Specific strategies include:
1. National Minority Recruitment and Retention Conferences. ADEA has produced seven successful national conferences that have developed a national focus network and forum for diversity issues. The Conferences will continue to be held biennially to strengthen the national network of minority recruitment officers, allow for exchanges related to “best practices” and to seek newer resources and ways of addressing the recruitment of underrepresented minorities to careers in dentistry. The Recruitment & Retention Conferences are Co-sponsored by the Procter & Gamble Company. The Seventh Diversity and Access Conference was held in Baltimore, December 7-9, 2006. The name has been changed to: Diversity and Access to Dental Careers.
2. Implement a Minority Faculty Development Program. The Minority Affairs Advisory Committee (MAAC) recommended that ADEA consider the implementation of a minority faculty development program. Medicine has a model program that is sustained with foundation funding. This recommendation was made in response to the ADEA Future Faculty Report. ADEA has received 2.4 million from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to implement the ADEA/W.K.Kellogg Comprehensive Minority Dental Faculty Development (MDFD) Program. This grant award covers a six-year time period (2004-2009).
3. Support Minority and Low-Income Dental Student Recruitment. The ADEA/W.K. Kellogg Foundation Access to Dental Careers (ADC) grant funding (1.4 million) supported the recruitment component of the RWJF Pipeline grants. The California Endowment has provided funding for five of the 15 schools that are now included in the Pipeline Project.
4. Continue Legislative Agenda. The ADEA Legislative Agenda is crucial to minority student recruitment and retention. Resources provided to U.S. dental schools have been made possible through sustained legislative efforts directed toward federal funding available to dental schools, students, and faculty. ADEA will continue to provide advocacy for federal programs that support: minority focused programs, student financial assistance, student training, the Minority Faculty Loan Repayment program and other opportunities that arise in the future.
5. Collaborative efforts with the American Dental Association with regard to underrepresented minority recruitment. ADEA is supporting the URM recruitment efforts of the ADA through its CEDL Committee on Career Guidance and Diversity Activities (Committee D). This sharing of information and effort will benefit all who are involved in minority student recruitment to careers in dentistry.
6. Expand collaborative efforts with other associations. ADEA will continue to expand collaborative efforts with other organizations for mutual benefits to be derived from such associations. As the nation is challenged to address the disparities noted in the Report of the Surgeon General (2000), such collaborations will be an imperative. ADEA will continue collaborations especially with the following: National Association of the Advisors of the Health Professions (NAAHP), National Association of Minority Medical Educators (NAMME), National Dental Association (NDA), and Hispanic Dental Association (HDA), Friends of the Indian Health Service (FIHS), Society of American Indian Dentists (SAID), Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), Ventures Scholars Program (VSP) and the American Dental Association, (ADA).
7. Expand Regional Workshops for Predental Advisors. ADEA has held eight regional predental advisor workshops in tandem with the Association’s Annual Sessions since 1998. These workshops have targeted members of the National Association of Advisors of the Health Professions, regional recruitment, admissions and financial aid officers and other local individuals involved in dental student recruitment. The regional approach to advisor contact will continue to provide advisors with updated information and resources that will enhance their ability to influence the career choices of college students. Plans to expand these workshops were included in the conference that was held in Orlando, Florida, March, 2006 and will continue in future conferences.
8. Implement ADEA Resolution Regarding Cultural and Linguistic Competence (Resolution 12H-2000). “All dental education institutions should include cultural and linguistic concepts as an integral component of their curricula to facilitate the provision of oral health services”. This resolution, developed by the joint activity of the ADEA Women’s Affairs Advisory Committee (WAAC) and Minority Affairs Advisory Committee (MAAC), was approved by the 2000 ADEA House of Delegates. The joint WAAC/MAAC committees will continue to advise the ADEA Board of Directors on ways to help dental and allied dental education programs address this resolution. As the cultural competency elements of dental and allied curricula evolve, the accompanying cultural changes within the academic environment are expected to enhance patient care and treatment outcomes in the future. The ADEA W.K. Kellogg Access to Dental Careers (ADC) grant in partnership with the RWJF Pipeline Project will contribute to curriculum development in the area of cultural competency in the 15 dental schools receiving the ADC/Pipeline grants.
9. Support Minority Affairs Section Programming. The Minority Administrators and Faculty Special Interest Group (MAFSIG) became the Minority Affairs Section (MAS), in 1994. The goals of this section are to promote the recruitment and development of minorities as faculty and administrators in dental education and to heighten the awareness of other faculty and administrators regarding issues and concerns that have a significant impact on minorities in the academic environment. CED supports the MAS in its efforts to: recruit minority faculty, students and administrators; assure that the legislative agenda addresses the special needs of minorities in dental education; and facilitate collaboration with other sections for programs and activities that focus on diversity or cultural competency. For example, CED supports the collaboration of the MAS with the NDA in the Minority Faculty Forum planning and the Faculty Awards program at the Annual Conventions of the NDA.
10. Leadership Training for Minority Affairs Officers. The Gies Foundation has awarded ADEA grant funds to provide leadership training for minority/diversity affairs officers in U.S. dental schools. The program will increase effective leadership in the areas of minority recruitment and retention, resource allocation, cultural competency, outreach, and leadership skills.
11. Participate in the Health Professionals for Diversity (HPD) Coalition activities. The HPD Coalition is comprised of more than 50 health organizations across the health professions disciplines. The Coalition has been reactivated by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) in response to the U.S. Supreme Court rulings regarding the University of Michigan Affirmative Action decisions. The Coalition will address opportunities and challenges to promoting diversity in the post-University of Michigan decisions environment and in building support for diversity across the health professions.
12. Support the Report of the ADEA President’s Commission: Improving the Oral Health Status of All Americans: Roles and Responsibilities of Academic Dental Institutions, March 2003. The CED programmatic strategies will continue to address the items included in Recommendation 4: “To increase the diversity of the oral health workforce.”
13. Opportunities for Minority Students in U.S. Dental Schools (OMSUSDS). ADEA publishes Opportunities for Minority Students in U.S. Dental Schools, the only biennial publication designed to attract minority students to careers in dentistry. This unique resource guide contains information of interest to minority students for all 57 dental schools, including: pre-dental academic enrichment programs, minority student associations, the distribution of minority students by school, financial aid and a listing of additional information sources and profiles of minority dentists.
14. College Board Enrollment Management Project. ADEA is a sponsoring organization of the College Board’s new initiative, Enrollment Management and the Law: A College Board Collaborative on Access and Diversity Policies and Practices in Higher Education. The Collaborative represents medical, dental, law and graduate schools throughout the U.S. Through a series of meetings and other discussions with practitioners, the Collaborative will develop pragmatic strategic planning, legal, and policy tools to help institutions meet their diversity-related goals in ways that are legally sound. The two-year project will focus on: financial aid and scholarships; outreach, recruitment and retention; and admissions (specifically selection). The Collaborative has produced its first publication: Federal Law and Financial Aid: A Framework For Evaluating Diversity-Related Programs (April, 2005). Its most recent publication: From Federal Law to State Voter Initiatives: Preserving Higher Education’s Authority to Achieve the Educational, Economic, Civic, and Security Benefits Associated with a Diverse Student Body, released March, 2007.
15. Ventures Scholars Program. ADEA is a member of the Ventures Scholars Program, a national membership program designed to promote equity in and access to higher education. The Ventures Scholars Program (VSP) identifies high achieving historically underrepresented and first-generation college-going students interested in pursuing math- and science-based careers and provides academic recognition, information and resources needed to successfully reach their career goals. High school students are identified for membership in the VSP program based on their math and science scores on a standardized test administered nationally by the College Board. As a VSP member, ADEA has access to demographic data and career interests of the VSP student members. In a recent query of student members’ career interests, ADEA discovered that out of 400 respondents only 2 indicated dentistry as a career interest. ADEA Center for Equity and Diversity works with the Council of Students Administrative Board to communicate with Ventures Scholars about the opportunities and benefits of a career in the dental profession.
16. Summer Medical and Dental Education Program (SMDEP). The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) have been awarded an $18 million grant from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to administer the SMDEP program. This program has awarded 12 grants to U.S. medical and dental schools for collaborative efforts to increase their underrepresented minority enrollment. These grants are expected to include recruitment and formally conducted six-week academic enrichment programs for undergraduate college students. The grants were implemented in the summer of 2006. Each site will include 80 students per summer and will receive $300,000/year for four years. Dr. Dave Brunson is the ADEA program coordinator for this grant.
17. Participation in Minority Career Fairs. ADEA staff participate in career fairs for high school and college students, as well as health professions advisors, promoting dentistry as a career.
18. Coordinating Efforts of Dental School Admissions, Financial Aid and Student Affairs Officers (AFASA) Related to Diversity Initiatives. ADEA AFASA members have established work groups to explore possible collaborative relationships between dental schools in the recruitment, admission and retention of minority and disadvantaged students, and the use of noncognitive factors in admissions.
19. Support for Society of American Indian Dentists (SAID) recruitment efforts. ADEA will continue to support SAID activities at their Annual Meetings and other opportunities. ADEA will continue efforts to include American Indians and Native Alaskans in OMSUSDS and other data resources.
20. ExploreHealthCareers.org. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has awarded $672,688 for a grant period of June 1, 2007, through May 31, 2009.
21. Dental Pipeline Connections Supplemental Grant. This new program is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation through the Dental Pipeline National Office. The goal of the program is to strengthen under-represented minority (URM) programs for prospective and enrolled dental students by providing start-up funds for a mentoring program. Four Dental Pipeline Schools were funded to the sum of $50,000 each. The schools are Meharry Medical College School of Dentistry, University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry, and the University of Southern California School of Dentistry. Dr. Dave Brunson is the ADEA coordinator for this program. ADEA will be responsible for the evaluation of the outcomes of the mentoring programs.
22. California Pipeline Program Phase II Evaluation. ADEA has been awarded $390,000 by the California Endowment to build on the strengths of Pipeline I with regard to the community-based collaborations, educational experiences, and URM/LI recruitment objectives. The five dental schools in California have students and residents that rotate to about 70 community health centers in the state serving thousands of low-income, rural, and medically compromised patients. This study will evaluate the treatment and educational outcomes emanating from partnerships between the schools and Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs). The study will be conducted over a three-year period.
23. Minority (URM) Dental Administrators Listing. ADEA will compile a listing of URM Dental Administrators to be used for: networking, documentation of the career advancement of URMs, resource data for Minority Affairs Section programming, and leadership training opportunities. Data for this listing will be obtained from the ADEA Directory of Institutional Members (DIM).