Working to increase diversity among STEM faculty

Franklin College faculty members are leading efforts of UGA faculty, staff and administrators to increase faculty diversity and the use of inclusive teaching practices in STEM fields:

Among their first steps is a survey of the university’s STEM faculty to gather input and assess current efforts to recruit and retain diverse faculty.

“We want to accurately assess our past efforts in our quest to recruit and retain a diverse STEM faculty and use this to influence how we can improve as we move forward,” said Gregory Robinson, UGA Foundation Professor of Chemistry and the lead faculty member coordinating UGA’s participation in the IChange Network.

At the institutional level, the university’s Office of Faculty Affairs administers training for search committees on implicit biases and the best practices for recruitment of a diverse hiring pool. A Planning Committee on Diversity and Inclusive Excellence charged by President Jere W. Morehead is developing a comprehensive diversity plan, with specific goals and measures of success, that builds on UGA’s most recent diversity plan. Units such as the College of Engineering have implemented diversity and inclusion plans that seek to foster student and faculty diversity.

Important work by some of the university's best educators to strengthen UGA across the core science disciplines, efforts crucial to the vitality and longterm health of the Georgia's flagship institution. Prioritizing diversity and inclusion at UGA has a ripple effect at other USG and SEC institutions, and we salute the leadership of Dr. Cook, Dr. Robinson, Dr. Abate and colleagues in these ongoing efforts.

Full list of IChange team members at the link.

Image: Gregory Robinson, UGA Foundation Professor of Chemistry and lead faculty member coordinating UGA’s participation in the IChange Network. (Andrew Davis Tucker/UGA)