Evaluating the impact of the ADEA Admissions Committee Workshops

Drawing on the interconnection of workforce diversity and oral health access, the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) is leading a novel approach to improve student body diversity in U.S. dental schools through an admissions committee development program. With funding provided by the Pipeline, Profession, and Practice: Community-Based Dental Education program and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, ten dental directors/deans of admissions from a cross-section of U.S. dental schools were selected through a competitive application process to participate in a Train-the-Trainers Admissions Committee Workshop. After completing intensive training that was built on legally sound admissions practices, these new trainers copresented ADEA Admissions Committee Workshops in two-member teams at six U.S. dental schools. This report summarizes the evaluation of both the train-the-trainers workshop and six workshops held in summer 2009. Also summarized are post-workshop outcomes relative to structural diversity at the participating schools.