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Abstract
Project Description The overarching goal of the Secret Curriculum project has been to provide a " network " for students (particularly from historically underrepresented groups) to access this information and to build channels of communication between these groups and those providing this information (i.e., faculty and administrators). To achieve these goals, the Secret Curriculum project has focused on two initiatives. First, we have built a website that offers students practical and simple guides through some of the trickier processes at the University (e.g., applying for out-of-state tuition) and a comprehensive, searchable database of opportunities which can be accessed equally by all students across the university. The database is not only a cumulation of both UGA opportunities (sourced from departments' pages and put in one place) and other opportunities that could be found in a scholarship search website (like scholarship universe), every opportunity is vetted for legitimacy, and many of the opportunities were found by students who were willing to share these opportunities with their peers. The database is a space for collaboration across the student body (current students and alumni). The second component of this project is the community feedback/community-building aspect. Every week we advertise our new/upcoming opportunities via social media. We also promote our events and curate online discussions about the college experience from different perspectives. Throughout the duration of this project, we hosted a series of panels. Some of these panels have taken a town-hall-style approach, engaging students in discussions of equity of access to information at the University; many student organizations such as the A. Other panels have focused on more career-based development, such as the panel we did in conjunction with the Writing Center about writing scholarship applications. Lastly, others have been more social panels that incorporate/discuss the psychosocial development of UGA students (especially those from diverse/minority backgrounds). Overall, the project was an attempt to address the University's " need to diversify the UGA faculty, student body, and staff… to adequately reflect the diversity of the state it serves " by providing an additional incentive for underrepresented student groups to see the University of Georgia as a viable and accessible option for higher education. Throughout the project we aimed to help " enhance the social and economic well-being " (Strategy IV) of students at this university by simply giving them more support in simple yet effective ways. By creating a centralized forum for " All Things UGA " we were able to fill some institutional blindspots and help students. Project Expenses