Embracing its role as an urban institution, Temple University provides opportunities for graduate students of diverse backgrounds and interests.
In 2017, Dr. Zebulon V. Kendrick, vice provost for graduate education at Temple University, was honored by the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) for his work with doctoral students of color. Dr. Ansley Abraham, director of SREB’s doctoral scholars program, described Kendrick as providing crucial support to doctoral students that enabled them fulfill their path of becoming researchers and faculty members.
“Higher education, particularly graduate education, is a place where optimal environments for interaction and for learning of diverse student populations really enhances everything,” says Kendrick. “If we can recruit a diverse student population, the students will be in classes together. They’ll be interacting inside and outside of classes, inside and outside of laboratories. They’ll be sharing cultural events.
“Because of diversity … I truly believe graduate education provides the opportunity for students, faculty and administrators to have a better understanding of the cultures within the United States as well as the world,” he adds. “It makes for positive dialogue among all of these populations.”
Temple’s Graduate School currently offers 135 master’s programs, 55 doctoral programs and 10 professional science master’s programs. Kendrick oversees all the graduate programs and endeavors to find ways to promote diversity. Part of his job involves approving new graduate courses. He works with the graduate board of 30 elected faculty members from different schools and colleges at Temple.
“I work with graduate programs to develop new programs that meet the needs of the 21st century or restructure graduate programs that would better meet the needs of the 21st century without losing the perspective of how we got to where we are today,” says Kendrick.
Temple has a legacy of diversity initiatives dating back to the Future Faculty Program for underrepresented students founded in 1988. For underrepresented students from the United States, there continue to be Future Faculty Fellowships.
