The Historically Black Institution (HBI) Visitation Program was established by the Graduate School in 1988 as a recognition of the need for increasing the enrollment of students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

The purpose of the HBI program is to provide an opportunity for students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities to visit Purdue University and subsequently consider enrollment.

The intent of the program is to:

• Encourage undergraduate students from HBIs to pursue a graduate education.
• Make students aware of the many career opportunities available at Purdue.
• Establish ties between faculty and students on the Purdue University campus and Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
• Increase minority graduate enrollment on the Purdue University campus.

The result of the program has been to increase our awareness of challenges facing students who matriculate at large, majority institutions.

The HBI Visitation Program has already served as a model program for other institutions across the nation. The positive results of the program have been realized because of the Graduate School's leadership and our personal commitment to Purdue's goal of equal opportunity for all.

2006 HBI Visitation Program Participants Purdue/John Underwood

How the HBI Program Works

Connecting with Purdue

The first component is a visit by the administrators from the HBI schools to meet our faculty and engage in informal discussions. These meetings provide an opportunity for the administrators to see that Purdue can provide their students with a climate conducive to effective learning, and with nationally recognized academic programs.

Selected Honor Students Visit Purdue

Selected Honor Students Visit Purdue

The second component is a visit by those honor students selected by their university to participate in the program. During the three-day visit, the students meet with faculty, administrators and graduate students, tour the campus, visit laboratories, libraries and classrooms, and get information about the various kinds of financial support that would be available through fellowships, assistantships, and counselorships. They are also made aware of the many career options available to them upon completion of their graduate programs.

Building Personal Relationships

The third component is regular visits to the 11 colleges and universities with which Purdue has formal connections, plus visits to other HBCUs.

Retention Activities

The fourth component of the program involves retention efforts. New students are offered many opportunities through an orientation program that highlights programs and faculty, as well as strategies for surviving graduate study. Other activities during the year such as a welcoming dinner, seminars, mentoring programs and meetings provide networking opportunities for new and continuing students.

Success of the HBI Visitation Program

This visitation program works! It has proved to be our most successful and effective recruiting tool at the graduate level. To date, the HBI Visitation Program has brought over 700 undergraduate honors students to the Purdue University campus. In 1987 there were 74 African American graduate students enrolled at Purdue; by fall 2002, this figure had increased to 183. In part, the visitation program is responsible for this increase in Purdue's graduate African American student enrollment. Each year the 60 visitors represent potential graduate students in 30 disciplines. Since the beginning of the program in 1988, 122 students have graduated with master's degrees, and 29 Ph.D. degrees have been awarded. An additional nine students who have received master's degrees are now Ph.D. candidates at Purdue.

The cooperative relationship that has developed over the last 11 years with the administrators and students of the HBI institutions has helped build bridges of understanding between Purdue and these institutions. The Purdue faculty and staff have become more aware and sensitive to the problems and difficulties that the EHBCU's students encounter as they matriculate at a major research institution. And significantly, we are able to demonstrate that minority students enrolled at Purdue find our institution to be conducive to a quality education.

Assuring that 60 honor students from various HBI schools have a positive and informative visit is no small task. A great deal of organizational effort goes in to the HBI Visitation Program each year. Each school and many departments help by setting up meetings with faculty, students and staff for the visiting students, conducting tours of campus, laboratories, libraries and the Greater Lafayette community. This broad-based effort has resulted in a sense of cooperation and goodwill as the entire Purdue community seeks to help the visiting students get a realistic picture of the many opportunities available to them should they elect to pursue graduate study at Purdue.

The funding needed to implement and continue the program has been provided by the President's Office and each of the academic deans.

The 2006 Historically Black Institution (HBI) Visitation Program will be held November 8-10, 2006. Contact your school administrators for further information.

Dwight E. Lewis
Director of Multicultural Programs
Graduate School Administration
160 Ernest C. Young Hall
302 Wood Street
West Lafayette, IN 47907-2108
delewis@purdue.edu
(765) 494-3232 or (765) 494-0945