For Your Information | June 10, 2021

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Walter Robinson Week of Random Acts of Kindness & Intentional Acts of Equity (June 9-19)

Walter A. Robinson (1952-2019) came to UC Davis in 2011 and retired as the Associate Vice Chancellor for Enrollment in 2018 after almost 40 years in student services and admissions in higher education. He is remembered at Davis and across the nation for his commitment to increasing diversity in enrollment. Walter had a gift for connecting with people. He believed that putting positive energy, kindness, love out into the world had a ripple effect - that kindness can be contagious. Please join us in honoring Walter’s memory by taking action! What changes, big or small, can you make to implement equity – in your department, the institution, your community? Read more about Walter and what you can do here.

Forbes Best Employer for Diversity 2021

UC Davis and UC Davis Health have been recognized by Forbes yet again as among the best employers for diversity in 2021. From hiring through retirement, we have so many touchpoints with employees, and each one is an opportunity to enhance the employee experience. Our Forbes rankings, as with all the other awards we earn, means employees are saying great things about the work we do. If you would like to help show the award off as your Zoom background or in your signature line, check out the samples loaded in the HR Communications Toolkit on Box. Additionally, there is an entire webpage on the HR site dedicated to the honor. 

A Message from Vice Chancellor Tull

Dear Friends, 

This week we’re continuing to celebrate our graduates! Congratulations to all of our grads from programs around campus, receiving degrees across the schools and colleges. We salute you!

Several units and departments have either new or continuing committees and groups that are dedicated to advancing equity. In fact, yesterday, more than 50 leaders across campus came together to learn more about the Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Vision, the 5 Pedagogical Stances: History, Race, Justice, Language, Futures (developed by Professor M. Winn and Professor L. Winn), our DEI assessment tool, CORO’s Anti-Racism Assessment (the full report can be found here), and UC Davis Health’s Inclusion, Diversity, Anti-Racism, and Equity (IDARE) Taskforces Initiative. 

Continuing with a spotlight on health, I would like to use today’s space to highlight the work of our Department of Emergency Medicine. Dr. Kara Toles (Physician, and Director of Equity and Inclusion, CARPE DIEM Committee) and Dr. Nathan Kuppermann (Distinguished Professor and Chair) recently shared the final version of their department’s mission statement and thanked everyone for their equity work, and encouraged all in their department to encourage you to “ … lean on the ideals embedded in this statement to inform the collective work which we all have yet to do.” Introducing their upcoming statement, Dr. Toles and Dr. Kuppermann shared that,

This update comes at a critical historical moment. As global citizens, we have become more aware of the deep inequity plaguing many of the systems and institutions that shape our country and the world, including the field of medicine. Our revised Mission Statement is powerful and we have been working on it for the past year. It includes critical feedback from all members of our Department including but not limited to faculty and resident physicians, nursing staff, allied health professionals, and other Department staff. We are excited to now have a Departmental Mission Statement that emphasizes anti-racism, equity, and justice across all realms of what we do and who we are.

Their official mission statement is here: 

The mission of the Department of Emergency Medicine at UC Davis Health is to serve our patients and partner with our community by:

• Providing outstanding, evidence-based emergency care with compassion and equity
• Educating future generations of diverse emergency healthcare professionals and leaders
• Conducting innovative research free of bias and discrimination, and communicating scientific discovery
• Advocating for justice, anti-racism, and dismantling of structural inequity and discrimination in any form
• Advancing the field of emergency medicine

Thank you to the Department of Emergency Medicine, and thank you to all of the people in the departments across campus who are thinking deeply about operating with an equity lens, and acting accordingly. We applaud you and your work, and we thank you for your part and helping to make UC Davis better for everyone!

Warmest Regards,
Renetta

Open Position: Director of the Strategic African American Retention Initiative and the Center for African Diaspora Student Success

Under the direction of the Executive Director of Strategic Retention Initiatives, the Director of the Strategic African American Retention (SAARI) Initiative provides academic advising, academic intervention, case management, and academic programs to engage students with their university experience in multiple and meaningful ways. From orientation through graduation, the SAARI Director is committed to supporting the UC Davis students of the African diaspora in their academic goals. The director will recognize the unique characteristics of African diaspora students and seek to provide an atmosphere of inclusion and understanding of what it takes to be successful academically. The SAARI Director promotes student connections with faculty and advisors, provides training for students and UC Davis personnel, and facilitates cross-campus collaboration to help fulfill the university commitment to student success. Link to job description and application. The deadline to apply is June 14, 2021.

Campus Investment in Student Health and Wellness

As part of the Chancellor's email on Friday, Student Affairs announced that we will significantly expand health and wellness programs for undergraduate and graduate students starting in fall 2021. With regard to mental health, this expansion represents the largest mental health investment at UC Davis since the UC Mental Health Initiative (MHI) in 2015. Feedback received from students and student leaders throughout this past year has been vital in helping develop bold, new programming that is responsive to the needs of our student community. Read the full announcement to learn more about the expansion of counseling and psychiatry services as well as Campus Recreation programs.

UC Presidential Campus Safety Plan: Request for Feedback

The University of California is seeking your review and comment on the draft Presidential Campus Safety Plan. Your feedback can influence safety practices and policing across the UC system. The proposed plan lays a foundation for transforming UC’s culture, policies and practices to achieve a vision of safety in which all members of the community feel equally welcomed, respected and protected from harm. This draft plan was developed based on extensive input from diverse groups of University of California stakeholders. You will find a summary of the draft guidelines with a comment form on the Finance, Operations and Administration website. Please use the comment form to enter your feedback, questions or comments by June 30, 2021. 

UPDATES & ANNOUNCEMENTS

Office of Academic Diversity | AVC Lorena Oropeza

Marie Heffern, CAMPOS Faculty Scholar, Wins 2022 Paul Saltman Young Investigator Award

We are delighted to share that Marie Heffern(Assistant Professor of Chemistry) received the prestigious award from the Metals in Biology Gordon Research Conference (MIB GRC). The award is given in honor of Paul Saltman, who was a pioneer in understanding the roles of metals in human health and was a great supporter of early career scientists in bioinorganic chemistry. Heffern’s general research interests lie in interdisciplinary approaches within the field of bioinorganic chemistry with a particular emphasis in metals in medicine. She began her independent career in the Department of Chemistry at UC Davis in 2017, where her team investigates the role and influence of metals within the endocrine system. “This award has been a dream and aspiration of mine,” Heffern tells us, “more than many others as it truly represents my research passions and is a celebration with my scientific community!” Congratulations! 

Scholar of the Quarter | Spring 2021

P.L.A.C.E with CAMPSSAH is delighted to announce the recipient of our spring Scholar of the Quarter award–Elizabeth Montaño, Associate Professor of Teaching in the School of Education! The Scholar of the Quarter award is a new initiative funded by a UC Office of the President “Advancing Faculty Diversity” grant designed to improve faculty retention and satisfaction through peer recognition. This award is designed to recognize faculty whose scholarship epitomizes scholarly or creative achievements that involve diverse communities with a commitment to social change. In the School of Education, Montaño is a leader and leading educator in the School’s Ed.D. program. She is currently at the forefront of leading a program-wide curriculum redesign process–the type of transformational work that is necessary to make our university more equitable at its very foundation. Montaño is also a leading expert in Restorative Justice approaches in education. Read the full announcement here.

Did you miss the CAMPSSAH Salon featuring Stacy-Ann Elvy, School of Law, “A Commercial Law of Privacy and Security”; Beenash Jafri, Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies, "Decolonizing Diasporic Film"; Benjamin Weber, African American and African Studies, "Rethinking Human Rights through the Imprisoned Black Radical Tradition"? You can watch the recorded event here.

Office of Campus Community Relations | AEVC Rahim Reed

Call for Nominations: 2021 CCLGBTQIA+ Elections

Happy Pride Month! Please consider running for one of the open positions on the Chancellor’s Committee on LGBTQIA+ Communities (CCLGBTQIA). As CCLGBTQIA is an Employee Resource Group, it is a condition of office that candidates be employed by the university -- whether they are a student, staff or faculty. You can find more information, including our Annual Reports, on our web page. Nominations will be accepted until Tuesday, June 15 at 5:00 pm. All candidates will be notified of the outcome of the election no later than Friday, June 18th. We hope you consider helping to make UC Davis a more equitable and safer place for the LGBTQIA+ community in an official capacity by running for a position! Please help us spread the word about this opportunity! Please nominate yourself (or someone else, with their permission!) by completing this form.

Office of Health Equity, Diversity and Inclusion | AVC Hendry Ton

June is PRIDE Month: How you can share your PRIDE at UC Davis Health

Every June, communities across the country commemorate PRIDE to honor the 1969 Stonewall riots in Manhattan and celebrate the work done since that time to achieve equal justice and equal opportunity for the LGBTQIA+ community. While COVID-19 has prevented UC Davis Health from hosting the events and celebrations that are a hallmark of PRIDE month, there are still a number of ways that employees can show their support:

• Add the PRIDE button to your email signature block.
• Join the Outlist, which was created by undergraduates at UC Davis as a way for scholars, staff, and faculty who identify as part of the LGBTQIA+ community to be able to connect with each other, and foster mentorship, support and community.
• Follow the UC Davis Health PRIDE Employee Resource Group on Facebook.

2021 Rainbow Chamber Foundation’s Palmer Family Healthcare Education Scholarship Fund

The purpose of the Sacramento Rainbow Chamber Foundation Scholarship Award is to motivate and assist Greater Sacramento’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and other supportive students in pursuing and completing an educational degree or vocational certificate. Graduating High School Seniors, Vocational, Undergraduate, and Graduate students are welcome to apply. Applications will be accepted through June 30, 2021. Learn more here.

EVENTS

June 11, Friday

¡Latin Excelencia 2021! 37th Annual Chicanx/Latinx Graduation Ceremony | 6:00PM
Join class of 2021 student speaker, Sergio Maravilla (B.S. Community and Regional Development, A.B. Anthropology) at this year’s celebration. Learn more here.

June 13, Sunday

Native American & Native America Studies Graduation Celebration | 3:00PM
You are cordially invited to our Native American Graduation Celebration on Zoom. Meeting ID: 980 1093 9658; Passcode: 020003.

June 30, Wednesday

UC Davis Health LGBTQ+ Pride Month Event | 12:00PM
Please join the UC Davis Health Vice Chancellor’s LGBTQ+ Advisory Council and the PRIDE (People, Respect, Inclusion, Diversity, Education) LGTBQ+ Employee Resource group on June 30th at 12pm for a virtual gathering with an educational presentation by the Sacramento LGBT Community Center. Register here.

RECOMMENDED READING

UC Davis LIVE: Reentry Anxiety After Covid-19 – Special Video Presentation
As the pandemic restrictions are lifted across the country, people face returning to workplaces and pre-pandemic activities with a mixture of anxiety and elation. What are the psychological issues around going back to offices and mixing with people again? How will employers react to those who want to keep working from home? What does a new normal look like? We address these questions with our two experts: Professor Angela Drake is a clinical neuropsychologist at UC Davis Health and Kimberly Elsbach is professor of management and holds the Steven G. Newberry Chair in Leadership at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management. Watch the recorded discussion here.

Laurel Wamsley, “A Guide to Gender Identity Terms,” NPR, June 2, 2021.
Proper use of gender identity terms, including pronouns, is a crucial way to signal courtesy and acceptance. Alex Schmider, associate director of transgender representation at GLAAD, compares using someone's correct pronouns to pronouncing their name correctly – "a way of respecting them and referring to them in a way that's consistent and true to who they are." Please read the article here.

Annie Caruso and Michelle Famula, “June is LGBT Pride Month,” UC Davis Health Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, June 2, 2021.
Every year the LGBTQIA+ community celebrates LGBT/Gay Pride month throughout June with various events and community gatherings around the world. We celebrate to recognize the influence that LGBTQIA+ people have had for our community and to gather in community as a reminder that we are not alone in the world and have much to be celebrated by being exactly who we are. Read the article.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Reporting Concerns of Harassment and Discrimination
The Harassment & Discrimination Assistance and Prevention Program (HDAPP) supports the University's commitment to a harassment and discrimination-free work and learning environment for all members of the UC Davis, UC Davis Health, and University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR). 

If you are interested in reporting concerns of Harassment and Discrimination, please contact HDAPP to file a report and/or speak with a representative to better understand your options. Learn more about HDAPP here or go to HDAPP's website for more information.

Counseling Services Mental Health Resources Webinar [requires Kerberos log-in] One of the things we hear frequently from instructors about teaching in Spring 2020 is the extent to which they encountered students in their courses experiencing significant stress or crisis, yet they felt unequipped to help or direct students to resources. To help, Student Health and Counseling Services provided a Mental Health Resources Webinar. If supporting students in crisis is a concern for you, please watch this previously-recorded webinar. Webinar topics include an overview of mental health services on campus, how to make referrals, signs of distress and how to respond, and how faculty can support students in the classroom (remote or on-campus). Student Affairs has also provided this folder of faculty resources.

UC Davis Office for Health Equity, Diversity and Inclusion COVID resources pageIn English and Spanish to reach our communities and we are actively updating with new resources.

Content Submission Form

Do you have a DEI-oriented event, announcement, or article that you would like us to help promote through our DEI communication channels? Did your unit/department or a member of your unit/department receive recognition that demonstrates your commitment to DEI? If so, please send us your information through this online form.

We invite you to share and submit your thoughts and items for our newsletter (either current or future news and events) at diversityinclusion@ucdavis.edu

Thank you for your dedication to diversity, equity and inclusion!

#ThinkBigDiversity
https://diversity.ucdavis.edu/