The Office of Educational Equity

From 1890 through 1990, more than 1,000 women had matriculated from College of EMS. In 1991, EMS undergraduate enrollment was 900 undergraduates and 525 graduate students, with 25% if undergraduate and graduate students being women. Professor Kate Freeman, shown below, was hired (by Michael Arthur); she is the second women hired as faculty in the department of Geosciences.

In 1994, EMS commissioned a study using surveys and focus groups to assess undergraduate and graduate student perceptions of the learning environment; a similar study followed in 1999. Results indicated a generally supportive climate, with favorable comments about the EMS Student Center, while faculty advising was identified as an area for improvement. Women responded more positively than men, graduate students were more critical than undergraduates, and international students perceived the environment as less caring than did U.S. students. Follow up open houses and focus groups in Spring 1996 found high overall satisfaction with academic programs and a positive climate for minority students, with recommendations to improve communication and form an EMS minority student organization.

Dr. John Lee (formerly Director of EMS Minority Programs) began the new role as a math tutor and instructor in Spring 1995. The appointment was 50% EMS and 50% Comprehensive Studies Program (CSP), a university program, for the first year. The program offered a semester long one credit math tutorial. In its first semester there were 15 students, all from CSP. In fall 1995, there were 44 students, 15 from CSP and 29 from EMS.  In fall 1996, the program became 100% EMS and the number of students continued to increase. A math instructor and tutor position still exists in the Ryan Family Student Center in 2025. 

In 1996, the Director of EMS Minority Programs position was reimagined as Director of Diversity Enhancement Programs and the office for minority affairs moved to the EMS Student Center in 25 Deike, with an expanded mission to provide resources and support for women and underrepresented minority students. Josie B. Herrera (shown below) was appointed director in January 1997; a Hispanic American woman, she earned an M.S. in earth sciences in 1993 and previously taught in Environmental Sciences at the DuBois Campus. Herrera said “I established email communication with them [women] and provided them with important information on opportunities available to them. Their response was overwhelmingly positive: most women—graduate and undergraduate—were pleased that the College was taking an interest in helping them as a group. I then surveyed the women in the College for their opinions about the need for a mentoring program. Most agreed it would be beneficial and felt that such a program should be a high priority for the College.”

In 1998 Penn State launched its strategic plan for diversity, equity, and inclusion, A Framework to Foster Diversity at Penn State. Over 3 iterations of 5-year planning cycles featuring unit-level plans and updates with robust evaluation and feedback, the Framework soon became a national model. The Framework’s Challenges were developed based on analysis of the diversity sections of unit  general strategic plans. EMS was noted as one of the few Colleges and administrative units that included a robust diversity plan within the unit’s strategic plan. Copies of the initial EMS Diversity Plan, which was part of the general strategic plan (1995), was distributed to all EMS faculty and staff. Updates were included in annual updates to the College’s Strategic Plan. That 1995 plan served as the basis for EMS Framework to Foster Diversity planning and evaluation.

Cynde Freeman served as Director of Diversity Enhancement Programs from 1999 to 2006, overseeing student focused initiatives supporting recruitment, retention, financial resources, and community building for underrepresented undergraduate and graduate students, including women. The program maintained a website and listserv, organized social and educational events, collaborated closely with Academic Advising and the Ryan Family Student Center, conducted pre-college outreach, and worked with faculty on research and educational experiences. The Director also coordinated EMS participation in national and University initiatives—including SROP, MACA, WISE, MURE, FISE, Upward Bound, and other TRIO programs—and served on College and University committees.

From 2000, EMS was a participating and contributing member of MentorNet, an e-mentoring program supporting undergraduate and graduate women in science and engineering, with EMS funding enabling Penn State’s broader participation. By 2021, EMS had 39 MentorNet participants, and the College contributed alumni data for all female graduates since 1960 to help expand the pool of mentors matched to EMS students by professional field.

Developed and taught by Professor of Geography Lakshman ("Lucky") Yapa, Rethinking Urban Poverty: The Philadelphia Field Project was a yearlong (three semester) course integrating social theories of poverty, class, race, and place with a summer service-learning experience in West Philadelphia that engaged students in research, community projects, and volunteer work. The course was recognized as a model of multicultural, service focused scholarship, earning Professor Yapa the Penn State Outreach Award (2000) and the National Association of Multicultural Education Program Award (2002), and it was commended as a best practice in the 1998–2003 Framework Review; in 2008, EMS received the APLU national outreach scholarship award for the project.

By 2001, EMS had developed a comprehensive strategy to recruit and retain a diverse undergraduate student body through extensive pre-college outreach, targeted recruitment, and retention efforts. These included partnerships with MACA, Talent Search, the Schreyer Honors College, and numerous K–12 and pre-college programs; participation in national recruitment venues such as SACNAS, AISES, SHPE, and NSBE; and personalized outreach to admitted underrepresented students through calls, letters, and alumni engagement via GEMS. Retention efforts supported bridge and enrichment programs, student organizations, and professional development opportunities, contributing to recognition in the 2001 Framework midpoint review for progress in recruiting and retaining women faculty.