHS

Maria Catrina Jaime – Associate Clinical Professor & Associate Director of Undergraduate Programs at Oakland, DHS, BCHS; Affiliate Faculty, STEM and Health Sciences Unit & Ex-officio Member, DEI Committee, Mills College

Allison Bauer – Associate Teaching Professor & Associate Chair, DHS, BCHS

Campus: London

ai4unidiversity is an innovative interdisciplinary project investigating the scaffolding role AI plays in the context of student populations, aiming to raise diversity, equality, and inclusion in Higher Education contexts. The main objective of ai4unidiversity is to help all students achieve their academic goals by providing them with the tools and guidance that are sustainable, and inclusive for all students, regardless of their background. A range of resources will be created to develop prompts for using generative AI solutions that will help neurodiverse and English lingua franca users benefit from AI ethically as a scaffolder to tackle academic problems and activities.

Team Members:

Dr. Julia Hofweber – Assistant Professor, Psychology, NU London

Dr. Ekaterina Cooper – Assistant Professor, Psychology, NU London

Dr. Bianca Serwinski – Assistant Professor, Psychology, NU London

Campuses: Oakland, Boston

This STEM mentorship program will match students with research faculty in STEM fields to attend lab meetings during the academic year, as well as two professional development opportunities. The goal of this program is to expand access to support networks and knowledge of unwritten standards across academic hierarchies for first generation students and historically marginalized groups in STEM. 

Team Members:

Katie Lotterhos – Associate Professor, COS, Marine and Environmental Sciences, Nahant Marine Science Center

Sanjeev Mukerjee – COS Associate Dean for the Global University, Professor, COE: Chemical Engineering, COS: Chemistry and Chemical Biology, NU Center for Renewable Energy Technology

Sarah Swope – Associate Professor of Biology, Mills College, Oakland

Rachelle Reisberg – COS Assistant Dean – Undergraduate Curriculum & Students

Jennifer Love – Center for STEM Education; COE Uplift Program

Campus: Boston

Nuly Root’d is a student-led initiative that proposes a solution to accessibility of hair care and beauty supplies, particularly those tailored for diverse and ethnic hair textures, through the installation of a beauty supply vending machine in Curry Student Center. This innovative approach aims to provide convenient access to essential beauty products for diverse communities on campus, addressing a critical need for students.

Team Members:

Ashleigh Chiwaya – Second Year, BS in Psychology and Data Science Candidate, COS

Naomi Barrant – Second Year, BS/BA in Business Administration and Communications, DMSB

Henoss Taddasse (Faculty Advisor): Assistant Director of Program Operations in the Center for Student Involvement.

This project aims to attract and retain transgender students, staff and faculty, teach current students, staff and faculty best practices in transgender inclusion, and ensure students on all campuses receive culturally responsive care from health services. 

Campus: Boston 

AC Shillue-Goldberg, Part Time Lecturer, Comm Sciences & Disorders, Boston 

Emily Zimmerman, Associate Professor & Chair, Comm Sciences & Disorders, Boston 

Sarah Young-Hong, Assistant Clinical Professor, Comm Sciences & Disorders, Boston 

Spring 2024 Update: 

The team has initiated a consulting plan with University Health and Counseling Services (UHCS) that has enhanced gender-affirming services. Our partnerships and resources will be displayed on the new UHCS bulletin boards, increasing access to information for both on and off-campus necessities for transgender health. In the new year, we plan to work with University Housing and Residential Life to expand gender-inclusive options for all students. As we gather data from students on other campuses, we are continually growing our Canvas page, Transgender Health Equity and Belonging, with user-friendly webinars and resources available twenty-four hours a day to anyone on campus who wants to learn more about transgender health.

This pilot program intends to recruit and retain students from marginalized groups into health care fields by increasing their sense of belonging and awareness of graduate school pathways and health careers. This program will inform new pathways from College of Science and Bouvé College of Health Sciences undergraduate degrees to graduate programs at Northeastern. 

Campus: Boston 

Margarita DiVall, Clinical Professor and Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, DEI, Bouvé College of Health Sciences 

Jennifer Kirwin, Clinical Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Bouvé 

Shan Mohammed, Clinical Professor and Assistant Dean for DEI and Student Initiatives, Bouvé 

Randall Hughes, Professor and Associate Dean for Equity, College of Science 

Rachelle Reisberg, Assistant Dean, College of Science 

Linda Ayrapetov, Associate Director of Academic Planning, College of Science 

Shannon Carnahan, Graduate Student Project Coordinator, Bouvé 

Spring 2024 Update: 

This project aims to recruit a diverse, self-selected cohort of undergraduate students in both colleges to a program involving peer and faculty mentorship and networking components. A cohort approach has been shown to help build community, increase engagement, and increase a sense of belonging for participating students. An open classroom format for additional events has also been established to benefit students across the university community, including global campuses, to ensure inclusivity for all students interested in health careers. So far, three hybrid events have been held to help socialize students, share with them opportunities to be engaged in student organizations with health or health professions- related missions, expose students to various health careers, and prepare students for graduate school. 

Our initial peer mentorship pairings were identified in early December, where students were matched to upper-level undergraduates and alumni peer mentors based on areas of interest and shared identity. We plan to continue peer mentorship recruitment in Spring 2024 to increase the size of our current cohort. This pilot will provide a foundation for developing a collaborative mentorship program that can be expanded to other colleges and inform new pathways to graduate programs at Northeastern. With this replicable approach, we hope to create a longstanding peer mentorship program that continues to build community and provide the support students need to be successful in their pursuit of graduate education and health careers.

Fall 2024 Update:

A course is being developed that will be offered in the Spring of 2025 called Introduction to Health Professions. This course uses a foundation in interprofessional education competencies to introduce students to careers in the health professions. Introduces students to careers in several areas: medicine; nursing; rehab sciences; mental health/ behavioral sciences; and other health professions. Includes discussion of roles and responsibilities for each covered discipline, as well as common values, ethics, and commitment to patient safety and confidentiality. Introduces fundamentals of the American healthcare system, concepts in public health, health equity and access to care, legal issues in health, health industries and health entrepreneurship, and health related technologies and use of Artificial Intelligence. Discusses issues of burnout and introduces students to strategies for personal resistance and wellness. Engages students in goal setting and planning their professional journey. Interested students are encouraged to register for the course.

This project will connect Northeastern students, faculty, and staff with local community members to explore new and innovative ideas for improving and making a positive impact on their communities. 

Campus: Portland 

Terra Dunham, Program Manager for Entrepreneurship Education, Roux Institute 

Alicia Jalbert, Manager of Community Partnerships, Roux Institute 

Anna Ackerman, Program Manager, Roux Institute 

Project Update: 

Over Friday April 5th and Saturday April 6th, 70+ community partners, thought leaders, immigrants, students, entrepreneurs, and curious, driven community members came together to support collaboration and innovation around the challenge of New Mainer Inclusivity as part of a Start Summit event in partnership between Northeastern University’s Roux Institute and the Greater Portland Immigrant Welcome Center, and thanks to a grant opportunity through Northeastern University’s Impact Innovation (I3) Fund.  

This Start Summit kicked off Friday evening at the Roux Institute where 60+ people gathered to hear a panel discussion highlighting challenges and opportunities facing New Mainers, especially in terms of entrepreneurial opportunities. The following day, twenty-nine startup-curious individuals regrouped to set their minds on solving the challenges they were introduced to the night before. Saturday culminated in a pitch competition where two teams won no-strings-attached prize money of $2000 and $1000 respectively. The winning ideas were MErit Credit: a credit card for new Mainers who don’t have an established credit history that can be used with local partners to help them build credit, and Mainer Connect: a platform to help New Mainers to connect with business owners and find work and resources to upskill themselves and find people with common interests to help them feel a sense of belonging. 

The purpose of this project is to design, and pilot test a peer-mentorship program to reduce inequity and promote a sense of belonging among international students at Northeastern University. 

Campus: Boston 

Milena Braga, Counseling Psychology PhD student, Bouvé College of Health Sciences 

Don Robinaugh, Assistant Professor, Department of Applied Psychology, Bouvé 

Arabiye Aratola, School Psychology PhD student, Bouvé 

Tim Chezar, Assistant Director of Graduate Career Advising, Graduate Career Center 

Aashima Gogia, Career Services Advisor, Graduate Career Center 

Spring 2024 Update: 

The Peer Mentorship Inclusion Program for International Students was designed to increase a sense of belonging and decrease inequity for international students by promoting knowledge of and encouraging them to utilize resources available through their university. This focus on international students is derived from their higher risk of developing loneliness and associated adverse consequences and therefore could benefit from interventions aimed at promoting their sense of belonging. 

Our program officially began in the Fall 2023, pairing about 450 mentees with 26 graduate mentors in the D’Amore-McKim Business School, a majority of whom are international students. During Spring 2023, we successfully recruited mentors and trained them in empathic listening. At the beginning of the Fall, we introduced mentors and first-semester mentees. Over the course of the semester, we met with mentors monthly to support them as they continued to engage with their mentees. This engagement took the form of regular texting, Zoom/in-person meetups, and fun hangouts including other mentors and their mentees. One mentor remarked about this program, “This is the first time I’ve ever felt like I truly belonged at Northeastern.” 

At the end of Fall, we conducted interviews with the mentors and distributed surveys to the mentees. The results were largely positive, as 76.8% of mentees reported an increase in belonging, 77.3% reported increased knowledge of available resources, 58.0% reported benefits to their academic performance, and 51.8% attributed the program to improvement in their mental health. Both groups noted that they made long-lasting friendships and provided suggestions for how to improve this program in the future. We are thrilled to begin the interview process during the Spring 2024 semester for the second iteration of this program. Thank you to all members of the team for your work and the ODEI for funding this incredible project.

This peer mentorship program will enable faculty and alumni to collaboratively mentor undergraduate students in leading social justice initiatives in the sciences. 

Campus: Oakland 

Maria Catrina Jaime, Associate Clinical Professor and Associate Director of Undergraduate Programs Bouvé College of Health Sciences, Oakland campus  

Mi-Kyung (Miki) Hong, Assistant Adjunct Professor, Mills College Jared Young, Professor of Biology, Mills College  

Vala Burnett, Health Sciences Program Coordinator and Course Instructor, Mills College  

Charlene Betts-Ng, Associate Adjunct Professor of Biology, Mills College 

Spring 2024 Update:  

The Social Justice Peer Mentorship Program (SJPMP) enables faculty and alumni to collaboratively mentor undergraduate students in leading social justice initiatives in the sciences. By offering quality mentorship from BIPOC alumni peers and faculty, who can connect with students’ identities, lived experiences, and passions for social justice, this program has the potential to increase students’ professional and scholarly opportunities and improve students’ career trajectories in the sciences.  

In the Summer and Fall of 2023, the SJPMP established three dyad mentorships on the Oakland and Boston campuses. Participants include three undergraduate mentees, six alumni social justice scholars, and three faculty mentors, supported by a staff grant administrator. These three dyads have successfully developed three new student-led undergraduate research projects. Research topics include classroom equity for trans students (mentee Acirema “Ozzie” Gomes, alumni mentor Katja Hodnett, faculty mentor Charlene Betts-Ng), the impact of increased Anti-Asian activities (spurred by the pandemic) on the health of Asian Americans (mentee Tiana Gao, alumni mentor Victoria Lam, faculty mentor Jared Young), and an assessment of how international students at Northeastern University access care on campus (mentee Dina Yacoub, alumni mentor Mckenzi Thompson, faculty mentor Maria Catrina Jaime). Additional alumni scholars (Nadia Bourdoud, Ashlee T. Davis, Dylyn Turner-Keener) are providing peer-to-peer support and serving as content experts as mentees and mentors work through their first IRB application and study design process.  

As of Spring 2024, all dyads have conducted an initial literature search, read research papers on their topic, completed CITI training, and begun the IRB application process. With support from the grant administrator (Vala Burnett), dyads expect to complete the IRB approval process and implement surveys and research activities during the spring semester. The SJPMP will also extend students’ social justice initiatives based on their research findings throughout the summer semester.