Diversity Recruitment Toolkit

Help us promote diversity and inclusion across the University of Minnesota by creating a Diversity Matters webpage on your program's website. Current graduate students have said that these sites would help inform prospective and current students of your commitment to diversity and provide links to valuable resources and initiatives that focus on diversity and inclusion.

To make an impact with your Diversity Matters page, we recommend providing a brief statement about your program's mission and commitment to diversity, links to the Community of Scholars Program, Office for Equity and Diversity, Graduate School Diversity Office (GSDO), Multicultural Resources and Services, useful graduate student organizations, and specific diversity fellowship opportunities such as the Diversity of Views and Experiences (DOVE) Fellowships.

Don’t forget to include photos, a link to your Facebook page, student experiences, and information about special events related to your program.

Examples of Diversity Resources at the U of M

• Psychology: Diversity and Inclusion
• Psychology: Graduate Student Profiles
• Biomedical Sciences Graduate Programs: Diversity Improves Our Research
• Biomedical Engineering: Research Spotlight
• MN Lend Program: Diversity at Minnesota
• Department of Chemistry: Diversity Resources
• College of Design
• College of Science and Engineering: Diversity and Outreach
• The Law School: Diversity and Inclusion
• School of Social Work YouTube Video
• Sociology: "Our Commitment to Equity and Diversity"
• Women's Center Promotional YouTube Video
• Biomedical Sciences Graduate Programs Facebook Page

The gradSERU is a comprehensive survey that measures a variety of graduate student experiences, including students' perceptions of campus climate, reasons for selecting their degree program, mental health and wellbeing, and financial support. You can view the results by college, program, or students' demographics. For example, note the differences in responses to the question below based on race/ethnicity/citizenship status. What are some data points for your program that would be helpful for recruiting students of color or first-generation students? 

Access 2021 gradSERU Results

The Graduate School website provides the last ten years of Admission Statistics (application for admissions, admissions yield, admit pool characteristics, matriculation yield, and matriculation pool characteristics) and Retention Statistics broken down by masters, doctoral, male, female, international, and minority students.

View your program's statistics

Graduate Education Data Portals (Internet ID sign-in required)

The Puerto Rico, McNair Scholar, Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS), and Black Graduate and Professional Student Association (BGAPSA) Ambassador Programs enable prospective students to connect with current graduate students who agreed to share information about their campus experiences. These programs help students to build communities that enrich their campus experiences.

Please contact [email protected] for more information about these programs, promotion materials, and guidance on how to recruit new students.

Student Databases and National Programs

The University of Minnesota Graduate School is committed to recruiting exemplary students from underrepresented backgrounds. The databases below will help you connect with prospective students, introduce them to your program, and answer any questions they may have. Our research shows that faculty should not underestimate their role in the recruitment process as faculty contact is one of the highest-rated factors that underrepresented students cite when explaining why they selected a graduate program.

National Name Exchange

The National Name Exchange (NNE) is a consortium of fifty-five, nationally-known universities that annually collect and exchange the names of their talented-but-underrepresented students who are in their sophomore, junior, or senior year of undergraduate education. NNE students self-identified by completing the NNE online request form to receive program information. The purpose of the NNE is to ensure that participating universities continue to identify qualified students who could be recruited to graduate programs at participating institutions. NNE universities conduct other activities consistent with the national efforts to increase the enrollment of traditionally underrepresented peoples in graduate education.

The total number of prospective undergraduate students who participated in NNE this Fall was 6,028; 166 of whom are University of Minnesota undergraduates. Many are seniors looking to start their graduate studies in Fall 2023.

Please contact [email protected] if your program would like access to the NNE.

McNair Scholar Program National Directory

The McNair Scholar National Directory compiles information about graduating seniors, including their addresses, majors, and areas of interest for graduate study. You can view the online McNair Scholar Database here.

For more information about McNair Scholars, please refer to the McNair Scholars Brochure: "Enhancing Diversity in Graduate Student Recruitment".

GEM Fellowship Directory

The mission of The National GEM Consortium is to enhance the value of the nation's human capital by increasing the participation of underrepresented groups (African Americans, Native Americans, and Hispanic Americans) at the master's and doctoral levels in engineering and science.

Please contact [email protected]  for information about the GEM Consortium Online Portal.

Campus Community Connection Visitation Program

The Graduate School Diversity Office staff are available to assist graduate programs with the recruitment of prospective students whom programs invite for campus visits and orientations. We have found that it is important for underrepresented students to know that there is a supportive community for them both on and off campus. During their campus visit, we will inform prospective students about the Community of Scholars Program (COSP) and campus-wide resources.

Faculty and Staff are invited to participate in the Graduate and Professional Schools Recruitment Council Google Group at the University of Minnesota. This online Google Group with more than 50 members offers the opportunity to discuss recruitment trends, graduate fairs and conferences, diversity recruitment and outreach; to connect with one another; to highlight our offerings and to discuss ways that we can coordinate collaborative efforts. Members at our semi annual meetings requested that a Google Group be created that would allow increased participation by campus recruiters and would serve as a venue for information on recruitment initiatives and best practices. Sharing tables at graduate fairs and conferences, for example, can help to save your resources. For further information or if you would like to become a Council Member, please contact [email protected] .

We have various resources available to provide underrepresented students with information on how to create strategies for realizing their educational goals, and take advantage of local and national resources to finance their graduate studies.

• MSP BIPOC Business Map
• Campus-wide Summer Research Symposium (August)
• Graduate Student Organizations and Support Programs 
• Best Practices for Recruiting Handbook
• University of Minnesota Religious Holiday Calendar
• Graduate School Diversity Office Brochure (PDF)
• Graduate and Professional Programs (PDF)
• Community of Scholars Program Brochure
• Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) research brief and toolkit: Hispanic-Serving Institutions: A Critical Pipeline to Graduate School for Latinx Students 

Visit Recruitment Calendar