Equity & Inclusion

• Academic Freedom Harassment Toolkit: This set of resources and steps can help if you or someone in your department is the target of harassment. These OFD On Demand resources were developed by Jennifer Lundquist, Senior Associate Dean for Research and Professor of Sociology, in consultation with the Academic Freedom Taskforce of the Faculty Senate. 

• ADVANCE: ADVANCE cultivates faculty equity, inclusion, and success by providing the resources, recognition, and relationship-building that are critical for equitable and successful collaboration in the twenty-first-century academy. UMass ADVANCE is funded by a five-year (2018–23) $3.1 million National Science Foundation ADVANCE Institutional Transformation grant to advance gender equity for UMass Amherst faculty.  

• The Blacklist: Women & Non-Binary Faculty of Color Group: This group brings together self-identified women and non-binary faculty of color in order to facilitate mentoring networks, community building, and enhance the capacity of women faculty of color as talented leaders on the UMass Amherst campus and in their fields.  

• Center for Employment Equity (CEE): The UMass Center for Employment Equity conducts research on workplace equity and works toward the shared goal of an equitable, diverse workplace. 

• Center of Racial Justice & Youth Engaged Research (CRJ): The Center of Racial Justice & Youth Engaged Research centers Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) in the work of racial and educational justice through community–school–university partnerships. 

• Center for Women & Community (CWC): The Center for Women & Community works to provide innovative and informed education, leadership opportunities, advocacy, and support services that address the cause and impact of sexism and recognize the multiple oppressions experienced by women. 

• Faculty Diversity: The Faculty Diversity office offers programs that will help faculty at all career stages reach their professional development goals through a rigorous approach to recruiting a diverse faculty, including comprehensive search committee training and support; targeted programs aimed at attracting top faculty from diverse backgrounds; an inclusive view of faculty development and advancement, which foregrounds mentoring and community building as central features of faculty success; and aiding colleges and departments in conducting regular self-assessment, providing an array of resources to foster inclusive practices toward faculty engagement and advancement, including: 

  • STRIDE Faculty Recruitment Workshops: STRIDE (Strategies and Tactics for Recruiting to Improve Diversity and Excellence) workshops are intended for faculty members with an important role in faculty recruitment efforts (e.g., search committee chairs and members and other key faculty). These two-hour workshops review research-driven best practices to recruit for diversity and excellence across every stage in the search process. 

  • STRIPE Training Program: The STRIPE (Strategies and Tactics for Retention through Inclusive Promotion Evaluation) Training Program provides UMass Amherst personnel committees with the opportunity to learn strategies to minimize bias to support inclusion and inclusivity in faculty promotion and tenure cases. 

• Faculty Senate Status of Diversity Council: The Status of Diversity Council makes recommendations on all matters affecting the status of diverse populations and underrepresented communities on the campus, including such matters as faculty, librarian, and staff recruitment; retention, promotion, and salaries; the recruitment, admission, and retention of undergraduate and graduate minority students; granting of financial aid; and the development of programs to reflect the needs of our diverse community. 

• Faculty Senate Status of Women Council: The Status of Women Council makes recommendations affecting the status of women on the campus, including such matters as recruitment, promotion, and salaries; the granting of tenure; the establishment of day care centers; the admission of undergraduate and graduate women students; the granting of financial aid; the development of programs for women whose careers have been interrupted by marriage or childbirth; and the availability and conditions of part-time work. 

• Institute of Diversity Sciences (IDS): The Institute of Diversity Sciences (IDS) is a multidisciplinary hub for faculty and students interested in STEM research for social justice at UMass Amherst and beyond. 

• Office of Equity & Inclusion (OEI): OEI guides the university's efforts related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

  • Black Advisory Council (BAC): The UMass Black Advisory Council regularly convenes to address topics related to the Black community at UMass, provides education and guidance on Black issues, and advises university leaders on matters related to positive campus climate for Black students, faculty, and staff.  

  • Black Presence Project: The UMass Black Presence website serves as a living history of the experiences, contributions, and stories of Black students, alumni, faculty, and staff. 

  • Employee Resource Groups: The Offices of Equity & Inclusion and Human Resources launched the UMass Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) as of spring 2020. This initiative will provide UMass staff and faculty with resources for professional development, networking, and mentorship, while also promoting the recruitment, retention, and advancement of employees who are underrepresented in our community. Current employee resource groups include: 

    • UMass Allies for Illness and Disability Access (UMAIDA) Network 

    • UMass Faculty and Staff of Color Network 

    • UMass International Staff/Faculty Network 

    • UMass LGBTQIA+ Network 

    • UMass Veterans Network: Contact @email to join. 

  • Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (JEDI) Collaborative: The JEDI Collaborative is a digital space for collaboration and mutual support for UMass faculty and staff who are involved in the important work of building diversity, equity, and inclusion rooted in justice on campus. 

  • Native Advisory Council: The UMass Native Advisory Council regularly convenes to address topics related to the Native community at UMass, provide education and guidance on Native issues, foster mutual relationships with area Native Nations, and advise university leaders on matters related to positive campus climate for Native students, faculty, and staff.  

• Office of Equal Opportunity & Access (EOA): EOA's mission is to ensure the UMass Amherst campus community is free from harassment and discrimination, as mandated by law and university policies. 

  • Accessible Workplace: This unit within EOA is responsible for administering workplace accommodations for faculty and staff. 

  • Title IX: EOA works to promote an inclusive, equitable, and caring campus culture and oversees Title IX policy and processes prohibiting sex-based discrimination in education. 

• Office of Religious & Spiritual Life: Resources are available here to identify local religious organizations and clergy that welcome and support LGBTQIA+ students, staff, and faculty. 

• Stonewall Center: The Stonewall Center’s mission is to provide support, resources, programming, and advocacy for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, intersex, asexual (LGBTQIA), and allied students, staff, and faculty at UMass Amherst and for the surrounding area. 

• Women of Color Leadership Network (WOCLN): The Women of the Color Leadership Network at the Center for Women and Community provides advocacy, mentoring, programming, training, and a home for women and nonbinary people of color as well as workshops and events for the general public. 

• Faculty Diversity’s Third Spaces Virtual Write-on-Site Sessions: These virtual sessions create spaces for faculty of color to gather and interact while pursuing writing goals. Sessions begin with a small group 15-minute check-in, with each participant introducing themselves, their writing project, and specific writing goals. Participants will then work independently on their writing goals, reconvening in the final 15 minutes to discuss their progress, challenges, and to set writing goals. For more information, please contact @email. 

• Writing Group for Latinx & Spanish-Language Bilingual/Multilingual Faculty & Librarians: Partnered with Faculty Diversity, OFD is pleased to regularly offer a Writing Circle for Latinx and Spanish-Language Bilingual/Multilingual Faculty and Librarians. A Writing Circle (WC) is a small group of colleagues who meet weekly to write and share their progress on individual writing projects. Sessions include time for brief check-ins and writing. Members should have a commitment to their own writing project and to supporting fellow circle members in their writing goals. For more information, please contact OFD Senior Fellow and Associate Director Rebecca Dingo at @email. 

Campus-Level Awards & Recognitions 

• ADVANCE Equitable Practices in Collaboration (EPiC) Award: This award, given by UMass ADVANCE, recognizes promising practices in shared decision-making and equitable group processes. 

• ADVANCE Faculty Peer Mentor Award: This award recognizes the vital role faculty play in mentoring their colleagues. The awards are administered by UMass ADVANCE in conjunction with the individual schools and colleges. 

• Commitment to Diversity—Graduate Faculty Award: This award annually recognizes one faculty member for their outstanding contributions to diversity and inclusion within the UMass Amherst graduate student body. 

• Faculty Women of Color in the Academy: This travel award supports women faculty of color to attend the Faculty Women of Color in the Academy National Conference and is jointly supported by the Office of the Provost, the Office of Equity & Inclusion, and the Graduate School. 

Campus-Level Fellows & Scholars Programs 

• ADVANCE Faculty Fellows: A UMass ADVANCE Faculty Fellowship provides faculty members and librarians with a unique opportunity to participate in ADVANCE’s program of institutional transformation by interfacing between the ADVANCE leadership team and their departments. The call for nominations, including self-nominations, is made at the end of the academic year for the following academic year. 

• ADVANCE Team Leaders: Team leaders for research and practice work together, with the entire ADVANCE leadership team, faculty, and campus stakeholders, to provide knowledge-driven research and solutions for faculty equity. Team leaders for practice are faculty members committed to working on practical solutions for faculty collaboration and equity built on ADVANCE research. Team Leaders for research are social science researchers who conduct studies of faculty equity on our campus. The call for nominations, including self-nominations, is made annually at the end of the academic year for the following academic year. 

• HERS Leadership Institute: HERS (Higher Education Resource Services) is a leadership development and research organization dedicated to creating and sustaining a diverse network of women-identified leaders in higher education. Participants are nominated by their dean and selected by the provost. UMass participation is coordinated by the Office of Faculty Development.  

• STRIDE Faculty Fellowship Program: The STRIDE Faculty Fellowship Program, sponsored by the Office of the Provost and the Office of Equity & Inclusion, provides UMass Amherst faculty with the opportunity to support diversity, equity, and inclusion in faculty recruitment. 

• STRIPE Faculty Fellows: STRIPE (Strategies and Tactics for Retention through Inclusive Promotion Evaluation) Faculty Fellows support the STRIPE Training Program by providing UMass Amherst personnel committees with the opportunity to learn strategies to minimize bias to support inclusion and inclusivity in faculty promotion and tenure cases. STRIPE is supported by UMass Faculty Diversity in collaboration with the Office of Faculty Development and the Academic Personnel Office. 

• TIDE (Teaching for Inclusiveness, Diversity & Equity) Ambassadors Fellowship: TIDE Ambassadors, facilitated by the Center for Teaching & Learning, explore in their own teaching and in individual leadership projects how they can enhance students’ learning and academic success across cultural, social, and learning differences by adopting a strength-based, inclusive, and equitable approach to teaching and learning grounded in the value of diversity. 

UMass Amherst is an institutional member of the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD). The NCFDD is an independent professional development, training, and mentoring community of scholars and students from more than 450 colleges and universities. Its resources are intended to benefit faculty and students of color as well as all who are looking for general mentoring and support during career transitions. 

Institutional membership with the NCFDD is available to all UMass Amherst faculty and librarians at no cost.  As members, individuals receive access to resources such as webinars, courses, discussion forums for peer mentoring, writing challenges, and more. The center also offers professional development training and intensive mentoring programs. To activate your membership, visit the NCFDD website here. 

NCFDD Faculty Success Program 

The Office of the Provost is excited to announce that registration is open each year in the early spring for UMass Amherst faculty members to apply to the Faculty Success Program (FSP), an intensive 10-week online program offered through the National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity (NCFDD). The program seeks to help non-tenure-track, tenure-track, and tenured faculty develop the skills necessary to increase research and writing productivity while maintaining a healthy work-life balance. 
 
Faculty will receive funds to register for the FSP through a cost-sharing model. It is expected that the department or faculty member's RFT will contribute $1,000 towards the final cost. The college and the Office of the Provost will split the remaining amount. Those who participate in FSP will receive weekly coaching, support from a custom-matched small group of peers, and access to training modules that provide a framework for immediate and lasting success.  

To register, faculty should consult their department chair/head to establish eligibility and departmental support. Each college will determine, in consultation with the department chair/head, to support a faculty member based on the needs of the candidate and the potential impact on their career trajectory (especially as it relates to tenure, promotion, or continuing contract for lecturers.) If a candidate is selected, the dean or designee should then send an email of approval to @email with the candidate's full name, title, department, and a GOF Fund Speedtype to where the Office of the Provost should transfer funds so the candidate can register and reserve a seat in the NCFDD Faculty Success Program.  

For more information, please contact the Faculty Diversity Office at @email. 

• Center for Multicultural Advancement & Student Success (CMASS): CMASS's mission is to advocate for and advance the personal growth, academic, and professional success of diverse populations on campus through courageous, inclusive, and supportive programs and services.  

• Disability Services: Disability Services is committed to providing members of the university community with the finest educational opportunities and the most appropriate accommodations available for students with disabilities. 

• Office of Inclusion & Engagement: The Office of Inclusion and Engagement is part of the Graduate School’s commitment to fostering diversity and a positive campus climate to promote graduate student success. They work to promote student success through recruitment efforts, graduate fellowships, mentoring, and community-building programming. 

• Office of Veteran Services: The Office of Veteran Services is committed to offering quality services and support programs for student veterans, active military, and their families. 

• Student Affairs & Campus Life (SACL) Resources: This resource page is a compendium of campus partners, policies, and offices from Student Affairs Leaders and Directors meetings and key places and resources for referring students.  

• Student Parent Programs (SPP): Student Parent Programs is committed to helping students who are parenting achieve their goals here at UMass and beyond. 

• Student Support: As a faculty member at UMass Amherst, you are an important part of your students’ lives—both in and out of the classroom. Here are some resources to help you provide your students with guidance and preparation for their journey of lifelong learning and success.  

• Student Support Request & Referral: To request assistance from the Dean of Students Office for yourself or someone else, please complete the form by filling in the requested information. If you have any questions after completing the report form, feel free to contact the Dean of Students Office at 413-545-2684. In the case of urgent or life-threatening concerns, call 911 or the UMass Police Department at 413-545-2121.