The Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions (CMSI)

What The Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions (CMSI) does

The Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions (CMSI) is an academic research center within the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Institute for Leadership, Equity and Justice at Rutgers University's Graduate School of Education in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Founded in 2014 at the University of Pennsylvania and relocated to Rutgers in 2018 under Executive Director Marybeth Gasman, the center produces rigorous scholarship and operates professional development programs serving four categories of Minority Serving Institutions: Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), and Asian American, Native American, and Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs). Its core offerings include ELEVATE (early-career faculty training, now in its 11th cohort), MSI Aspiring Leaders (presidential mentorship, 6th cohort), the John Smartt Summer Scholars Program (graduate student virtual internship, 7th cohort), the MSI Humanities Leadership Academy (launched 2026 with $1M Mellon funding), the HSI Pathways to the Professoriate program, the Mary Ellen Pleasant Entrepreneur Fellowship, the Frederick Douglass Global Fellowship (with CIEE), and an active portfolio of research reports, policy briefs, and a governance webinar series. All programs are delivered free of charge to participants, with ELEVATE covering registration, lodging, meals, and materials, and the John Smartt Summer Scholars Program providing a $2,000 stipend.

The center does not sell a commercial product and has no proprietary technology platform; its intellectual output is delivered as open-access publications, in-person forums, virtual fellowships, and webinars. Revenue is sourced entirely from philanthropic grants, with documented major awards including a $5.1 million Andrew W. Mellon Foundation grant (2019, HSI Pathways), a $1 million Mellon grant (2026, Humanities Leadership Academy), $825,000 from ECMC Foundation and Kresge Foundation (2019, MSI Aspiring Leaders), $775,000 from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (2019, MEPE Fellowship), and additional funding from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundation and CIEE. CMSI reaches its audiences through its website, quarterly and event-driven email newsletters, press releases, and earned media in outlets such as Forbes, Diverse Issues in Higher Education, and The Chronicle of Higher Education. With approximately 8 employees, the organization operates as a small, mission-driven, grant-funded research unit whose strategic value lies in scholarly authority, funder relationships, and an alumni network of MSI leaders rather than commercial revenue capture.

Name

The Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions (CMSI)

Legal name

The Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions

Website

https://cmsi.gse.rutgers.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions (CMSI) is a grant-funded academic research center at Rutgers University that conducts scholarship and runs professional development programs for faculty, leaders, and graduate students at HBCUs, HSIs, Tribal Colleges, and AANAPISIs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Higher Education Research and Capacity Building

NAICS

Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (6113), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (541720)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Public HBCUs (State-Supported) (EDAHAMAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Research-Intensive HBCUs (R1/R2 or Doctoral) (EDAHAMAE)

Keywords

• Higher education research
• Minority serving institutions
• Faculty professional development
• MSI leadership programs
• Educational equity research

Headquarters

HQ city

New Brunswick

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

CMSI is an academic research center that provides professional development programs, applied research, and policy advocacy for Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) including HBCUs, HSIs, Tribal Colleges, and AANAPISIs. It offers cohort-based faculty training (ELEVATE), presidential leadership mentorship (MSI Aspiring Leaders), graduate student internships (John Smartt Summer Scholars), humanities leadership development (MSI Humanities Leadership Academy), and publishes research reports and policy briefs on MSI funding, student success, and institutional practices.

Product overview

The Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions (CMSI) is a research center that does not operate a traditional technology product. Instead, CMSI offers a portfolio of professional development programs and scholarly publications aimed at strengthening Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs). The core programs include: ELEVATE for early-career faculty training, MSI Aspiring Leaders for presidential mentorship, the John Smartt Summer Scholars virtual internship, and the MSI Humanities Leadership Academy for humanities academic leaders. CMSI also produces research reports, policy briefs, and practice briefs on MSI topics, and hosts the Governance Webinar Series. Through partnerships with organizations like CIEE, CMSI administers the Frederick Douglass Global Fellowship for study abroad opportunities. These programs collectively support MSIs by elevating their educational contributions, increasing rigorous scholarship, connecting leadership to reform initiatives, and strengthening efforts to close educational achievement gaps.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ELEVATE (Enriching Learning, Enhancing Visibility & Training Educators) A three-day annual professional development program for early-career, tenure-track faculty at Minority Serving Institutions that provides workshops on publishing strategies, teaching techniques, mentoring practices, work-life balance, and tenure navigation.
• MSI Aspiring Leaders A two-day forum and one-and-a-half-year mentoring program that connects prominent MSI presidential leaders with mid-career aspiring leaders to prepare the next generation of MSI presidents.
• John Smartt Summer Scholars Program A virtual internship program for master's and doctoral graduate students that provides professional experience, networking opportunities with higher education scholars, and research and programming skills related to equity and leadership. Includes a $2,000 stipend for participants.
• MSI Humanities Leadership Academy An academic leadership mentorship program designed to strengthen the pipeline of humanities leaders at MSIs through intensive leadership forums, one-on-one mentoring, executive shadowing, and virtual professional development sessions.
• Governance Webinar Series A webinar series targeting governance strategies for leaders at Minority Serving Institutions.
• Research Reports and Briefs Published research reports, policy briefs, and practice briefs that expand information about and advocate for the nation's Minority Serving Institutions, addressing topics such as student success, funding impacts, and institutional best practices.
• HSI Pathways to the Professoriate A program designed to increase the number of Latino faculty members in humanities through research-intensive summer seminars, mentoring, and graduate school application support at partner HSIs.
• Frederick Douglass Global Fellowship A collaborative initiative with CIEE that covers costs for outstanding MSI students to participate in intensive study abroad programs focused on intercultural communication and leadership.
• Mary Ellen Pleasant Entrepreneur Fellowship A fellowship program aimed at increasing future entrepreneurs from HBCUs, providing a 10-week virtual fellowship with business and marketing-focused curriculum through partnership with The Whether.

Quantifiable outcome

• ELEVATE program has graduated 11 cohorts of early-career MSI faculty with networking and professional development
• +2 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017Partnership for Project Passport IFDS (International Faculty Development Seminar) and Frederick Douglass Global Fellowship program, providing study abroad opportunities for MSI students and faculty training to lead study abroad programs.
• Samuel DeWitt Proctor Institute for Leadership, Equity and JusticecoreOthersCMSI is part of the Proctor Institute at Rutgers Graduate School of Education, connecting MSI research and programs to broader leadership, equity and justice initiatives.
• The WhethersupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with minority-owned recruitment marketing platform for the Mary Ellen Pleasant Entrepreneur Fellowship, providing virtual business and marketing-focused curriculum and Clarity Assessment for HBCU students.

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• The Education Trust: The Education Trust conducts research and advocacy on educational equity, including in higher education, with significant focus on closing achievement gaps for students of color and low-income students. Its higher education policy and equity work overlaps materially with CMSI's research agenda.
• Pullias Center for Higher Education at USC: Pullias is a university-based research center studying higher education access, equity, and student success, with significant work on underserved student populations. It parallels CMSI's research-and-program model from a different institutional host (USC) and similar academic positioning.

Direct peers

• UNCF (United Negro College Fund): UNCF is the nation's largest private scholarship provider for HBCU students and supports member institutions through research, advocacy, and capacity building. It directly parallels CMSI's HBCU-focused research and leadership development mission, with overlapping funder relationships and policy advocacy work.
• Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU): HACU represents HSIs and provides advocacy, capacity-building programs, and research on Hispanic-serving higher education. It is the closest single-segment analog to CMSI's HSI research and program work, including shared attention to HSI funding shortfalls.
• Excelencia in Education: Excelencia in Education accelerates Latino student success through research, policy advocacy, and programs aimed at HSIs and emerging HSIs. It mirrors CMSI's HSI Pathways to the Professoriate and broader HSI research agenda and serves a similar funder ecosystem.
• American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC): AIHEC represents the nation's Tribal Colleges and Universities, providing advocacy, research, and capacity-building programs. CMSI's TCU research and program segment maps directly to AIHEC's mission, making it a directly comparable peer for that slice of CMSI's work.
• American Indian College Fund: The American Indian College Fund supports TCUs and Native American students through scholarships, research, and public awareness. It is directly comparable to CMSI's TCU research and program work and shares funders and policy objectives.

Broad incumbents

• American Council on Education (ACE): ACE is the major coordinating body for US higher education institutions, conducting leadership development, policy advocacy, and research across the entire sector. It overlaps with CMSI on presidential leadership development and federal policy research but operates at much broader scale across all institution types.
• Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU): APLU represents public research universities and runs research, policy, and capacity-building initiatives. Several MSIs are APLU members, and APLU's research on public higher education funding intersects with CMSI's funding-loss analyses for HSIs and other MSIs.
• Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U): AAC&U is a national membership organization advancing liberal education, quality practices, and faculty development across US higher education. It overlaps with CMSI's faculty development and student success research but does not specialize in MSIs.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/center-for-msis

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about The Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions (CMSI)