Folami Alamudun - The 21st Institute on Teaching and Mentoring in Atlanta, GA

On October 30, over 1000 invited minority doctoral students, new faculty members, and leaders in education attended the 21st Annual Institute on Teaching and Mentoring in Atlanta, Georgia. One of these invited doctoral students was the Sketch Recognition Lab's own Folami Alamudun. Alamudun is a Computer Science & Engineering PhD student at the TAMU Sketch Recognition Lab, directed by Dr. Tracy Hammond. He also serves as the Vice President of the Computer Science and Engineering Graduate Student Association. 

Alamudun was able to attend the Institute through generous support and a travel fellowship from the TAMU System-wide Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate, or AGEP. The National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded AGEP exists to "support underrepresented students working to complete their doctorates in energy and sustainability and/or STEM related fields." 

The Institute on Teaching and Mentoring lasted from October 30 until Sunday, November 2, at the Omni CNN Center in Atlanta. The Institute is supported by the Compact for Faculty Diversity, which is a partnership comprised of regional, federal, and foundation programs. The Compact for Faculty Diversity focuses on minority participation in higher education and aims to increase the number of ethnic and racial minority faculty members on college and university campuses. 

The Institute is recognized as "a four-day conference that has become the largest gathering of minority doctoral scholars in the country." Attendance is by invitation only. Attendees include scholars from prestigious groups funded by renowned entities such as the United States Department of Education, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Science Foundation.

Throughout the four-day Institute, Alamudun and other attendees are given the opportunity to attend seminars and workshops on career development, as well as network with other graduate students, faculty members, and leaders in higher education from underrepresented minority groups. The Institute focuses on "mentoring and teaching preparation, community insights and scholar networking," while also putting a national spotlight on diversity in higher education. 

For these minority members in higher education, the Institute offers a chance to "share in the success of recent graduates and encourage one another to push through the challenges ahead," Alamudun states. The Institute offers attendees insight into overcoming career barriers and motivates them for the coming year.

"The benefit and value in attending this event include measurable values such as networking, development workshops, interaction with recruiters actively looking for minority candidates, and seminars," says Alamudun. "But it also includes less measurable values such as camaraderie, motivation, inspiration, and the wow factor."

Jess Gantt can be reached at jessicalgantt@gmail.com.