Summary of the Plant Sciences DEI Committee’s Mission
The Plant Sciences DEI committee is focused on building a community of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) learning and action to promote a safe, welcoming, and supportive environment within which all can creatively pursue and achieve excellence in scholarship and engagement. To achieve this aim, the DEI Committee will seek out and share information on learning opportunities, research changes occurring in other institutions, and organize discussions to enhance learning and enact change. Activities will center on enhancing our capacities as teachers, mentors, and colleagues. This committee will focus at the departmental level, working to affect change in areas under departmental control, and in collaboration with departmental committees. In addition, the DEI committee will be aware of and congruent with DEI activities occurring at the college and campus levels as well as within Graduate Studies and affiliated graduate groups.
The DEI committee will coordinate and synthesize activities of its working groups, and assess when new groups need to be formed, or committee charges shifted. It will also engage collaboratively in cross-cutting efforts, such as reviews of the strengths and short-comings of departmental policies, activities, hiring practices, merit and promotion practices, and climate. Any recommendations for change will be informed by approaches at other institutions and research on institutional structure, and will be presented to Plant Sciences Executive Committee (PSEC) for discussion.
The DEI committee is addressing the priorities identified in the survey through the following working groups (see below for each of their prioritized activities). We encourage all members of the department to participate in any working groups that are of interest to them, contact information will be posted on the website.
- Communications
- Building community
- Teaching and mentoring
- Outreach
- Research
In addition to the priorities associated with each working group, all groups will be committed to the following in their activities:
- Addressing multiple dimensions of diversity
- Providing a focused list of key training opportunities and documents (both from UCD and beyond), as well as developing departmental-level activities
- Being responsive to shifting priorities as needs and circumstances dictate. The action plan presented here is meant to be a document that evolves over time.