A note to campus from Liz Tovar, executive officer and associate vice president of the Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for February 2023.

For those involved in faculty and staff recruitments, updated data (as of November 2022) on the underrepresentation of women and racial/ethnic minorities in faculty, P&S, and Merit positions at UI is now available. Please use this updated information when planning new searches to determine whether the positions are in an underrepresented group and require additional outreach efforts.

A note from Liz Tovar to the University of Iowa campus for the start of Unity Week 2023.

University of Iowa Finance and Operations released the 2022 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Action Plan Review to highlight DEI work of the previous year.

In late November, Sara Sanders, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Liz Mendez-Shannon, CLAS DEI director, and Liz Tovar, executive officer and associate vice president of the UI Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, gathered at Wild Bill’s Workshop in the School of Social Work to discuss unity and belonging—and how these spaces can help the college and UI make progress on DEI issues.  

The DEI Committee and college community develop a yearly plan to address the strategic priorities of CLAS to cultivate an inclusive environment and build a supportive infrastructure within the college. With this backdrop in mind, it is imperative to build the capacity for thriving within our community while affording faculty, staff, and students the time to think innovatively, practice authentically, and revise programs when warranted to best serve the needs and aspirations of our growing community.

2022 Campus Climate, Working at Iowa survey results also show areas for improvement

The University of Iowa has been awarded a six-year, $377,800 grant as part of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Inclusive Excellence 3 initiative. The grant will support the development of inclusive teaching and educational practices in introductory STEM courses and aligns with the "Excellence in Teaching and Learning" priority outlined in the Strategic Plan for 2022-2027.

UI faculty member Donika Kelly is one of 36 recipients of a National Endowment for the Arts creative writing fellowship for 2023, which awards $25,000. Kelly’s most recent poetry collection titled, The Renunciations, won a 2022 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award in poetry. Read more about Kelly and this prestigious fellowship.