Rochester Institute of Technology
PA-7: Support for Underrepresented Groups

“RIT does not discriminate. RIT promotes and values diversity within its workforce and provides equal opportunity to all qualified individuals regardless of race, color, creed, age, marital status, sex, gender, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, veteran status, or disability.” See https://www.rit.edu/nondiscrimination.html

To actively encourage reporting for student-related incidents, the university has created a simple bias incident report form, which is housed on a one-stop incident reporting page. Information reported on this form may be submitted anonymously. Alternatively, the Ethics and Compliance Hotline can be used to report any incident or concern 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We are currently working to develop an online reporting tool for employee-to-employee bias incidents. Additional resources for discrimination response include HR Managers, assigned to each department, and the Director of HR Strategic Partnerships. The reports are reviewed and distributed to the appropriate office for evaluation and investigation (Public Safety, Title IX Office and/or Office of Compliance and Ethics depending on the nature of the complaint). The Title IX Office issues an annual report on sexual discrimination and resolutions, the most recent of which can be found here: https://www.rit.edu/fa/compliance/sites/rit.edu.fa.compliance/files/2020%20Title%20IX%20Annual%20Report%20(Rpt%20Yr%202019)(OCTOBER%202020%20FINAL).pdf

The Multicultural Center for Academic Success (MCAS) is committed to maximizing the academic potential and holistic development of students by creating an inclusive, student-centered environment. There are numerous ways for any student to participate and engage with MCAS including personal advising, leadership development opportunities, cultural diversity education, and cultural programming. The Multicultural Center supports the university’s efforts to recruit historically underrepresented students and provides a support network once they matriculate.

The New York State Arthur O. Eve Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP) is sponsored jointly through a grant from New York State Education Department and RIT. HEOP is committed to the recruitment and academic success of students with strong academic potential and personal initiative who would otherwise be excluded from higher education due to academic and economic disadvantage. The program provides academic support, financial assistance, and advocacy for eligible students in an effort to maximize their success.

The Rochester City Scholars Program is designed for high achieving Rochester City students, who are recruited and selected based on their academic achievements, leadership potential, and desire to make a difference in the RIT and surrounding community.

The Native American Future Stewards Program (FSP) provides academic and cultural support to students who identify as Native American/Alaska Native/First Nations. FSP also works to recruit Native students, retain Native students, and return Native students to their communities.

RIT’s Upward Bound Classic program supports and challenges high school students in their efforts to apply and gain admission to college. The program is designed to help first-generation and/or low-income students who are enrolled in the Rochester City School District (RCSD) and other participating school districts.

The Veterans Upward Bound (VUB) program assists military service members who want to go back to school by helping in all aspects of the college admissions process, including applying for and understanding financial aid benefits, and providing refresher classes and tutoring to help prepare for the next steps. VUB helps service members of all ages navigate the education system, gain access to information about college and career exploration, and improve academic skills needed for entry in the program of their choice, which can be at any college, university, trade, or certificate program.

The Future Faculty Career Exploration Program (FFCEP) is one of a series of recruitment strategies designed to fuel the future pipeline of RIT faculty. The FFCEP also serves as a proactive recruitment tool to provide mutual exposure for RIT faculty to interact with our prospects proactively through exploratory interviews and alerting them to future vacancies.

The Future Faculty Post-doctoral Fellowship Program (FFPFP), sponsored by the Division of Academic Affairs and the Division of Diversity and Inclusion, supports visits by individuals who are potential candidates for current and future faculty hires. The program provides two 2-year post-terminal fellowships with the expectation of each candidate being successfully mentored to enter tenure-track assistant professor positions.

Additionally, RIT advertises job openings with various targeted diversity recruiting sources to attract diverse candidates for our positions. Our outreach programs are specifically designed to enhance the diversity of candidate pools for staff hires. For example, departments collaborate with their HR recruiter to get suggested posting options that they may want to fund through Job Elephant. We also offer exploratory interviews for internal and external candidates through the Office of Talent Acquisition.

The McNair Scholars and Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) programs prepare students for graduate education through professional development activities and research opportunities.

The Multicultural Center for Academic Success (MCAS) provides a student-centered environment in which all students have access to personal advising, leadership development opportunities, cultural diversity education, and cultural programming to assist them in their academic career.

The DDI Summer Experience is a 4-week intensive, fully residential program that provides incoming students with two credit-bearing courses, Academic Support workshops, an introduction to Research, and a chance to get acclimated to all things RIT. The cohort of students receives extended support and coaching throughout their first year, and is connected to their Summer Bridge group as well as the entire MCAS family and network of students.

The Native American Future Stewards Program was established as a result of RIT's commitment to increasing the success rate and number of Native scholars (Native American, Alaska Native, and First Nations) in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) along with other areas of need in Indian country.

The New York State Arthur O. Eve Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP) provides academic support, financial assistance, and advocacy for students with strong academic potential and personal initiative who would otherwise be excluded from higher education due to academic and economic disadvantage. Students must successfully complete the 4-week, pre-freshmen DDI Summer Experience. Students live on campus while taking two 3-credit courses and one non-credit course in study skills. Students attend mandatory study hours in the evenings where they have access to a computer lab and tutors. In addition, students participate in cultural and social activities sponsored by RIT. HEOP counselors meet regularly with each student. Summer tuition, room, board, and other costs are provided at no charge to the student.

Several RIT programs and initiatives (ECCO Center, WE@RIT, WISe) promote students of color and women in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines.
The AALANA Faculty Advisory Council (AFAC) serves as an advisory council to the Provost in support of the career success of African American, Latino American, and Native American (AALANA) faculty at Rochester Institute of Technology.

RIT Staff Council's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee works with campus partners to advance the understanding of DEI principles among staff, provide information for SC representatives to apply an equity and justice lens to their work and make university policy recommendations concerning diversity, equity and inclusion matters that affect staff at all levels.

The Future Faculty Career Exploration Program (FFCEP) is one of a series of recruitment strategies designed to fuel the future pipeline of prospective women and AALANA prospective faculty to RIT. Program Objectives include:
1. Build the future faculty pipeline by establishing significant meaningful relationships with prospective faculty members from underrepresented and underserved populations at RIT.
2. Cultivate and expand upon networks with other universities, especially those that are minority serving.
3. Strategically prepare for pending human resource needs to cover future curriculum development and course offerings.
4. Proactively seize employment opportunities, where appropriate prospects are found, that can contribute to the University's continuing commitment to recruit and retain an excellent and diverse faculty.
5. Serve as a bridge to assist in the transition from graduate school student to a faculty member.
6. Assist in preparing future faculty for a career in higher education, preferably at RIT.

The FFCEP also serves as a proactive recruitment tool to provide mutual exposure for faculty to interact with our prospects proactively through exploratory interviews and alerting them to future vacancies.

The Future Faculty Post-doctoral Fellowship Program (FFPFP), sponsored by the Division of Academic Affairs and the Division of Diversity and Inclusion, supports visits by individuals who are potential candidates for current and future faculty hires. The program provides 2-year post-terminal fellowships with the expectation of each candidate being successfully mentored to enter tenure-track assistant professor positions.
The Office of Faculty Diversity and Recruitment also maintains an active and robust job referral database, the Scholars Network, which contains prospects that are shared with respective faculty search committees during their networking and outreach efforts to diversify their applicant pools.
Additionally, the McNair Scholars and Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) programs prepare undergraduate students for graduate education through professional development activities and research opportunities, providing a critical component of the pipeline that may lead students toward careers in academia.

Additional information on the programs mentioned above can be found here: https://www.rit.edu/studentaffairs/qcenter/Publications.html

https://www.rit.edu/fa/compliance/report-title-ix-concern