Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Inclusive and equitable environment.

We believe that academic excellence in science is enhanced when faculty and students from diverse perspectives come together in an environment that is inclusive and equitable.

This statement is one of our core principles at the College of Natural Sciences (CNS), and we recognize that the systemic oppression, abuse, and killing of Black and brown people across the United States means we have a long way to go toward removing the inequality that permeates all levels of our society. For this reason, CNS has committed to increasing awareness of white privilege and racism in our institution and to converting that knowledge into action through guided discussions, training, and workshops, so that we may become effective allies.

The College of Natural Sciences (CNS) is committed to increasing, retaining, and supporting the success of faculty and students who have been historically underrepresented in academic science. The college advances this goal through policies, programs, and working groups implemented at a college-wide level and also through individual departments. Focused efforts are made to remove the barriers that prevent the full participation of all scientists and scientists-in-training, including women, minorities, veterans, and people with disabilities. CNS initiatives to promote equity and inclusion are in support of the University's Diversity Mission, which includes a commitment to the inclusion of historically underrepresented groups and the belief that a culturally diverse campus is integral to academic excellence.

Our vision for the College of Natural Sciences is to transform the opportunities created through the study, research, and application of science and mathematics into impact for the world. To do so, we must begin on our own campus, by ensuring an environment in which every member of our faculty, staff, professional team, and student body can identify, pursue, and succeed in the path that best expresses their creativity, develops their talents, supports their career aspirations, and fulfills their passions.

We firmly believe that this vision unites us while also acknowledging that access to this vision differs for members of our community based on their lived experiences both on and off of our campus. We are deeply grateful for the efforts by so many members of CNS, particularly students, to bridge this gap between our aspirations and our reality. Although we have much more to accomplish together and for one another, we are honored to share our progress during the 2021-2022 academic year, which reflects our on-going commitment to advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, justice and belonging (DEIJB) in the college. This year, we organized the reporting of our efforts to align with the petition developed by UMass for Black Lives, with gratitude for their leadership.

Mandating structural changes that create a more inclusive academic environment

  • Provided financial support for on-ramp programs for graduate students in the IDGPs and Physics and funding for the American Geophysical Union Bridge Fellowship
  • Instituted fee waivers for admission to graduate school for applicants from groups that are underrepresented in the discipline
  • Participated in STEM pipeline programs for middle and high school students (i.e. the Massenberg Institute and Eureka!)
  • Renewed the NSF Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) program with the goal of diversifying the nation's science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workforce by increasing the number of STEM baccalaureate and graduate degrees awarded to populations historically underrepresented in these disciplines and supported 10 LSAMP scholars this academic year
  • Undertook college-wide strategic planning process and prioritized analysis of student outcomes by demographic group and the development of institutional strategies to promote success for all
  • Completed a self-evaluation and external USDA Civil Rights audit including on campus visits and evaluation of graduate and undergraduate support
  • Encouraged the adoption of the Academic Works software platform to promote an equitable and transparent awarding of CNS and Department scholarships
  • Required the use of the student success software platform, Navigate, for all summer 2022 advising appointments for new students (first year and transfers) to ensure that all students have an equitable experience
  • Led an effort to provide transparency and resolve holds on student accounts that prohibited them for enrolling in Fall 2022 courses
  • Organized and sponsored an Inclusive Excellence Fellows program where 7 teams of faculty and staff across CNS worked on projects aimed at increasing inclusion in our undergraduate experience
  • Met with 684 students, many BIPOC, for advising through the CNS Office of Student Success and Diversity
  • Participated in PACE (Partnerships for Advancing Completion Equity), a campus-wide effort to increase the graduation of BIPOC students in the graduating class of May 2022
  • Participated in and supported summer offerings of foundational CNS courses through ARPA-funded program for over 500 CNS students with academic challenges
  • Held numerous workshops and events through the Office of Student Success and Diversity and the CNS Advising Office to promote belonging, build community, and enhance the academic success of our students:
    • Applying to Graduate School Workshop - October
    • Funding Your Dreams: Scholarships Workshop - November
    • Funding Your Dreams: Scholarship Essays Writing Workshop - December
    • Getting Involved in Research Workshop, Part 1 - February
    • Working with Google Calendar for Study Flow Workshop - February
    • Preparing for Graduation Workshop - February
    • Getting Involved in Research Workshop, Part 2- March
    • CNS Career Chat Workshop: Make the Most of your Summer - March
    • Get Involved! Finding Volunteering Opportunities - April
    • Friendsgiving - November
    • Hot Cocoa for Final Exams - December
    • Winter Crafts to Donate as Holiday Gifts - December
    • Black History Month – February
    • CNS Scavenger Hunt
    • CNS CARES tents
    • CNS Wayfinder tents

Reaffirming that a sense of complacency especially in positions of power inhibits system change toward equality

  • Organized a Solidarity Gathering for CNS faculty, staff and students in response to racist email sent to Black members of the UMass community.
  • Participated in The Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Collaborative, 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
  • Sponsored participation in urban Extension programs
  • Invited external speakers on "Extension's Role in Addressing Historical Inequities" and hosted a facilitated discussion on "Connecting our Values with Intentions and Actions" at the CAFE annual retreat
  • Co-sponsored with the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences a seminar and campus visit by Micere Keels: “Stepping Outside the Diversity Box: Considering Multiple Dimensions of Inclusion in Our Work with Students”

Advocating for a climate where white peers can routinely learn about unseen social hardships faced by BIPOC, especially between the Black community and our judicial system

  • Launched CNS Leadership Fellows Program to provide leadership opportunities to advance initiatives in our core mission including those aimed at creating a diverse, equitable, inclusive, and just community
  • Organized and co-sponsored intergroup dialogue training for faculty and STEM administrators across campus
  • Organized DEI training for department heads/chairs, associate deans, and the dean
  • Organized department and program climate advisory committees and funded their work
  • Recognized faculty, staff and students making exemplary contributions to DEIJB through college-level and unit level awards
  • Developed Wikipedia project to increase the representation of historically minoritized groups in STEM on this platform and challenged departments to embed the project in at least one course required for each major in CNS
  • Offered two live-theater workshops on microaggressions and bystander training by Theater Delta to faculty, staff and students
  • Advocated for students whose academic accommodations were not met
  • Initiated conversations with transgender students and students with disabilities to learn about their needs and to determine future actions        
  • Worked with staff and Climate Committee to provide awareness training including IDI (Intercultural Development Inventory) assessment work and sponsoring two book clubs (including “Black, Brown and Bruised” and a CAFE centered discussion of "Caste" )

Implementing all points mentioned in this petition document to all departments across the campus at the undergraduate, graduate, faculty, and administration levels within the next two years

  • Continued monthly diversity leadership meetings to initiate, coordinate and assess activities to advance DEIJB across the college
  • Continued practice of annually updating the college community on our progress and activities.

Thank you to all who have contributed to these efforts, which we hope will inspire all members of CNS to engage. Although there is so much more work to be done, every effort, big or small, makes a difference, and our collective efforts will drive sustained change.

  • How to Be an Antiracist, by Ibram X. Kendi
  • So You Want To Talk About Race, by Ijeoma Oluo
  • The Fire Next Time, by James Baldwin
  • Between the World and Me, by Ta-Nehisi Coates
  • Me And White Supremacy, by Layla F. Saad
  • The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks about Race, edited by Jesmyn Ward
  • Citizen: An American Lyric, by Claudia Rankine
  • Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches, by Audre Lorde
  • Black on Both Sides: A Racial History of Trans Identity, by C. Riley Snorton
  • A Terrible Thing To Waste: Environmental Racism And Its Assault On The American Mind, by Harriet A. Washington
  • White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism, by Robin DiAngelo
  • They Can't Kill Us All: Ferguson, Baltimore, and a New Era in America's Racial Justice Movement, by Wesley Lowery
  • Heavy: An American Memoir, by Kiese Laymon
  • The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, by Michelle Alexander
  • White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide, by Carol Anderson
  • The Color Of Law, by Richard Rothstein
  • Raising White Kids: Bringing Up Children In A Racially Unjust America, by Jennifer Harvey

DRIVING CHANGE

Black woman in blue top with cornrows and silver earrings
Environmental Conservation Graduate is Water Hackathon Winner

UMass graduate student wins this prestigious MIT award for her proposed solution to the problem of urban flooding
Older black man with graying hair in blue-and-red shirt and glasses
College of Natural Sciences Interim Dean Appointed

Nathaniel Whitaker, head and professor of mathematics and statistics, has been appointed interim dean of the College of Natural Sciences
Grid portraying diverse students
The Institute of Diversity Sciences Receives Diversity Grant

Grant will help fund students in tech and engineering