Diversity Strategic Action Plan

The Office for Faculty Development + Diversity dedicates its time to finding ways in which faculty and staff can strive toward a more inclusive and diverse educational atmosphere. With this Diversity Strategic Action plan, our goals are made tangible and we are given a clear route to success. Read our goals below and learn how we can continuously work toward building a more welcoming community within the School of Medicine.

Download the School of Medicine Diversity Strategic Action Plan 2015-2019 here.

Download the School of Medicine Diversity Strategic Action Plan 2020-2024 here.

School of Medicine Diversity Strategic Action Plan 2020-2024

Vision: To increase knowledge, understanding, presence, and celebration of diversity at all levels of the School of Medicine

Goal 1: Enhance the overall climate to reflect, promote, and welcome diversity

Strategy/Expected Outcome	Action Steps (with Timeline)	Metrics/Targets	Responsible Party
Develop and sustain a multiple speaker series that focuses on diversity- and inclusion-related issues	Identify desired speakers and schedule	Launching of series	SOM Development Office; SOM Office for Faculty Development and Diversity
	Collaborate with SOM Development to secure ongoing funding	Number of talks per year
		Number of speakers
		Attendance at talks
		Successful solicitation of funding
Support student affinity groups financially and through connection	Continue with ongoing support to LMSA, NMSA, QGRad	Number of meetings held with multiple student organizations participating	Office of the Dean; Medical Education; Society Deans; student groups
	Facilitate development of cross-campus student networks	Number of events sponsored collaboratively by student groups
Conduct a biannual diversity needs assessment to monitor progress	Develop needs assessment instrument	Conduct of survey	SOM Office for Faculty Development and Diversity
	Develop mechanism for dissemination of instrument, analysis of responses, and compilation and dissemination of results	Analysis of survey responses and dissemination of findings
Increase diversity-related events and celebrations at the SOM	Promote campus-wide diversity calendar on the SOM website	Production of calendar on diverse SOM websites	Office of the Dean; SOM Office for Faculty Development and Diversity, department chairs; student affinity groups
	Develop programming for diversity-related events, e.g. MLK Week, PRIDE month, International Day of Persons with Disabilities	Development and production of events for --Black history month --National Hispanic American Heritage Month --International Women's Day --PRIDE month --International Day of Persons with Disabilities
Conduct a systematic evaluation of all policies and procedures to ascertain the extent to which they reflect unintentional bias	Identify SOM policies and procedures that may exist apart from those of the university Solicit volunteers from within the SOM and the university to serve on committee to evaluate policies and procedures Develop timeline for review of all SOM policies and procedures	Identification of policies and procedures Recruitment of volunteers Development of timeline Review of policies and procedures Presentation of recommended revisions	Dean's office, Office for Faculty Affairs and Human Resources, Office for Faculty Development and Diversity, Medical Education, Faculty Council
Improve faculty, staff, and student awareness and adherence relating to university reporting requirements for harassment	Continue to send notices to faculty and staff relating to policies Assess awareness of policies and procedures through inclusion of items in biannual diversity needs assessment Incorporate information into new faculty orientation and chair bootcamp	Annual dissemination of notices to faculty and staff relating to policies Inclusion of questions relating to policies and procedures in biannual diversity needs assessment Incorporation of information into new faculty orientation and chair bootcamp	SOM Office for Faculty Development and Diversity; university office; Office of Inclusion, Diversity and Equal Opportunity, Title IX office
Produce an annual report that focuses on diversity issues and accomplishments	Develop annual report	Annual report developed and disseminated in paper and electronic formats	Vice Dean for Faculty Development and Diversity in collaborations with other SOM offices
Increase diversity of faculty and staff	Work with leadership and Chairs of search committees to ensure diversity on search committees, using a broad definition of diversity	Increased diversity of faculty and staff at multiple levels of SOM	Office of Faculty Affairs and Human Resources; Vice Dean, Faculty Development and Diversity; department chairs; �ǿմ�ý Human Resources
	Expand sources of recruitment to include more potential sources of diverse candidates
	Increase diversity of candidate pools that reflects broad definition of diversity
	Develop mechanism to facilitate retention of faculty and staff to maintain diversity
Maintain and expand pipeline programs and foster coordination between programs to maximize efforts	Seek funding to continue and expand existing pipeline programs: --pre-health conference for minority and disadvantaged student --NIH-funded Heart, Lung, and Blood Summer Research Program --pipeline program with CMSD --Joan C. Edwards Foundation scholarship --Identify mechanisms for coordination	Continuation of programming Identification of person/office responsible for coordination of efforts	Individual program directors; Dean's office; SOM Development
Expand efforts to identify and implement diversity-related best practices and programming	Recruit volunteers from across campus Identify existing opportunities to collaborate with other schools within �ǿմ�ý Compile inventory of best practices utilized by various �ǿմ�ý schools and beyond	Recruitment of diverse committee members from across �ǿմ�ý Identification of existing opportunities and best practices Compilation of recommendations Dissemination and broad review by stakeholders of recommendations	Office for Faculty Development and Diversity; Dean's office; Faculty Council; Admissions; SOM Graduate Office; Medical Education; OIDEO; �ǿմ�ý Flora Stone Mather Women's Center; �ǿմ�ý Academic Affairs Council; Office for Faculty Affairs and Human Resources (SOM & central); SAC

Goal 2: Enhance the curriculum and associated training opportunities to increase inclusiveness and decrease adverse experiences

Strategy/Expected Outcome	Action Steps (with Timeline)	Metrics/Targets	Responsible Party
Revise medical school curriculum to be more inclusive, more representative of population demographics, and less Othering	Revision of IQ and FCM cases Inclusion of diverse students on development of all Blocks	Revision of IQ & FCM cases to reflect population demographics Student participation on committees to revise cases	Office for Faculty Development and Diversity; Medical Education
	Revise poverty simulation to reduce othering or replace current poverty simulation with alternative activity designed to meet educational goals	Revision of poverty simulation or identification and implementation of alternative activity
Improve IQ facilitator training for diversity	Establish process for ongoing facilitator training Institute requirement of diversity training for all IQ facilitators Develop content for facilitator training, including video training	Launching of diversity training curriculum specifically for facilitators Implementation of diversity training requirement for all IQ facilitators Evaluation of diversity training and ongoing improvement of process and content Incorporation of diversity-related questions into student evaluation of IQ facilitators	Office for Faculty Development and Diversity; Medical Education; OIDEO
Improve oversight of medical school training sites to reduce harassment and improve reporting of problematic incidents and encounters	Increase collaboration with �ǿմ�ý Office of Equity and OIDEO Establish relationships with legal counsel and Title IX offices of clinical affiliates Develop process in collaboration with clinical affiliates and �ǿմ�ý Office of Equity for reporting and investigation of problematic incidents and encounters	Establishment of procedures as noted	SOM Office for Faculty Development and Diversity; SOM Medical Education; �ǿմ�ý Equity Office; �ǿմ�ý Legal Counsel and Legal Counsel and Title IX officers of clinical affiliates
Encourage clinical affiliates to sponsor faculty-student networking events	Continue currently existing networking activities Increase sponsorship of faculty-student networking events at UH, MHMC, VA, and CCF	Number of networking events held per year Number of networking events sponsored annually by each clinical affiliate Faculty and student attendance at each networking event	Faculty at HMC, UH, CCF, VA; Society Deans; Medical Education
Integrate diversity-related issues into SOM graduate degree programs	Include diversity-related discussions in IBMS session Encourage and facilitate all basic science departments to incorporate relevant diversity-related concepts into their curriculum and courses Encourage and facilitate the PA program to incorporate relevant diversity-related concepts into their curriculum and courses	Revision of IBMS curriculum to include diversity-related issues Identification of IBMS speaker(s) on diversity Revision of curricula and courses within departments and within the PA program to address relevant diversity-related concepts	SOM Office of Graduate Education; Office for Faculty Development and Diversity; curriculum committees of basic science departments; basic science department Chairs; PA program
Develop formal mentor-mentee match program for SOM professional and graduate students and postdocs who self-identify as URM#, first generation college, and/or of lower SES	Develop listing of faculty willing to serve as mentors sponsor several mentor-mentee match events annually	Number of faculty willing to serve as mentors Number of students/postdocs and faculty participating in program Number of mentor-mentee match events held annually Mentor and mentee program evaluations	Office for Faculty Development and Diversity; Medical Education; Student Affairs
Restructure diversity-related offices in the SOM so that there can be better integration of programs and functions	Restructure diversity functions related to faculty, staff, and students through a single office	Integration of SOM diversity-related functions into one office	Dean's office; Office of Vice Dean for Faculty Development and Diversity; SOM Graduate Office; SOM Admissions; SOM Student Affairs; SOM Office of Diversity Initiative & Community Engagement; Society deans
Continue to provide established diversity-related programs	Continue educational and networking programming	Continuation of following programs: --Faculty Reaching for Academic Medical Excellence (FRAME) --Minority faculty-student meet and greet reception --Minority faculty directory	Office for Faculty Development and Diversity
	Ensure adequate access to ESS/disability resources, mental health services, student health services, Title IX confidential reporters remains adequate in view of distance between HEC and central campus	Development of mechanisms to maintain accessibility	SOM Office for Faculty Development and Diversity; �ǿմ�ý Office of Equity
Provide mental health resources and supports for SOM professional and graduate students within the SOM	Conduct survey of SOM professional and graduate students to determine level and nature of need Conduct survey of other medical schools and graduate schools to ascertain existing approaches to provision of mental health support and counseling services both in-school and in larger university setting Examine possible mechanisms and nature of support services that could be implemented within SOM, considering structure, financing, and other considerations	Recruit volunteers to serve on committee Network with SOM constituent groups Develop and disseminate survey and analyze findings Determine level and nature of need Survey other academic medical centers and graduate programs for current and best practices Identify and evaluate possible avenues for provision of additional services in SOM Provide recommendations	Admissions; SOM Graduate Office; student organizations; Dean's office, Office for Faculty Development and Diversity; Student services; SOM student groups; Development

Goal 3: Improve and expand content and format of diversity training for faculty, staff, and students in the context of professionalism

Strategy/Expected Outcome	Action Steps (with Timeline)	Metrics/Targets	Responsible Party
Foster diversity of thought	Develop and sustain a speaker series that focuses on diversity- and inclusion-related issues	--Number of talks given each year --Number of people in attendance at each talk	Office for Faculty Development & Diversity; Dean's office
Create a longitudinal core curriculum for faculty and staff that encourages awareness of unconscious bias, privilege, and self-reflection and includes information relating to relationship of diversity to ancestry, pharmacogenetics, access, and local environment	Develop online curriculum	Number of people that completed the training. Aim for 10% participation in the 1st year	SOM Office for Faculty Development and Diversity; SOM Development office; �ǿմ�ý Office for Inclusion, Diversity, and Equal Opportunity; student representatives
	Develop in-person training
	Provide listing of resources for self-assessment
Develop a trained SOM-based core facilitator group to lead sessions and modules using individual's own stories	Identify SOM-based volunteers to lead effort Development of narratives Development of sociodramas and training of sociodrama facilitators	Each participant will complete an evaluation form for each session	Expertise within the �ǿմ�ý community in facilitating a narrative session and socio-drama;OIDEO
Create, disseminate, and utilize mechanisms to foster narrative and discussion	Identify individuals to create mechanisms Create mechanisms: On line edited posting boards Cartoons Advertisement	Number of mechanisms created Number of volunteers Frequency of usage	SOM Office for Faculty Development and Diversity
Integrate faculty participation in leading diversity training into salary and promotion and tenure metrics	Incorporate provision of training into metrics for faculty salary and promotion Incorporate the level of department contributions to diversity training into chair evaluations.	The number of departments that incorporate faculty training efforts into the promotion and salary metrics Dean incorporation of department participation into chair evaluation and department review processes	SOM leadership; department chairs; SOM Faculty council; SOM dean
Train faculty and staff to better manage conflict situations	Identify potential resources and mechanisms for training Explore whether training should be voluntary or mandatory Develop calendar for regular training sessions Develop written guidance for faculty and staff	Implementation of training mechanism Number of faculty trained Evaluations of training provided Development and dissemination of written guidance	SOM Office for Faculty Development and Diversity; �ǿմ�ý HR

Goal 4: Enhance SOM diversity and diversity-related functions through the development of adequate financial resources

Strategy/Expected Outcome	Action Steps (with Timeline)	Metrics/Targets	Responsible Party
Increase scholarships to increase local diversity pool of medical and SOM graduate students	Make an inventory of all scholarship available for prospective medical and SOM graduate students by January 2021	Inventory should be listed on SOM website and communicated	SOM Development; SOM Office of Student Affairs; SOM Admissions
	Identify the gaps for SOM degree programs without scholarship funding by March 2021	Define the priority list for fundraising opportunities	SOM Development
	Define baseline and set goals for scholarship by June 2021		SOM Development; SOM Leadership; SOM Office of Student Affairs
	Develop fundraising plan by August 2021	Fundraising plan developed and communicated to SOM Development team	SOM Development
	Monitor annual progress versus goals	Annual $ raised versus goals report	SOM Development
	Replicate the Joan C. Edwards Scholarship program for other degrees in SOM (eg. MS, MA, MPH, PA, etc) by December 2024	Annual fundraising plan	SOM Development
Create opportunities and programs to develop a more diverse pipeline pool	Explore need for increased funding for a liaison between SOM and CMSD (~Sarah Sells) by December 2024	Increase effort to at least one FTE responsible for liaison between SOM and CMSD, if justified	SOM Development; Medical Education
	Increase funding for programs such as Youth Scholars Academy and endowed position for its leader by December 2023	$2M professorship $1M endowed fund
Raise sufficient funding to create and sustain a SOM Center for Diversity and Inclusion	Refine opportunities for funding (Total $5M to name center=$2M professorship, $1M staff endowed position, 2@$250K ($500K) lectures series, $500K diversity and inclusion longitudinal curriculum for faculty and staff, others ($1M): space, awards, professional development, diversity experts trainers, etc. by January 2021	Funding Opportunities confirmed	SOM Development, Dean's office; SOM Office for Faculty Development and Diversity
	Develop a fundraising plan to create a SOM Center for Diversity and Inclusion by January 2022	Fundraising plan developed and communicated to SOM Development team	SOM Development, Dean's office; SOM Office for Faculty Development and Diversity
	Raise funds to create SOM Center for Diversity and Inclusion by December 31, 2024	SOM Center for Diversity and Inclusion named for $5M	SOM Development, Dean's office; SOM Office for Faculty Development and Diversity

*For the purposes of this strategic action plan, diversity is to be defined broadly including, but not limited to race, ethnicity, sex, sexual identity, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender orientation, religion, spirituality, veteran status, disability, political opinion, thought, socioeconomic status, first generation college, primary language, nationality/citizenship, and country of origin.

+Nothing in this document is intending to supersede or circumvent existing approval processes for effectuating changes in a specified domain, e.g., faculty reporting, curriculum development/revision or to supersede or circumvent accreditation requirements for any program.

#For the purpose of this document and plan, URM signifies "underrepresented minority," which is intended to include individuals who self-identify as a member of any group that is recognized as a minority for the purposes of federal, state, or university reporting requirements. This includes, but may not be limited to, identification in any of the following groups or any subgroup thereof: African American, Black, Afro Caribbean, Latino, Latina Latinx, Hispanic, Native American, American Indian, Alaskan Native, Hawaiian Native, Asian, or Pacific Islander. This is a broader category than URIM (underrepresented in medicine), which does not include individuals who self-identify as Asian or as a member of an Asian subgroup, and does not include most Pacific Islander groups. The term does not include individuals who identify based on veteran status, first generation college, disability, socioeconomic status, language, religion, spirituality, primary language, nationality/citizenship, or country of origin The use of the term "minority" is in no way meant to disregard the diversity that exists within and across minoritized groups.

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