Posts Tagged: Diversity

DEI hiring support and training for supervisors

We are pleased to announce leadership development opportunities that provide additional support to hiring managers and search committees in order to promote a culture of diversity and inclusion in the hiring process.  Supervisors are in a position to make decisions that impact people, and these training opportunities are intended to develop your understanding of common forms of bias and provide tools to minimize their influence.

We have tasked all UC ANR Directors to complete this training to help build a stronger culture of respect, equality, equity and justice within our organization, and I'm now expanding the assignment to all our Academics and Supervisors. 

• Supervisory Training – A six-part online training, "Managing Implicit Bias," is being offered to all UC ANR employees and is now being required of all supervisors. Please complete these trainings by May 31, 2022. You can find the courses by searching on “UC Managing Implicit Bias.”   
• Hiring Committee Best Practices – Best practices training will be provided to supervisors and hiring committees to ensure a fair and non-bias hiring process.  Human Resources will coordinate with the hiring managers of upcoming search committees to provide these exciting new resources.

I hope you find these sessions useful and meaningful to your role as an ANR leader.  For questions related to these exciting new educational opportunities please feel free to contact Bethanie Brown at brbbrown@ucanr.edu.    

Glenda Humiston
Vice President

President Drake’s message on the anniversary of George Floyd’s murder

May 24, 2021

Dear friends,

Tomorrow marks one year since the murder of George Floyd. We pause to reflect on and honor his memory, and the countless others who have been maimed or killed by forces of oppression and bigotry during our nation's long history. The pernicious effects of racism have altered the course of our country from before its founding, and persist in ways large and small to this very day.

This past year in particular – with international public reckoning over racial injustice, and the disproportionate public health and economic impacts of the pandemic on people of color – leaves us keenly aware of the challenges we face in returning to a forever altered world. It also reminds us of the requirement that we engage our best selves in the work necessary to create a better, more respectful, more inclusive tomorrow.

The solutions to the structural flaws that plague our nation will require us to work collectively to imagine, and then create, the future we all deserve. We long to be that place, to quote the Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore, “Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high.” A place where we can all realize our full human potential.

As a university community, we can do our part to exemplify best practices and commit ourselves to lead. I applaud the many actions taken by people across the University, from anti-racism work to efforts to address basic needs and much more. So many of our students, faculty, and staff have devoted themselves to this effort, and are working every day to put the University of California on a better path forward. Our work is far from finished; our efforts will not be in vain.

Sincerely,

Michael V. Drake
President, University of California

Update on DEI Advisory Council; End of regional stay-at-home orders

Update on DEI Advisory Council

This month I appointed 11 UC ANR employees to an initial two-year term as founding members of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Advisory Council for UC Agriculture and Natural Resources. The group began meeting to consider the Council's role and structure in November; this appointment is effective retroactively from November 1, 2020, through October 31, 2022. 

I am convening this advisory council to support DEI efforts that UC ANR staff and academics have undertaken to improve working environments within UC ANR, as well as to improve quality of life for marginalized populations living in the state of California. Diversity is one of our core values and developing an equitable and inclusive society is one of our Public Values. This Council is a commitment by UC ANR leadership to take division-wide action on the existence and impact of longstanding discrimination within our Division, as well as in our efforts throughout the state.

I am asking the founding members to recommend a formal Charter to document the objectives, organization and functions of the Council. While the initial appointment for founding members is two years, the intent is for members to have staggered appointments to allow for turnover and continuity. I ask that the Council work to develop the Charter and an agenda for an initial meeting with me, AVP Powers and AVP Tran by June 30, 2021. 

Council Members 

Elaine Lander 
Esther Mosase 
Fadzayi Mashiri 
Gail Feenstra 
Katherine Soule 
Keith Nathaniel 
Laura Snell 
LeChé McGill 
Mohammed Yagmour 
Ricardo Vela 
Ron Walker

 

End of regional stay-at-home orders

On Monday, the state ended the regional stay-at-home order, which means that each county will now revert back to following the four risk tiers for re-opening based on COVID-19 testing and case rates. Currently, all but four counties are in the most restrictive tier (Widespread / Purple), but over the next few weeks we may see some counties begin to open up more as the number of cases declines.

For UC ANR activities, this means that if local County Health Orders allow, standard COVID-19 safety protocols are in place, and you are ready, many of you may begin to gradually increase some in-person activities, including allowing some small (10 or fewer) outdoor meetings, programs or workshops. Indoor meetings, programs or workshops are not allowed until your county reaches the Substantial/Red risk tier.

Please refer to our safety protocols and guidance on the webpage for resuming in-person activities for more details. Safety Coordinators and Directors should also take this time to review and update their site-specific Location Safety Plan to reflect the current operations at their UC ANR location, volunteer programs, and field sites and share those plans and any changes with the staff who are working onsite.  

Glenda Humiston 
Vice President

 

UCOP Prop. 16 statement

Dear Colleagues,

Please read the statement below from UC Office of the President about the defeat of Proposition 16, which would have reinstated affirmative action for public higher education. I would like to make it clear these election results will not affect UC ANR's mission to deliver research-based information that improves the lives of all Californians. We serve a diverse array of people – regardless of race, where they are from, who they love or their gender – and remain committed to our core community values of respect, equity and inclusion. 

The contentious elections have added tension to the already stressfulness of wildfires, pandemic and power outages. Please take care of yourself. 

Best wishes,
Glenda

Glenda Humiston
Vice President

 

UC to continue to champion diverse student body despite rejection of Proposition 16

UC Office of the President

Wednesday, November 4, 2020

The University of California is disappointed that Proposition 16, the state ballot measure and constitutional amendment that would have repealed Proposition 209, did not pass in this election.  Proposition 16 would have helped reverse the detrimental and far-reaching initiative that banned the consideration of race, ethnicity and gender in admissions across public higher education, and other arenas, almost a quarter-century ago.

“UC remains steadfast in its commitment to attract and support a student body that reflects California's dynamism and diversity, despite this setback,” said UC President Michael V. Drake, M.D. “We will continue our unwavering efforts to expand underrepresented groups' access to a UC education.”

The UC Board of Regents supported the passage of ACA 5, which became Proposition 16, a move that acknowledged the serious need to address systemic inequities in public higher education. By repealing Proposition 209, Proposition 16 would have ended the prohibition on granting preferential treatment to (or discriminating against) any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education or public contracting. The rejection of this ballot measure is an unfortunate continuation of the status quo.

“The University of California's efforts to address racial inequities were greatly hindered by Proposition 209,” said UC Regents Chair John A. Pérez. “The failure of Proposition 16 means barriers will remain in place to the detriment of many students, families and California at large. We will not accept inequality on our campuses and will continue addressing the inescapable effects of racial and gender inequity.” 

UC has a longstanding commitment to enrolling a diverse student body, one that reflects California's flourishing cultural, racial, geographic and socioeconomic heterogeneity. After the implementation of Proposition 209, the University saw a sharp decline in the admission and enrollment of students from historically underrepresented racial and ethnic groups. On every UC campus, the percentage of new California-resident, underrepresented freshmen decreased. While racial and ethnic diversity have improved in the past two decades, much of that growth is attributable to systemwide enrollment growth. UC still does not reflect the diversity of California's population. Another negative impact: The percentage of students from underrepresented groups enrolled in UC's outreach programs dropped from 90 percent before Proposition 209 to 75 percent thereafter.  

Despite the failure of Proposition 16, the University will continue to look for innovative and creative approaches to further improve the diversity of its student body through outreach to underserved groups, schools and communities; support for college preparation; and efforts to close equity gaps among students attaining a UC education.

To uphold its commitment to diversity, UC will continue comprehensive review in admissions. The holistic method is used by most campuses and seeks to fully understand and evaluate each applicant through multiple dimensions. However, excluding race and gender from that consideration continues to be a tall barrier to women and students from underrepresented groups. UC will also explore opportunities to further encourage underrepresented groups to apply for and join UC's outstanding student body. It will utilize and refine the many race-neutral alternatives developed following Proposition 209 for both outreach and admissions.

Diversity, equity and inclusion resources; Juneteenth

UC ANR and the entire UC community are dedicated to helping create the open and equitable society to which we are all entitled. As we stand with the global outcry against the senseless, tragic murders of Black Americans, we are exploring new paths we can take to support our communities during this time and into the future.

To help us discover those new paths, resources have been created and compiled by colleagues throughout UC to promote dialogue, understanding, connection and healing. You can find UC ANR resources on our Diversity • Equity • Inclusion webpage. There, you can also find resources for confronting gender and sexuality bias, and we are working to add resources that address the breadth of diversity, equity and inclusion challenges in our organization. We welcome suggestions for additional resources to include. Please email suggestions to DEI@ucanr.edu. 

Today is Juneteenth, widely celebrated in African American communities as “Freedom Day” or “Emancipation Day,” to mark the date of June 19, 1865, when the federal orders were read by Union Colonel Gordon Granger in Galveston, Texas, informing more than 250,000 still-enslaved Blacks that they had their freedom. The notice came to slaves in the state of Texas more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, which became official on January 1, 1863.

On this important day, we are reflecting on our country, its treatment of Black, brown and Native American peoples, and how UC values can help guide us into the future. We must continue to reflect on how our institutions and our culture treat people of color as well as religious minorities, the LGBTQ+ community, and all those who don't fit into dominant cultural norms. Our mission can never fully come to fruition if historically victimized groups continue to suffer hatred and bias. All of us at UC ANR are deeply committed to our mission and will work to build a healthy, peaceful and prosperous California for all.

In recognition of Juneteenth, please feel free to cease work today at 3 p.m. and encourage your staff to do so, work permitting. Take some time for reflection. Get a head start on time with your friends and loved ones. Or, just take a nap. We all need to take care of ourselves in these trying times.

Stay safe and have a wonderful weekend! 

Glenda Humiston 
Vice President

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