The Hearst Foundations Inc. has announced a $150,000 gift to the U of A Graduate School to help fund the Razorgrad Institute for Success and Engagement program, or RISE.

The contribution is intended to provide program support and scholarships that will increase enrollment for first-generation and underrepresented graduate students in the RISE program. 

“The RISE programming is doing exactly what it is designed to do — creating a sense of belonging and engagement for underrepresented and first-generation students and introducing them to the University of Arkansas,” said Curt Rom, interim dean of the Graduate School and International Education. “By helping the participants establish strong relationships, make professional connections on campus and create a sense of place, we are also seeing increased retention and graduation rates for those who participate.”

RISE, developed in 2018 to increase diversity among the graduate student population at the U of A, is led by Laura Moix, director of graduate student support. The weeklong program is for 18-20 promising new graduate students from historically underrepresented populations during the transition to graduate education.

BUILDING ON EARLY SUCCESS

The Hearst Foundations funding will allow the RISE program to accept 10 additional students per year in future cohorts, provide financial support for participants to continue in the program during the academic year and extend program-specific offerings beyond the initial week throughout the student’s first academic year. 

“We are proud of our long association with the university,” said Paul “Dino” Dinovitz, executive director for the Hearst Foundations San Francisco office. “The Hearst Foundations seek transformative initiatives such as this and are pleased to be a partner in the RISE program. Efforts designed to improve access and ensure success for students are more important now than ever before.”

RISE participants share in activities focused on self-empowerment, professional development, academic skills and personal growth, while creating a community between friends, mentors, advisers and supporters for their career at the U of A.

Expanding the program is an important part of the Graduate School’s strategic effort to create a more engaged culture and climate of appreciation for diversity and inclusivity. 

In the fall of 2020, 22 percent of U of A graduate students were from racially underrepresented populations. This percentage is strong compared with other SEC institutions, whose diverse graduate enrollment ranges from 17 to 21 percent in a typical year. 

The increased funding from the Hearst Foundations will allow RISE programming to expand the sense of belonging that minority graduate students experience by participating in the program. 

RISE partners with numerous groups for its programming. These include the U of A Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation; student Counseling and Psychological Services; University Libraries; the School of Art; the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; the Jane B. Gearhart Full Circle Food Pantry; Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art; and employees from U of A departments including Communication, Gender Studies, Latin American and Latino Studies, and African and African American Studies.

The Hearst Foundations initially invested in engineering education diversity at the U of A in 1991, when they awarded their first grant to support doctoral fellowships for female and minority engineering students. The organization also provided endowment funding to the College of Engineering to support the Women In Engineering program and additional financial gifts to the Engineering Career Awareness Program scholarship fund. 

About the Hearst Foundations: The Hearst Foundations are independent private philanthropies operating separately from the Hearst Corporation. Since their founding in the 1940s by William Randolph Hearst, the Foundations have awarded more than 20,000 grants to nonprofit organizations and institutions in the fields of education, health, culture and social service. 

About the University of Arkansas: As Arkansas' flagship institution, the U of A provides an internationally competitive education in more than 200 academic programs. Founded in 1871, the U of A contributes more than $2.2 billion to Arkansas’ economy through the teaching of new knowledge and skills, entrepreneurship and job development, discovery through research and creative activity while also providing training for professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the U of A among the top 3% of U.S. colleges and universities with the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the U of A among the top public universities in the nation. See how the U of A works to build a better world at Arkansas Research News.