Our Subcommittees and their Efforts

Community Anti-Racism and Opening Our Perspectives Representation Educating Through Inclusive Practices
Community

We are striving to provide a community where people feel welcome, empowered, and free from obstacles that may limit their academic experience. 

We commit to anti-racism in our teaching, scientific work, and continued learning.

  • The committee is in the process of running the second year of the mentorship program and will carefully evaluate the program (including surveys and focus groups) this year to inform future changes
  • Successfully ran the first-year pilot of the mentorship program
  • Organized DEI speaker events for Spring 2022 and Spring 2023
  • Organized two DEI-related workshops with Patricia Gonzalez, Assistant Dean of Inclusive Practice, College of Arts and Sciences
  • Developing a peer-to-peer mentorship program for undergraduate psychology and neuroscience majors with historically marginalized identities. The goal of this program is to provide first-year students personal connections with upperclassmen during the early transition period to college, when students are most vulnerable and have little established community, in order to improve outcomes in the domains of belongingness, retention, academics, and involvement in the university community.
  • Held focus groups to understand psychology and neuroscience majors mentorship needs

We are committed to broadening our departmental representation.

  • Review and provide graduate application fee waivers to increase the number applications from historically excluded groups
  • Provide Diversity Fellowships to incoming graduate students from historically excluded groups
  • Working to establish a undergraduate research portal for connecting students with laboratory opportunities
  • Create a department fund for supporting graduate student-initiated DEI efforts

We have a critical responsibility as educators to provide a learning environment that is welcoming and inclusive to all students seeking academic advancement.

  • Developed an undergraduate resource page on Canvas to improve student access to a range of information to improve their academic experience
  • Identified a Canvas Designer, video editor, and students for videos for development of Undergraduate Canvas resource site.
  • Developed an extensive and detailed set of materials aimed at helping students navigate learning in the classroom, career planning, and learn from peer leaders’ experiences.
  • All psychology and neuroscience majors are now enrolled on the Canvas page.