Instructions for Preparing the Note on Recruitment and Retention Plan to Enhance Diversity on NIGMS T32 Applications

The note on the recruitment and retention plan to enhance diversity should focus on racial and ethnic groups considered to be underrepresented in biomedical research: African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, Alaskan Natives, Hawaiian Natives, and natives of the U.S. Pacific Islands.¹

A plan for the recruitment and retention of individuals with disabilities² is also required, and you must comment on this aspect as well (with an emphasis, for now, on the plan and less emphasis on results). Recruitment and retention plans for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds³ are applicable primarily to high school and perhaps undergraduate candidates and are, therefore, generally not required for graduate and postdoctoral training programs.⁴

Achievements

• Give the number of students from underrepresented groups who were appointed to the training grant during the past funding period.
• If the training program goes beyond the training grant, give the number of underrepresented students who participated in the parent program but were supported via other mechanisms.
• The admissions and completion data for individuals from underrepresented groups (numbers of applicants, offers, matriculations, and graduations/program completions) should be specified and compared to the corresponding numbers for all students/fellows.
• For new applications, information from pre-existing and relevant departmental training programs is helpful.

Efforts and Activities

• Give a brief description of:

1. past, ongoing, or proposed recruitment activities undertaken specifically by this training grant program to enhance diversity of the trainee pool;
2. past, ongoing, and/or proposed institutional recruitment activities that contribute to a diverse pool of candidates for this training program; and
3. past, ongoing, and/or proposed retention activities that support students or fellows from diverse backgrounds once they are enrolled and increase their completion rates.

• If achievements have been limited during the previous award period, it is especially important to indicate whether the past experience has been incorporated into the formulation of the plan for the next award period and if promising new recruitment or retention activities are planned.

Conclusion

• Rate the Recruitment and Retention Plans to Enhance Diversity as "Acceptable" or "Unacceptable" and justify your rating (for Acceptable ratings, the relative merit of the recruitment plans and efforts (e.g., marginal or commendable) may be indicated in your written comments). To be considered Acceptable, an application must provide plans for all relevant underrepresented categories.
• For renewal applications, achievements may be considered in assigning priority score.

¹ It is recognized that under-representation can vary from setting to setting, and individuals from racial or ethnic groups that can be convincingly demonstrated to be underrepresented by the applicant institution should be considered as well.

² Individuals with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.

³ Individuals who 1) come from a family with an annual income below established low-income thresholds. These thresholds are based on family size, published by the U.S. Bureau of the Census; adjusted annually for changes in the Consumer Price Index; and adjusted by the Secretary for use in all health professions programs. The Secretary periodically publishes these income levels at HHS - Poverty Guidelines, Research, and Measurement . For individuals from low income backgrounds, the institution must be able to demonstrate that such candidates have qualified for Federal disadvantaged assistance or they have received any of the following student loans: Health Professional Student Loans (HPSL), Loans for Disadvantaged Student Program, or they have received scholarships from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under the Scholarship for Individuals with Exceptional Financial Need.
2) come from a social, cultural, or educational environment such as that found in certain rural or inner-city environments that have demonstrably and recently directly inhibited the individual from obtaining the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to develop and participate in a research career.

⁴ Under extraordinary circumstances the PHS may, at its discretion, consider an individual beyond the undergraduate level to be from a disadvantaged background. Such decisions will be made on a case-by-case basis, based on appropriate documentation.

May 18, 2010