2016 Field of Dreams Conference

Purdue University, West Lafayette IN

Investigators

Abstract

This award will partially support the Field of Dreams Conference, to be held at the Renaissance St. Louis Airport Hotel, in St. Louis, MO, from November 4-6, 2016. The Field of Dreams conference is organized by the National Alliance for Doctoral Studies in the Mathematical Sciences (the Alliance), an organization whose goal is to increase the number of students from backgrounds underrepresented in the mathematical sciences who earn doctorates in those fields. Approximately 200 students will attend the conference, and about 75% of those will be underrepresented minorities. More details about the conference activities can be found at the conference website: https://mathalliance.org/2016-field-of-dreams-conference/ The conference coordinates with the Alliance's Facilitated Graduate Admissions Process (F-GAP), which has helped place approximately 70 Alliance Scholars in graduate programs each of the last three years with almost 100% retention to this point. So, the conference is an essential part of a program to produce a more diverse professional mathematical workforce. In addition, there are events at the conference which assist faculty in mentoring practices and help academic departments transform their cultures to be more supportive of student success.