DEI Community Call: Grantee Selection Strategies and the SCOTUS Race-Conscious Admissions Decision [November 29, 2023]

• View the Zoom recording
• View the slides presented during this session

Many nonprofit funding organizations have been observing the United States Supreme Court’s Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College decision regarding race-conscious admissions, and wondering about the ways in which this decision could impact similar processes outside of higher ed, like grantee selection. While the Harvard and UNC decision does not apply beyond higher education admissions, it provides a good opportunity to explore different race status-neutral selection processes and practices. In this session, Amy Addams from the Association of American Medical Colleges discussed the AAMC’s Holistic Review framework, which is allowable under the recent decision, and how it can be adapted for grantee selection processes. Amy was joined by Leila Harrison, PhD, Vice Dean for Admissions, Student Affairs, and Alumni Engagement at the Washington State University Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, who discussed the process of implementing these selection strategies in her context.

Speakers:

• Amy Addams, Director, Student Affairs Alignment and Holistic Review, Association of American Medical Colleges
• Leila Harrison, PhD, Vice Dean for Admissions, Student Affairs, and Alumni Engagement, Washington State University Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine

Resources and links shared during this session:

• HRA Bias Mitigation in Peer Review Training (for Program Staff)
• HRA Guide to Collecting Demographic Data
• Previous HRA DEI Community Call with Amy Addams: Holistic Review [July 14, 2021]
• Article: Increasing the Relative Weight of Noncognitive Admission Criteria Improves Underrepresented Minority Admission Rates to Medical School