What has ICS Accomplished to Date Toward Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity?

At the start of 2021 ICS was tasked by our Dean to become a leader in diversity, equity, and inclusion within the Research and Innovation Office’s 12 Institutes. ICS leadership committed financially to the effort through funding ICS’ Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity Committee (IDEC) and staff time support for IDE efforts. 

With the support of ICS leadership, IDEC members increased the number of impact activities, as seen in this 'Highlights of ICS IDEC Activities' document. Some members also began contributing to the Cross-Institute Justice Equity Diversity Inclusion (JEDI) Working group. This group sends representatives from all 12 Institutes to work together to plan and bring activities to collectively improve JEDI culture at Institutes, with the ultimate goal to recruit and retain more diverse researchers.

IDEC developed, designed and led the implementation of the inaugural All-Institutes’ Racially Equity Challenge 2021. The five-week long Challenge brought together not only the 12 Institutes but also three campus organizations leading JEDI work: Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance; Center for Teaching and Learning; Office of Diversity, Equity, and Community Engagement.

It featured CU’s own Ethnic Studies developed online course, Anti-Racism I, and featured its co-author as the presenter for virtual, facilitated discussion groups. Breakout room facilitators were recruited and trained by our campus partners, and paid by participating Institutes following a cost-sharing model.

The well attended and positively received Challenge had nearly 400 individuals participating. It has subsequently seeded several multi-Institutes workshops, resources, and community building opportunities including but not limited to: strong diversity presence on the Research and Innovation Office website; all Institutes building IDE web content; creation of an online, crowdsourced resources hub for  underserved members of CU and Institutes; launch of a monthly Black, Indigenous, and other people of color and friends community meetup; an Inte-Institute Equity Meetup for Allies; a workshop series, Equity in the Practice of Research; and in-the-works are a Multi-Institutes’ Microaggressions and Bystander Intervention workshop series and a microaggressions issues and concerns anonymous reporting system for each Institute.