DMMM4: All-Summit Closing Plenary: Engaging Those with Physical, Cognitive or Sensory Challenges
Sponsored by: TMS: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee
Program Organizers: Aeriel Murphy-Leonard, Ohio State University; Mark Carroll, Honeywell Aerospace; Blythe Clark, Sandia National Laboratories; Kevin Cunningham, ATI Specialty Alloys & Components; Lauren Garrison, Commonwealth Fusion Systems; Atieh Moridi, Cornell University; Ashleigh Wright, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Megan Cordill, Erich Schmid Institute of Materials Science; Jonathan Madison, National Science Foundation; Mitra Taheri, Johns Hopkins University; Clarissa Yablinsky, Los Alamos National Laboratory

Thursday 2:00 PM
March 3, 2022
Room: Grand Ballroom F
Location: Anaheim Marriott

Session Chair: Mitra Taheri, Johns Hopkins University; Aeriel Murphy-Leonard, The Ohio State University


2:00 PM  Invited
Maximizing the Potential of Neurodiversity in the Employment and Educational Settings: Lawrence Fung1; 1Stanford University School of Medicine
    Neurodiversity is about accepting variations in brain functions and behaviors as part of normal variations of human beings. Uncovering the strengths of neurodiverse individuals empowers them to increase innovation and productivity, resulting in favorable outcomes not only for them but for the entire community. In this presentation, Dr. Fung will describe the Strengths-Based Model of Neurodiversity in developing neurodiverse individuals in learning and work environments. He will provide examples on how the model is implemented in the Neurodiversity at Work Program, Neurodiverse Student Support Program, and other programs within the Stanford Neurodiversity Project.

2:40 PM  
NOW ON-DEMAND ONLY - Accessibility for Disability: A Case Study of Graduate Colloquia during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Claire Saunders1; Camille Bernal1; Brent Fultz1; 1California Institute of Technology
    Disabled students face unique challenges in higher education. This is due in part to inherent diversity in disability. The Caltech Materials Research Lecture (MRL) is a colloquia for materials science graduate students. Speakers visit campus to meet students and faculty and deliver a research lecture. In 2020, restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic forced a transition to virtual learning. It posed challenges to broadly engage students while meeting individual needs of disabled students with sensory, ambulatory, or cognitive disability. This case study on the MRL discusses the efficacy of introducing closed captioning, recording for asynchronous participation, and anonymous question and answer options to create an inclusive environment for disabled students. Student attendance and demographic data demonstrate mixed success for overall accessibility and inclusivity. From these observations, new approaches and recommendations for a post-COVID hybrid in-person and virtual colloquia will be presented.

3:00 PM  
Breaking Down Geographical Barriers: Virtual and Non-standard Recruiting Efforts for Graduate Engineering at Purdue: Brenden Hamilton1; Benjamin Stegman1; Rosemary Son1; Juan Carlos Verduzco Gastelum1; Robynne Paldi1; Jared Gohl1; Nicholas Richter1; 1Purdue University
     In an increasingly diverse society, the lack of enrollment and retention of underrepresented minority students in graduate studies has been one of the main concerns of scholars in higher academia. Constraints arising from geographic accessibility further limit the recruitment scope for institutions. Historically, Purdue MSE’s recruiting efforts have been geographically biased, using events through the BigTen+ Graduate Expo, and others that require students being physically present on campus.As the world becomes progressively more interconnected, geographic barriers to recruitment are beginning to break down via advances in telecommunications and digital media efforts. In this talk, we discuss recent efforts by the Purdue Materials Engineering Graduate Student Association to generate student pipelines from a broader geographic range. In particular, we focus on discussing robust virtual methods for increasing accessibility to prospective students, developing long term connections with undergraduate research mentors, and ongoing initiatives with student cultural organizations.

3:30 PM Wrap up of DMMM4: Aeriel Murphy-Leonard, Ohio State University