First cycle of Diversity Action Plan grants are awarded

Twitter Facebook

A creative mix of ideas, campaigns, programs, subjects and more garnered from campuswide Diversity Action Plans received funding from the first round of UO IDEAL Framework Diversity Action Plan implementation grants.

Grants will help with pilot or seeding funds for strategies and tactics specifically found in the Diversity Action Plans of individual schools and units. Twenty-one academic and administrative units submitted 31 proposals. The majority of projects in this cycle directly related to student success focusing on underserved populations.

Vice President for Equity and Inclusion Yvette Alex-Assensoh, chair of the grant review committee, pointed to the history and how far the university has come with the Diversity Action Plans.

“Each school and college created a Diversity Action Plan in line with the IDEAL Framework, with its five pillars of inclusion, diversity, evaluation, achievement and leadership, and it is wonderful to see the work being embedded and activated across campus. These grants help the UO to institutionalize the IDEAL Framework, which was conceived by a broad array of campus stakeholders,” Alex-Assensoh said.

The following projects received support:

  • College of Arts and Sciences: A needs-based undergraduate filmmaker scholarship recognizing work that advances diversity and inclusion in the Department of Cinema Studies.
  • College of Education: The creation of a permanent gathering space for students of underrepresented cultures and ethnicities.
  • Graduate School: An inclusion, equity and diversity academy certificate program.
  • Labor Education Resource Center: Resources to diversify a LERC visiting lecture series.
  • School of Journalism and Communication: Support for NextGen Media’s efforts to develop a suite of programming to encourage campuswide recruitment of underrepresented students to the UO.
  • UO Libraries: A 10-piece traveling pictorial exhibit, “Our Impact in Images,” on the UO’s diverse history and community.
  • College of Design: A Justice and Equity Design initiative supporting faculty research focused on racial justice and equity issues within the design discipline.
  • School of Music and Dance: A collaborative initiative with DanceAbility to connect people with and without disabilities through dance and movement.
  • Communities for Minorities in STEM and LGBT+ in STEM: A three-workshop series on respectful and effective interpersonal relationships.
  • Collaboration with the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics and School of Journalism and Communication’s Allen Hall Advertising: A BEOREGON initiative to create a call to action for inclusion and acceptance in sports.
  • Physical Education and Recreation: Support for the UO Unified Basketball team to participate in the National Intramural Recreational Sports Association Regional VI tournament. Unified sports joins students on college campuses with those with intellectual disabilities.
  • Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art: A visiting scholar grant for an artist project focused on identity, commodity, media and popular culture.

Division of Equity and Inclusion staff members are having conversations with units on how to strengthen proposals for subsequent rounds.

Vickie DeRose, associate vice president in the Division of Equity and Inclusion and a member of the selection committee, was impressed with the first round of applications.

“The first round of proposals showed a tremendous amount of creativity and energy around supporting actions to embed equity and inclusion on campus,” she said. 

Applications for the next round of Diversity Action Plan grants will be June 15.

—By tova stabin, University Communications