Action Item (as stated with DEI strategic plan launch in 2016)
The National Center for Institutional Diversity will expand its current multi-institutional Diversity Scholars Network (DSN) to include a UM-specific component. As part of this work, the NCID will conduct a census of university faculty and researchers whose scholarship intersects with diversity, equity and inclusion, defined broadly. They will also create a U-M research advisory group representing an array of disciplines and academic units. The primary goals will be to develop infrastructure and programming for the campuswide network, promote and facilitate cross-disciplinary collaboration, and catalyze cutting-edge diversity research and scholarship.
DEI 1.0 Evaluation Update
Toward the goal of generating a census, NCID launched a project entitled “Mapping Diversity Scholars at U-M.” The dual objective was (1) to generate a campus wide directory of U-M scholars conducting DEI-related research across all 19 schools and colleges, and (2) to identify areas of expertise across campus in order to organize clusters of scholars and track their engagement and impact. NCID staff combed through every U-M department’s directory of faculty profiles and identified those whose research appeared to align with NCID’s framework for diversity scholarship, resulting in a list of nearly 400 faculty. Work on this database is on-going.
Additionally, NCID maintains the Diversity Scholars Network (DSN), a global network of over 1,125 scholars that includes hundreds of U-M diversity scholars. DSN members have access to NCID research briefs, monthly newsletters, a Scholar Directory, panels, symposia and webinars. They also enjoy priority status for Pop-Up Grants, scholarships, fellowships and other NCID opportunities. During DEI 1.0, initiatives were wide-ranging and included a series of webinars featuring University of Michigan-affiliated DSN members on campus and across the country as well as publications, podcasts and a nationwide academic collaboration. DSN webinars and panels focused on a broad array of topics, among them:
- Professional opportunities, challenges and considerations in studying groups and communities with which one shares an identity membership
- Scholarly rigor and ethics when studying groups and phenomena as an “outgroup” member
- Race, sport and restorative justice
- Black college students’ mental health
- How women living with HIV/AIDS confront inequality
- Promoting racial equity in student mental health for returning to in-person instruction.The interplay between COVID-19 and issues of diversity, equity and inclusion.
Responsibility: National Center for Institutional Diversity