University of Illinois Chicago
PA-4: Diversity and Equity Coordination

Established in 2007, the Diversity Advisory Committee (DAC) is jointly chaired by the Provost & Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, and the Vice Provost for Diversity & Senior Advisor to the Chancellor. Including its co-chairs, the DAC has twenty-seven members. Membership includes campus leadership at the ‘provost’s cabinet’ level, including the Vice Provost for Academic and Enrollment Services, the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs, a representative from the Faculty Senate, and directors of associated offices such as the Director of the Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy (IRRPP), the Executive Director of the Urban Health Program, and a representative director from among the Centers for Cultural Understanding and Social Change. It also includes a designated representative from each of the six Chancellor’s Status Committees; the Heads or designated Associated Heads of the Departments of African-American Studies, Asian American Studies, Disability & Human Development, Gender & Women’s Studies, and Latin-American & Latino Studies. The Director of the Office for Access and Equity also attends. Membership includes representation from faculty, staff, and students from both the undergraduate and graduate level. In its monthly meetings, the DAC advises the Provost on all matters pertinent to enhancing the positive impact of diversity in academic affairs. Specifically, the DAC is asked to consider and give counsel on programs for faculty and students, including recruitment and retention and formal curriculum and extracurricular offerings that promote diversity and educational benefits from diverse experiences and perspectives for the faculty and the student body. The DAC provides guidance as UIC articulates and takes steps to implement the diversity strategic plan.

Diversity training for faculty and staff is encouraged. The Office of Access and Equity offers training modules about topics such as affirmative action, dispute resolution, climate enhancement, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. The UIC Gender and Sexuality Center offers a “Safe Zone” training, in which many academic departments and administrative units have participated. Safe Zone is based in a consultation and interactive workshop model that provides expertise in guiding units, departments and organizations to increase awareness of LGBTQ issues and concerns and implement holistic and inclusive policies and practices. [http://www.uic.edu/depts/quic/gsc/safezone.html] The following 2010 trainings are offered monthly. Upon request, OAE offers training for individual departments with participants of 10 or more. Please click here to visit our online registration page to register for any of the workshops listed below: 1. Academic Hiring Process 2. Dispute Resolution Services (DRS) 3. How to Create a More Engaging Environment 4. Myths, Fears, & Stereotypes: Why We Need the Americans With Disabilities Act 5. Respect in the Workplace: Promoting Diversity and Preventing Discrimination 6. Understanding an Preventing Sexual Harassment 7. Supervisor’s Toolkit: Avoiding and Handling Employee Complaints [http://www.uic.edu/depts/oae/EducationAndTrainings/index.htm] The campus offers a diversity first-year seminar, Campus Course (CC) 120, "UIC First-Year Dialogue Seminar" which was developed as a course for all new freshmen (approximately 3200 students annually). It was specifically created in response to a charge issued by Chancellor Paula Allen Meares to serve as a foundational course and one that would support UIC’s diversity strategic plan (Goal 3: states that UIC will have a climate of diversity and equity in which individual students feel welcomed in their identities, valued for their contributions, and feel their identities can be openly expressed). Eight undergraduate colleges have endorsed/supported this course an elective for their students, while one has accepted it as a requirement for all entering freshmen. UIC's First-Year Dialogue Seminar (1 credit hour) is a diversity course focusing on the development of critical thinking skills and learning from diversity and dialogues. The course introduces students to theory and empirical findings from a variety of disciplines concerning diversity, culture, identity, and intergroup dialogue. The course also provides a formal introduction to UIC diversity initiatives, campus resources and programs (e.g., UIC Centers for Cultural Understanding and Social Change). We believe that these skills will define the UIC graduate as successful in their ability to communicate, live, and work together in diverse groups on campus and beyond. [http://www.uic.edu/depts/oaa/igd/index.html]