The University of Virginia was awarded a National Science Foundation ADVANCE grant in 2012. As part of a larger series of institutional transformation initiatives aiming to diversify the faculty and improve gender equity climate within STEM/SBE departments at the University of Virginia, the Directors of Diversity and Inclusion (DDI) program was established. The goal of this program is to strengthen departments by exposing biases and creating a critical mass of faculty able to recognize and respond to these biases. Each academic department across the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences (known simply as “the College” at UVA) has a DDI, a position endorsed by the Dean, departmental chairs and other program directors. The DDIs are members of the faculty, they receive a stipend, and are understood to play administrative roles within the College. DDIs are given specific training to uncover and address unconscious biases, as well as ongoing support and other diversity and inclusion training from the University. DDIs are evaluated on their effectiveness. One primary goal of a DDI is to ensure that diversity and inclusion are integral parts of the faculty hiring process. Recently, a survey of the efficacy of DDIs in the College was conducted and indicated a need for all faculty on search committees to receive training on hiring procedures and HR requirements. New Associate Deans of Diversity were named in five of the eleven schools at UVA—the School of Medicine, School of Nursing, School of Engineering and Applied Science, Darden School of Business, and McIntire School of Commerce—to carry out the broader diversity plans at the University. Similarities and differences between these Associate Deans and DDIs will be discussed, along with expansion of the faculty DDI program to other UVA schools, and plans for the UVA College of Arts & Sciences going forward.

An advocates and allies initiative: Faculty leaders as directors of diversity and inclusion

256th National Meeting (2018)

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