Diversity & Inclusion

Everyone

The following are suggested actions each of us can take.

• Educate yourself about racism, sexism, diversity, equity, inclusion, and related topics. [see readings on UDARI website]
• Share your diversity/inclusion concerns and/or ideas with the appropriate Departmental DEI representative and/or Chief Diversity Advocate.
• If you experience or witness microagressions, discrimination, or any behavior that is inconsistent with the College values of inclusive excellence, say something, or report it to the Chief Diversity Advocate. or the Office of Institutional Equity (OIE).
• Attend one of the many diversity and inclusion events hosted by the College, Office of Institutional Equity (OIE), Center for the Study of Diversity, UD ADVANCE, or other groups.
• Become a Leveraging Equity and Diversity (LEAD) Ally.

Departments/Department Chairs

The following are suggested actions Departments and Department Chairs can take.

• Develop a department diversity, equity, and inclusion plan.
• Collaborate with College outreach efforts to increase undergraduate applications and yield.
• Support the student ambassador program in your department (e.g., MESS, ACES). Start one if one does not exist.
• Support COE-EmPOWER, the graduate student peer mentoring program.
• Implement holistic graduate admissions processes and a Department graduate student mentoring plan that encourages best practices, such as use of Individualized Development Plans (IDPs).
• Support faculty, staff, and student attendance at professional development events, such as SWE, NSBE, SHPE, and field-specific conferences.
• Work with COE Communications to publish stories of accomplishments of faculty, staff, and trainees who are part of groups that are traditionally marginalized in academia/STEM.
• Schedule departmental faculty meetings and events during traditional workday hours to minimize conflict for individuals who have other obligations.
• Review graduate student recruitment policies, such as the GRE requirement, and ensure a holistic review takes place.
• Coach faculty if negative interactions occur or are chronic; treat as an opportunity to improve the dept/lab/office culture and climate for all who are under your purview.
• In annual appraisals, Department Chairs should ask faculty and staff what they are doing to support diversity and inclusion and to ensure high quality, effective mentoring of junior faculty.
• Department Chairs continue to present DEI topics at department faculty meetings, by inviting the Departmental DEI representative, the College Chief Diversity Advocate, or another relevant guest.
• Develop student lounges and other community spaces for informal interactions among College community members.
• Highlight cultural backgrounds of current students through displays around the department.
• Develop an undergraduate peer mentoring program that pairs incoming students with more senior students.

Faculty members

The following are suggested actions all faculty members can take.

• Watch the inclusive teaching modules and incorporate inclusive teaching tips in your classes, such as eliminating weed-out culture, mitigating bias in evaluating student work, and promoting positive student teamwork.
• Select teaching assistants deliberately to achieve diverse representation, and help them receive appropriate training.
• Embed topics of diversity, equity, and inclusion in your courses where appropriate.
• Develop a diversity, equity, and inclusion statement to include on your course syllabi and research group expectations
• Adopt the graduate student advising tools to best support your graduate research assistants.
• Invite senior graduate students and post-doctoral researchers from underrepresented groups to give seminars to support pre-recruitment of a more diverse faculty.
• Implement best practices in faculty search committees, holistic graduate admissions practices and post-doctoral researcher recruitment, as well as promotion and tenure committees to minimize the negative effects of implicit bias (Faculty recruitment guidelines and UD ADVANCE resources).
• When developing broader impacts for proposals to the National Science Foundation, collaborate with your Departmental DEI representative and/or the College Chief Diversity Advocate.
• Keep in mind the importance of diversity when nominating colleagues for awards, identifying speakers for conference presentations, and planning seminar series.
• Participate in lunch scrambles, add the weekly fundamental to your email signature, and other efforts to encourage a positive climate within the College.
• Take one or more ConnectingU “Management Essentials” courses, especially if you supervise staff members.

Staff members

The following are suggested actions all staff can take.

• Implement best practices in staff search committees to minimize the negative effects of implicit bias (UD ADVANCE resources).
• Help develop and participate in staff mentoring program.
• Participate in lunch scrambles and other efforts to welcome new staff and encourage a positive climate within the College.
• Participate in workshops and training opportunities when presented in order to continue demonstrating your commitment toward maintaining, and growing, COE standards for culture and climate.
• Participate in free training opportunities offered by the Office of Institutional Equity (OIE).

Graduate students

The following are suggested actions all graduate students can take.

• Ask your advisor to adopt the graduate student advising tools.
• Watch the inclusive teaching modules and incorporate inclusive teaching tips in classes in which you are a teaching assistant.
• Look at your study groups and consider expanding your network to include people whose racial or gender identity is different from yours.
• Write a team norms document at the start of each team project (even when it’s not required) to establish protocols for communication, division of labor, and establishing an inclusive environment; periodically review and revise this document as the project progresses.
• Join a diversity-focused student group (e.g., SWE, NSBE, SHPE) or organize joint events with one and apply for funding through the College of Engineering.