Report of the Committee on Diversity
for the Year ending June 30, 2003

This has been an active and very fruitful year for the Committee on Diversity with activities centered on preparations for and follow-up from the 2003 Sigma Xi Forum, Changing the Face of Science and Engineering.

I. Meetings of the Committee
The Committee on Diversity met on November 14, 2003 in Galveston, TX and had two telephone conference call meetings on May 6th, and May 20th 2003.

II. Activities and Business of the Committee

1. The Committee played a key role in the development of the program and an accompanying resource book that is now on the Sigma Xi Web site and available as a booklet. The booklet will be distributed to chapter officers in FY 2004 along with examples of successful chapter-based diversity programs. In addition, a book based on the Forum plenary sessions is in preparation. Willie Pearson Jr. and Michael Teitelbaum are the co-editors of the volume.
2. The Committee contributed ideas toward a proposal sent to Battelle Memorial Institute to endow a prize for leadership in science and the community to be named after Sigma Xi's president-elect William R. Wiley. Dr. Wiley, who died the day before he was to take office in 1996, would have been the first African American president of the Society. He was also the Director of Pacific Northwest Laboratory and Senior Vice President, Battelle Memorial Institute.
3. The JustGarciaHill Website (JGH), funded by a NIH grant to Sigma Xi, has been very active this year under the leadership of Dr. Robert Dottin. The JustGarcia Hill Website was designed to be a portal to a virtual community of minority scientists and engineers. Although minority scientists are often dispersed geographically, through the power of technology this site provides a special opportunity for Sigma Xi to support and encourage the professional lives of minority scientists. Please visit the Website: http://justgarciahill.org to see the many activities underway, read the current issue of the online magazine, Progress, and join in on interesting discussion groups and other activities at the JustGarciaHill Website.
4. Mentoring activities of the Committee are continuing. There have been many discussions this year with other organizations involved in mentoring activities to determine structures that are working for such activities. Sigma Xi has joined MentorNet as an Affiliated Partner and we are beginning to recruit mentors and protégés for two programs. The One-on-One Program is aimed at undergraduate protégés who will be matched with practicing scientists and engineers usually in a non-academic setting. The Academic Mentoring Program, funded by a grant from NSF will match tenured faculty members with late stage graduate students, post-docs and early career faculty members. To find out more about how to become a mentor or a protégé, please visit www.sigmaxi.org.

III. Chapter Diversity Program Awards
Howard University - The chapter challenged the minds of more than 100 eager, middle school minority students through its Science Discovery Day. Following a short motivational talk by a prominent scientist, each team of students is escorted to at least three hands-on, inquiry-based scientific adventures. The exercises were to full professors given by graduate students. Science-based prizes are awarded for Brain-teaser proficiency as well as for participation in the exercises. A parent workshop focuses on courses that are preparatory as well as area programs designed to increase the number of minorities in the science and engineering pipeline.

Middle Tennessee State University - The chapter was a co-sponsor of "Expanding Your Horizons in Science and Mathematics," a career conference for girls in grades 6-8 consisting of some 40 "hands-on" workshops, a keynote address, demonstrations and a luncheon. Scholarships and busing arrangements assured a good mix of participants from many different communities and different social and ethnic backgrounds. Chapter members organized public lectures on "Women in Science," as well as a luncheon meeting titled "Graduate and Professional School for Minorities and Women: Questions and Answers" and a panel discussion on "Perspectives of MTSU Women in Science." IV. Five Year Action Plan
We have essentially completed our previous five year plan and must now plan for the future. We anticipate having a Committee workshop this coming year to formulate the plan for the next five years.

V. Members of the Committee
Susan Kilham Committee Chair
John Alderete, University of Texas, San Antonio
Carol Daniels, Florida A&MMbr< Sylvester James Gates, University of Maryland
Regina McClinton, Univ. of Southwestern Louisianna
Donna Nelson, University of Oklahama
Geraldine Twitty, Howard University

Staff Liaisons
Linda Schmalbeck

VI. Comments from the Chair
This year was very productive for the Committee on Diversity. The Sigma Xi Forum and the resource booklet were two achievements that had been planned for several years. Mentoring activities and especially the JGH website are moving forward. I thank the members of the Committee and the staff liaisons who were so very instrumental in making this a successful year.

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