Assistant Professor Dawn Bounds, left, and Associate Professor Jung-Ah Lee.
The UCI Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing’s Excellence in Diversity Committee has concluded its inaugural year with a number of accomplishments, led by Associate Professor and Equity Advisor Jung-Ah Lee.
Assistant Professor Dawn Bounds has been named the school’s next equity advisor and will lead the committee in its continued efforts toward diversity, equity and inclusion among three pillars: school, students and faculty.
Committee accomplishments
School pillar
- Developed the school’s diversity statement, posted the statement on website homepage and discussed usage of statement (e.g., class discussion, syllabus)
- Developed and maintained pipeline activities to recruit diverse students to PhD program
- Held monthly meetings with students from Charles Drew University, led by Founding Dean and Distinguished Professor Adey Nyamathi and supported by Associate Dean Miriam Bender.
- Started a book club with the first reading entitled, Diversifying Your Campus, by the Chronicle of Higher Education.
- Encouraged faculty and staff to participate in the 2021 Campus Climate Survey.
Student pillar
- Committee member Professor Alison Holman is DECADE mentor. Assistant Professor Candace Burton was Interim DECADE mentor in fall quarter of 2020 for the school. Drs. Holman and Burton served as an ex-officio member in the PhD program committee and/or DNP program committee provided advice on diversity and inclusion for graduate students.
- Assembled a diverse student focus group to assess micro-aggressions. DECADE student representative and PhD student Alex Jones-Patten had meetings with graduate students over Zoom (coffee chat time) during the COVID pandemic.
- Conducted an anonymous graduate student COVID-19 survey to find out how students have been impacted. The results were presented to faculty and resources were provided to students.
- Reviewed student admission evaluation criteria across all programs and proposed suggestions to improve diversity.
- Discussed student burden of purchasing textbooks and strategies to reduce it.
Faculty pillar
- The school’s equity advisor served as an ex-officio member on the Faculty Affairs Committee and offered advice on equity and inclusion of faculty in the merit and promotion process.
- Two committee members served as proxy voices during faculty meetings for merit and promotion discussion.
- Reviewed faculty search evaluation criteria and enhanced diversity questions in the interview process.
- Provided names of diverse scholars and resources to the Faculty Search Committee.
- Applied for the UCI Black Thriving Initiative Faculty Cluster Hiring Program and submitted three proposals.
Proposed initiatives for the next year
- Develop a diversity, equity, and inclusion speaker series
- Encourage faculty and staff to take courses focused on diversity, equity and inclusion including those offered by the Office of Inclusive Excellence
- Evaluate diverse students’ needs for academic success
- Apply for UC funding opportunities to support diverse graduate students
- Develop faculty support program
- Assist in search for diverse faculty
Committee mission
The committee has a mission to:
- Develop and implement strategies to improve the recruitment of diverse faculty and students.
- Develop and implement strategies to maintain retention of diverse faculty and students.
- Discover and secure funding opportunities, including grant writing to enhance Diversity and Inclusion efforts in our School of Nursing
- Develop and implement activities to enhance equity, diversity, and inclusion climate in the school among faculty, staff, and students. Examples include colloquia, workshops, visiting scholars and fellows.
- Evaluate periodically the policies and processes that affect academic success and leadership for diverse faculty and students.
- Collaborate with the Office of Inclusive Excellence and College of Health Sciences on diversity and inclusion.
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