IMPACT: Promoting Diversity and the Success of Underrepresented Minority Students in the Clinical and Research Workforce for Communication Sciences and Disorders

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Project Summary The IMPACT (Innovative Mentoring and Professional Advancement Through Cultural Training) Program is a multi-dimensional, inter-institutional, collaborative mentoring program for underrepresented minority (URM) students who are interested in communication sciences and disorders (CSD). This program is a collaboration between Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), a top US research university, and Hampton University (HU), a top ranked Historically Black College and University (HBCU). CWRU is known for its innovation in CSD, and it is located in a predominately Black neighborhood. HU has the oldest graduate program in speech-language pathology (SLP) at an HBCU and has graduated more Black SLPs than any other US program. CWRU and HU, along with their corporate and institutional partners and many peer supports, will provide structured mentorship and professional development resources to build broad and diverse developmental mentorship networks for the 42 and 24 undergraduate and graduate students, respectively, who will participate in the IMPACT program throughout the five-year grant cycle. The aims of this proposal are to: 1) build developmental networks for URM students in CSD, and 2) successfully transition students in CSD into clinical and research graduate programs. By achieving these aims, URM students in CSD will be more likely to pursue a career in research and the foundation will be laid for a successful research career. IMPACT Fellows will be paired with academic, research, affinity, and peer mentors, along with writing, wellness, and career coaches; they will meet regularly with these mentors and coaches throughout each academic year. Undergraduate Fellows will complete at least 150 hours of learning experiences, while graduate Fellows will complete a minimum of 50 hours. Work from this five-year proposal will be used to create both a model and a manual for collaborative CSD mentoring programs between other minority-serving-institutions (e.g., HBCUs) and research-intensive universities. Long-term outcomes of the IMPACT program include the achievement and retention of URM students in CSD careers. This in turn is expected to support the broader mission of NIDCD by improving outcomes for communication disorders in URM populations by fostering diversity of thought, inclusive assessment, and equitable treatment in clinical CSD research.