DECADE Graduate Mentoring Communities

The Diverse Educational Community and Doctoral Experience (DECADE) collaborates with the Office of Inclusive Excellence to create a warm and inclusive climate within the University of California, Irvine. DECADE is a multi-departmental collaborative that includes faculty, staff, students, and even alumni–all committed to facilitating a sense of belonging for all UCI students.

DECADE provides students with professional development events, leadership opportunities, and a mutually empowering community. DECADE seeks to increase the participation, retention, and success of our graduate students, who come from a variety of backgrounds, in graduate programs.  

Subscribe to the DECADE listserv to find out more about DECADE events, programs, and initiatives!

More Information

The DECADE Competitive Edge Program is a pre-entry summer program geared towards incoming Ph.D and M.F.A students who meet the UC definition of diversity. Participants participate in workshops and events that help them build community and successfully transition into their graduate program.

Most graduate departments and programs at UCI have at least one DECADE representative, which is a graduate student leader that works towards an equitable, well-developed climate in their programs. One way this happens is through DECADE events, where student representatives put on programs that will benefit their departments. 

Last academic year, DECADE representatives all around UCI put on nearly 150 events, including inclusive excellence workshops, food drives, mentorship programs, study spaces, de-stress seminars, and service opportunities. To see what events are happening in your department, please email DECADE@uci.edu to be connected to the DECADE student representative from your program. 

DECADE Faculty Mentors foster inclusive excellence at the graduate level. They work with graduate students, DECADE student representatives, faculty, and administrators to improve climate, inclusion, and access within their academic programs.

Current list of DECADE Faculty Mentors

DECADE Student Representatives are current graduate students who serve in an advisory role to DECADE leadership, faculty mentors, and equity advisors. They help plan and organize DECADE programing and events, with the purpose of fostering an equitable and warm climate for all UCI graduate students.

For information on getting involved or to learn about the student representative role, contact your respective DECADE faculty mentor or DECADE@uci.edu.

*Please note: The campus-wide DECADE representative role is one of academic service, taken up by students in good academic standing that have either: a) been nominated by their department’s faculty mentor, or b) have volunteered to step into the role by collaborating with DECADE coordinator.

DECADE student representatives may request to renew their role anually, unless:

  • They are unwilling to continue
  • They are either unable to continue, due to personal or medical reasons
  • They fall out of good academic standing
  • They are removed by the DECADE program coordinator (though this would only be the last resort in cases of significant mishandling or unfulfillment of the DECADE role).

Graduate students who have actively contributed to inclusive excellence on campus are eligible and encouraged to apply for funds that support their professional development. Examples include, but are not limited to, holding leadership positions within DECADE, organizing diversity and inclusion-based programs with DECADE Faculty Mentors, holding mentoring positions for Graduate Division programs, including Summer Undergraduate Research Program, Competitive Edge, and/or participating in other campus initiatives that support inclusive excellence, such as certificate programs and committees.

Awards of up to $500 are available. We are no longer accepting applications for the 2024-25 academic year.