Latest News from ODEI
Join the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Alabama ADVANCE Partnership for Achieving Gender Equity in STEM (APAGES) for the Alabama ADVANCE Spring Symposium on March 4 at 11:30 a.m. The symposium will feature Freeman Hrawbowski, Ph.D., who will discuss “Empowered and Inclusive Campuses: Broadening Racial and Gender Diversity in STEM.”
The symposium is co-sponsored by the University of Alabama in Huntsville and hosted by APAGES, UAB, Alabama A&M University, Miles College, Oakwood University and Auburn University as part of the APAGES ongoing programming activities.
Hrabowski, a Birmingham-native and president of the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), will share thoughts on shared leadership, culture change, and academic success and the way senior leaders, administrators, staff, faculty, and students facilitate academic success by cultivating an empowering institutional culture and broad leadership for innovation.
Hrabowski, has served as president of UMBC since 1992. He is a widely-known consultant on science and math education to national agencies, universities, and school systems. He has been featured on 60 minutes and was a guest speaker for TEDTalks. In 2012, he was named by President Obama to chair the President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans. He leads a university that has been recognized as a model for inclusive excellence by such publications as U.S. News, which the past 10 years has recognized UMBC as a national leader in academic innovation and undergraduate teaching. In 2012, he was named one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World by TIME, and more recently he received the American Council on Education’s Lifetime Achievement Award (2018), the University of California, Berkeley’s Clark Kerr Award (2019), and the University of California, San Francisco’s UCSF Medal (2020).
His most recent book, The Empowered University, examines how university communities support academic success by cultivating an empowering institutional culture. Copies of the book are available in the UAB Bookstore.
The event is free and open to the public. For more information on how to register, visit https://www.uab.edu/dei/welcome-to-alabama-advace/advance-symposium-2020.
About APAGES: The Alabama ADVANCE Partnership for Gender Equity, funded in fall 2019 as part of the National Science Foundation’s ADVANCE Program, is aimed at increasing the participation and advancement of women in science technology, engineering and Mathematics (STEM). The goals of the partnership are implementing institutional changes in practices and policies that inhibit gender equity and inclusion in STEM at partner institutions and increasing the representation and visibility of women, racial, ethnic minorities and other social identities in STEM departments by improving recruitment, retention and promotion practices and policies.
Three individuals and one student organization were honored with the 2021 President’s Diversity Champion Award during a virtual ceremony on Feb. 18.
The annual award, sponsored by the Office of the President and the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, recognizes employees, students and organizations that have helped create a more culturally diverse, inclusive university community through their achievements. Nominations are solicited from the UAB community for all categories, and awards are given in several categories for projects or activities that best reflect the implementation of unit and/or campus diversity goals.
View the virtual President's Diversity Champion Award ceremony here.
Congratulations to the 2021 recipients:
Tina Simpson, MD, MPH
Professor and Vice-Chair of Faculty Development, Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine
Dr. Simpson is a Professor and Vice-Chair of Faculty Development in the Department of Pediatrics and is actively involved in diversity, equity, and inclusion activities at UAB and at the national level. Dr. Simpson serves as the departmental Diversity Liaison for the Office for Diversity and Inclusion in the School of Medicine. She has helped lead several diversity education initiatives within the Department of Pediatrics. Dr. Simpson led the 2017 Maternal and Child Health Bureau-funded Diversity and Health Equity Peer Learning Collaborative, which was comprised of eight teams from training programs across the country and designed to help MCH training programs more effectively address diversity and health equity. Dr. Simpson is a member of the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine Diversity Committee and in 2020 co-authored a position statement regarding immigrant youth in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers and a manuscript calling for the use of anti-racism approaches to address health inequities.
Because of her involvement with the Birmingham Mayor’s Office Division of Youth Services, Dr. Simpson has been recognized by the city as a “Hidden Hero.” She was honored by BHAM Black Pride with the Dr. Tina Simpson Invisible Warrior Award.
View the 2021 Faculty Award recipient video here.
Jordan Perchik, MD
Department of Radiology, School of Medicine
Dr. Jordan Perchik began his Diagnostic Radiology residency in the UAB Department of Radiology on July 1, 2018. He developed an early interest in medical student education and mentorship and joined the Near-Peer student-resident mentorship program, the Radiology Diversity and Inclusion Committee, and the international Radiology outreach organization RadAID; he now serves as a resident leader in these organizations. He has mentored medical students and fellow residents of diverse backgrounds and experiences and has connected them with mentors, facilitated their pursuit of meaningful research, and worked to address health disparities in Radiology. Dr. Perchik's efforts have improved inclusion and representation of women and under-represented minorities in the UAB Radiology Residency and have contributed to overall advances in resident wellness.
Dr. Perchik has also worked to improve transgender health literacy in Radiology at a local and national level. He, along with a supportive team in the UAB Radiology Department, has recently published a systematic review of transgender related research in the Radiology literature, developed sessions in transgender health literacy for the resident education curriculum, and advocates for equitable delivery of healthcare for transgender and gender diverse individuals.
View the 2021 Staff Award recipient video here.
Nia Taylor
School of Dentistry
Nia is currently a third-year dental student at UAB and is enrolled in a dual degree program to pursue both her DMD and MBA degrees with an expected graduation date of May 2022. With a bachelors’ degree from the University of Pennsylvania, Nia first came to UAB and graduated with a Masters’ in Biomedical and Health Sciences in 2018. Since then, she has been actively engaged in student activities at UAB School of Dentistry (SOD). Her current involvement includes serving as the Treasurer of the Student Research Group, Program Director of the Dental Business Club, a UAB SOD Ambassador for the 2020-21 Admissions cycle, and serving as the current president of the Student National Dental Association (SNDA). She has also participated as a dental student mentor to undergraduate students for the past three summers at UAB’s Summer Health Professions Education Program.
View the 2021 Graduate/Professional Student Award recipient video here.
MSHA DEI Student Council
School of Health Professions
The MSHA DEI Student Council is a permanent committee of the MSHA Student Organization, established during the summer of 2020. The summer of 2020 presented varying emotional predicaments: students were not only navigating the COVID-19 pandemic but were digesting an influx of media showing social injustices across the country. Naturally, students craved a space to speak candidly, share lived experiences, and ask questions that may have been considered taboo. As a result, the MSHA DEI Student Council was born. The purpose of the MSHA DEI Student Council is to prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion as fundamental pillars of the MSHA program, while also bringing heightened social awareness to the faculty, staff, and students of the program. Using a collaborative platform as a foundation, the Council is critical in helping faculty and staff integrate DEI into all aspects of the MSHA program, including the curriculum, admission process, Lunch and Learns, and guest lecturers. The presence of the Council ensures the perpetuity of a platform that calls attention to the diverse perspectives of current students and alumni. The Council will continue to create, support, and sustain initiatives that help achieve the MSHA program’s DEI-related goals.
View the 2021 Student Organization Award recipient video here.
Ria Shah, a senior at Hoover High School in Hoover, Ala., was named the winner of the fourth annual “Word from the Mountain Top” Oratory Contest. The contest is hosted by the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (ODEI) at the University of Alabama at Birmingham as part of Birmingham King Week.
King Week is an annual initiative and collaboration between ODEI, UAB Student Affairs, City of Birmingham Mayor’s Office, Hands On Birmingham, Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, local colleges and universities, and surrounding agencies to honor and celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr through a week-long series of events and service initiatives at UAB and throughout the City of Birmingham.
Each year, local high school and two-year and four-year college students have the opportunity to honor Dr. King’s legacy by reflecting on his words and connecting his message to issues facing the nation in the 21st century. The 2021 oratory contest encouraged students to gather inspiration from King’s “A Time to Break Silence” speech, to identify a social problem, requiring systemic change, while providing a plan to address the issue and improve the lives of others.
In her speech titled “The War Between Political Division and Progress: Which Will Win?”, Shah urged citizens to “champion political unity.”
“Through my experiences as a student and learner, I have recognized every person is shaped by
their own experiences and sensations, living in their own mini-dimension. I like to think that each
person’s perspective is like a lens through which they see the world,” Shah said. “If we look through everyone’s lenses at once, we can start to uncover objective truth and be united in our differences. It is like a 7.6-billion-piece jigsaw puzzle!”
As the winner, Shah was awarded a monetary prize and was able to narrate her speech during a virtual performance held on Jan. 23.
“We applaud Miss Shah for her win in this year’s competition,” said Paulette Patterson Dilworth, Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at UAB. “Each year, we are impressed and inspired by the talent and profound words of our young people, and we will continue to encourage them to make their voices heard.”
View Ria Shah’s speech here.
The University of Alabama at Birmingham has published new guidelines for faculty searches in an effort to recruit and retain a diverse faculty and diverse leadership teams.
The new guidance, under the direction of UAB President Ray L. Watts and created by the Office of the Provost and the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, aligns with the priorities of the university’s Strategic Diversity Plan. This effort strengthens UAB’s longtime commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in faculty hiring by introducing and integrating new best practices for faculty searches.
The UAB Faculty Searches: Guide to Best Practices outlines the steps of the recruitment process, from the initial idea and need for a position through the beginning of employment on campus.
“UAB is committed to pursuing intentionally the benefits of diversity in recruiting for all employee positions, including faculty and administrator positions for which search committees are typically used,” said Watts. “Recruiting outstanding faculty and administrators is essential in ensuring the university remains innovative, nationally, and globally competitive, and successful in our mission to prepare the next generation of scholars and leaders in 21st-century fields.
The faculty search guide provides a framework with specific steps to aid search committees before the search, during the search, and when completing the search. It includes examples such as sample faculty recruitment plans, sample committee protocols, sample evaluation tools, and offer letter templates.
In a charge issued to vice presidents, deans, and department chairs to mark the release of the search guide, Watts said the goal is to “enhance the diversity and workings of search committees so that they have a true commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusive excellence.”
Watts’s presidential guidance addresses several key areas including:
- Department chairs and search committee chairs must ensure diversity in race, gender, and perspectives on all committees.
- The race, gender, and diversity of committee members must be recorded before the committee begins the search.
- The search committee chair must ensure that the records for the search show the special efforts made to attract underrepresented groups to the search.
- The department chair will charge the committee to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in its process.
- An Equity Advisor must be actively involved in the search process, including in the creation of the advertisement, developing the applicant pool, assessing the shortlist, evaluating the applicants' credentials, and generally challenging assumptions and biases.
- The search committee chair will distribute and review the available resources on searches, recruitment, hiring, and best practices for achieving diversity, equity, and inclusion located on the Faculty Resource portal.
- Each member of each search committee will be required to take the implicit bias training provided on-demand by the Office of the Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and that the Equity Advisor report compliance with this requirement to the department chair before the committee begins its work.
“We want committees to represent our diverse campus community and work to recruit and hire the best and brightest candidates for open positions,” said Paulette Patterson Dilworth, PhD, vice president for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. “The presidential guidance from Dr. Watts and the search guide are major steps toward making sure UAB’s hiring practices are fair and equitable, particularly for those in underrepresented groups.”
Ultimately, the purpose of the guide is to ensure UAB's search processes produce not only a diverse pool of candidates but, also diverse search committees.
“As UAB’s chief academic officer, I can say that there is no goal more important in the University’s strategic plan than working toward the same diversity in our faculty ranks as we have in our student ranks,” said senior vice president for academic affairs and Provost Pam Benoit. “I look forward to seeing the results of this effort to meet that goal.”
Read the guide here.
The Office of the Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at the University of Alabama at Birmingham is pleased to announce the creation of an endowed scholarship to honor late Congressman and Alabama-native John Robert Lewis. The John Lewis “Good and Necessary Trouble” (“GANT)” Endowed scholarship is a service-learning opportunity that integrates research and community-based practice in addressing social change throughout UAB and surrounding areas. Spendable earnings from the scholarship will be used to assist deserving first-generation students at UAB. The naming will be formally considered for acceptance by the University of Alabama System Board of Trustees at its February meeting.
The John Lewis “Good and Necessary Trouble” (“GANT)” Endowed scholarship is a service learning opportunity that integrates research and community-based practice in addressing social change throughout UAB and surrounding areas. Each year, the GANT Scholarship will provide a monetary award to UAB students who demonstrate a continued commitment to academic excellence, leadership, and commitment to community engagement. Additionally, students are paired with a mentor who provides academic support in their personal and academic development. Scholars will also develop their resumes and/or curriculum vitae, write personal and research statements, and obtain letters of recommendations.
GANT Scholars Program Objectives
- Mentor students on areas of interest involving community engagement
- Provide scholars with opportunities to engage in the community through internships and applied research within their field of interest
- Expose scholars to theory, research, and practice of social justice within underserved communities
- Connect students in a supportive GANT cohort with access to resources and develop a community of mutual support and collaboration
- Train students to apply for internships and research opportunities
- Empower scholars to pursue graduate/professional school within their academic field and become agents of change in their communities
A committee of cross-campus representatives was formed to create the GANT scholarship. Those members are:
- Jazmine Benjamin, Graduate Student Government
- Rodrena Bush, Health System
- Paulette Patterson Dilworth, PhD, Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
- Rebecca Gordon, Advancement
- Kristina Ria Herald, PhD, School of Health Professions
- Tyler Huang, Undergraduate Student Government Association
- Tina Kempin Reuter, Institute for Human Rights, College of Arts and Sciences
- Brandon Wolfe, PhD, Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
- Emily Wykle, Office of the President
Download the John Lewis “Good and Necessary Trouble” (GANT) Endowed Scholarship guidelines.