University of Maryland, College Park
PA-6: Support for Underrepresented Groups

https://president.umd.edu/administration/policies/section-vi-general-administration/vi-100b

The University of Maryland is committed to creating and maintaining an educational, working, and living environment that is free from discrimination and harassment. This Policy prohibits discrimination on grounds protected under Federal and Maryland law and Board of Regents policies. University programs, activities, and facilities are available to all without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, marital status, age, national origin, political affiliation, physical or mental disability, religion, protected veteran status, genetic information, personal appearance, or any other legally protected class. Retaliation against any individual who files a complaint or participates in an investigation under this Policy is strictly prohibited. In furtherance of the University’s commitment to equal opportunity, this Policy and associated procedures are established to address and remedy complaints of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation based on a protected class.

From the University of Maryland's Department of Public Safety:
"It is the policy and commitment of the University of Maryland at College Park not to discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, political affiliation, physical or mental handicap, or on the basis of the exercise of rights secured by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution in its education programs, activities, admissions, or employment policies."

The Office of Civil Rights & Sexual Misconduct (OCRSM) receives all complaints of discrimination and harassment. Reporting forms are available on OCRSM's website. OCRSM receives and responds to all complaints of discrimination, including sexual misconduct (which is a form of sex discrimination). Complaint response includes assessment, advice and referral, interim measures, and when appropriate, investigation. OCRSM is also responsible for tracking incidents and capturing data to help monitor our campus environment.

The Office of Diversity and Inclusion Hate-Bias Coordinator receives all hate-bias incident reports, and coordinates provision of campus support services to individuals affected by hate-bias incidents. Provides campus programming in collaboration with other campus units to foster prevention efforts and facilitate responses to hate-bias incidents.

Response to Hate Bias Incidents
1. Report will be taken by UMPD or OCRSM as soon as it is received.
2. Acknowledge receipt of the report and review within 48 hours.
a. UMPD will offer a verbal acknowledgement and conduct an investigation.
b. OCRSM will provide electronic acknowledgment.
c. Copy ODI Hate-Bias Response Coordinator on acknowledgement and refer individuals who report hate-bias incidents to ODI for support and guidance.
3. Inform and consult with relevant campus administrators regarding any necessary and appropriate action.
4. ODI Hate-Bias Response Coordinator will consult with individuals affected by the hate-bias incident and formulate an action plan in coordination with Hate-Bias Response Team.
5. ODI will maintain a log of hate-bias incidents on a webpage that will be updated as reports are received. Periodic (opt-in) e-mail announcements regarding newly reported hate-bias incidents will be sent to campus community.
6. Criminal and/or University sanctions may be pursued against perpetrators of true threats, hostile environment harassment or other legally actionable misconduct. Sanctions will not be pursued when speech is determined to be legally protected.

Within the Clark School of Engineering are two offices, the Center for Minorities in Science and Engineering (CMSE) and the Women in Engineering Program (WIE). Their mission is to recruit, retain, and graduate underrepresented minorities and female students in the engineering and science fields.

The ADVANCE program works to support the recruitment, retention, advancement and professional growth of women and under-represented minority faculty at the University of Maryland. The office is supported through a campus-wide investment in faculty development and inclusive excellence by the Provost's Office, Office of Diversity & Inclusion, Office of Research and all college deans. You will find on this website a description of our ADVANCE Professors, peer networks for faculty, access to our dashboard, research and evaluation and much more.

The Office of Undergraduate Admissions has created a multi-tiered strategy designed to impact students from prior to the point of application through enrollment and includes: education about the college application process, recruitment, a holistic application review process, special program and merit scholarship review and selection, and yield efforts.

The Graduate School including Annual Networking Reception for Diverse Students and Faculty; PROMISE AGEP programming and activities including PhD Completion Workshops, Fall Harvest Dinner and Networking Reception, Writing Retreats, Annual Research Symposium and Professional Development Conference, invited guest speakers of STEM initiatives, and other OGDI activities including bi-monthly listening sessions with URM graduate students; Spring Speaker Series; Conversations on Graduate Diversity Series; continued outreach for URM undergraduate research programs nationally and HBCU institutions.

Academic Achievement Programs, including Intensive Educational Development program, Summer Transitional Program, Student Support Services, Educational Opportunity Center, and McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program--aimed at recruitment and retention of low-income and first-generation students.

University of MD Incentive Awards Program supports the recruitment of economically disadvantaged students from Baltimore City and Prince Georges County.

Office of Multi-ethnic Student Education (OMSE) College Success Scholars program – aimed at retention of Black and Latino men.

Student Success Initiative provides a network of support and outreach to Black male students, including direct outreach to students who are experiencing academic or financial difficulties.

University Human Resources (UHR) supports the recruitment and retention of underrepresented staff and faculty populations through its Affirmative Action Program.

Through the Veteran Student Life Program, the University offers a hub for resources that serves veterans and military-connected students, staff, and faculty. The Program includes access to individual counseling, group counseling, financial management guidance, and Veterans Affairs (VA) advisement.

The University of Maryland has an abundance of programs that support underrepresented groups within the student body.

The Counseling Center provides services specifically for student Veterans. Dedicated office hours for student veterans are available.

The Multicultural Involvement and Community Advocacy (MICA) office provides peer support, mentoring and other programs to promote culturally specific and cross-cultural collaboration and leadership experiences. MICA house resources and positions, which continue to support and advocate for many of our campus’ historically marginalized communities (e.g., Asian Pacific American,Black, Latina/o, Indigenous/American Indian, Multiracial, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender). In pursuit of its vision, the Center builds community and networks; provides support and resources; fosters leadership; educates and promotes academic excellence; and advocates for equity.

The University’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Equity Center serves University of Maryland students, staff, faculty, and alumni of all gender identities and sexual orientations to establish and maintain a safe, inclusive, and welcoming campus environment for people of all sexual orientations and gender identities or expressions. The Center has developed programs to serve students, staff, faculty and alumni like the Rainbow Terrapin Network, Speakers Bureau, LGBT Scholarship Fund, Lavender Convocation, and Lavender Graduation.

The University of Maryland has a Nyumburu Cultural Center that has served the UMD community since 1971 and continues to build on its foundations as the center for black social, cultural and intellectual interaction. The Nyumburu Cultural Center assists the campus in its diversity programming for students’ of the African diaspora and students’ of other ethnicities; thereby, creating an environment of cultural pluralism. Nyumburu’s productions and activities include lectures and seminars, art exhibits, workshops in the dramatic arts, dance, and music. Academic courses in blues, jazz, gospel performance, Hip-hop, and creative writing are also offered. The center has a large number of programs that include the following: Nyumburu Leadership Series, Sisterhood of Unity and Love (SOUL), Black Male Initiative (BMI) Program, Annual New Student Welcome, Miss Unity Scholarship Pageant, Black History Month Programming, The Maryland Gospel Choir, Black Explosion Newspaper, Dance Afrika!, Literature Conference, Adopt-A-Road, Tribute to our Warriors, Graduation Seniors Ceremony, Annual Student Awards Ceremony, Kwanzaa Celebration, Shades of Harlem Performing Arts Ensemble, Student & Community Outreach to Campus Organizations, and Black Ministries Program (Sunday Inspirational Worship Service).

The Office of Multi-ethnic Student Education (OMSE) serves undergraduate multi-ethnic students to increase rates of matriculation, retention, graduation and overall GPA. OMSE provides programs and resources that support undergraduate students in their goals to achieve academic and personal success at the University of Maryland. While many of the students OMSE serves are high achievers, others experience academic and personal challenges that have an impact on their ability to thrive at the University. OMSE’s programs aim to increase rates of matriculation, retention, graduation among under-represented students. Currently, over 9,600 students are served. OMSE’S programs include the Academic Excellence Society, College Success Scholars, Sister to Sister, Annual Pow Wow, and the Tutorial Program.

The University’s Global Communities program allows students to earn a Global Competencies notation on their transcript. The students are united by a common interest in the world at large, whether or not they have actually traveled internationally. They take courses together to gain the knowledge and skills needed to excel in an interdependent society and learn to communicate across cultural boundaries. They participate in globally-oriented events and activities outside of the classroom and global experiences, such as internships, education abroad, and service learning. The location near Washington DC gives access to people and institutions that bring the world to the students’ doorstep. Students live together and create a close-knit and supportive community. The program encourages students to embrace the world and seek to understand and experience it.

The Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs, John Bertot, leads many programs for faculty including a program called Advancing Faculty Diversity that brings together faculty of color to form a network designed to strengthen each other's career advancement and find way to better attract and retain faculty of color.

The Consortium on Race, Gender and Ethnicity (CRGE) is a university-wide, interdisciplinary research organization and pedagogic unit that collaborates with departments and colleges across the University of Maryland campus to promote faculty and graduate student development. It is dedicated to the promotion of intersectional scholarship examining the lived experiences of historically underrepresented minorities (URM) and dimensions of inequality; mentoring of intersectional and URM groups in the pipeline from undergraduate degrees through early career faculty; and fostering collaboration. CRGE's work seeks to identify effective and responsive practices to increase retention and promotion of URM faculty.

Other Programs include….
In the Office of Diversity & Inclusion: Diversity Leadership Internship Program, Words of Engagement Intergroup Dialogues, University of Maryland Incentive Awards Program (IAP)

The Summer Research Initiative was created in 1999 by the Office of the Dean in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences and is supported by the Office of the Provost, the Graduate School, the Office of the Vice President for Research and the College. The program is designed to encourage and enhance the diversity of scholars working in the social and behavioral science fields.

The Graduate School’s Office of Graduate Diversity and Inclusion (OGDI) recruits the best and brightest students to the vibrant campus graduate community, including those from historically underserved and underrepresented populations. OGDI also develops programs and initiatives to support, retain, and graduate these talented students, and fosters a strong inclusive community by providing opportunities for intellectual and social interaction.

The ADVANCE program works to support the recruitment, retention, advancement and professional growth of women and under-represented minority faculty at the University of Maryland. The office is supported through a campus-wide investment in faculty development and inclusive excellence by the Provost's Office, Office of Diversity & Inclusion, Office of Research and all college deans. You will find on this website a description of our ADVANCE Professors, peer networks for faculty, access to our dashboard, research and evaluation and much more.

Gender Neutral Bathroom List: http://thestamp.umd.edu/Portals/1/Documents/Gender_Neutral_Bathrooms.pdf

Recognition by Campus Pride as a Top 25 LGBTQ- Friendly University: http://www.umdrightnow.umd.edu/news/umd-named-top-25-lgbtq-friendly-university-campus-pride

Maryland is one of 15 Centers of Excellence for Veteran Student Success in the nation and received a generous grant through the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) to further address the academic, financial, physical and social needs of student Veterans on campus through the U.S. Department of Education.