University of Vermont
PA-6: Support for Underrepresented Groups

UVM prohibits discrimination, on the basis of membership in any legally protected category, by our students and employees. http://www.uvm.edu/policies/general_html/affirm.pdf http://www.uvm.edu/policies/student/equaledu.pdf

The Bias Response Program (BRP) addresses incidents of bias targeting UVM students, faculty, and staff. Additionally, this program educates the campus community about bias, and institutional policies, protocols, and resources related to bias. The Bias Response Program has a three-pronged approach: 1. Response & Referral: Respond directly to incidents of bias through the Bias Response Team (BRT). 2. Education: Educate the campus community about bias, and institutional policies and reporting protocols related to bias. 3. Policy Oversight: Review and assess policies, procedures, resources and responses related to bias, through the Bias Response Council. Additionally, the Bias Response Program is composed of two specific teams related to bias response and policy alignment: the Bias Response Team and Bias Response Council. http://www.uvm.edu/~saffairs/bias/?Page=bias-brp.html

STUDENTS: George Washington Henderson Fellowship Program: The George Washington Henderson Fellowship Program was established in honor of the memory of George Washington Henderson who was one of the first African American students elected to Phi Beta Kappa and to graduate from the University of Vermont in the class of 1877. In cooperation with academic departments, the program sponsors pre-doctoral and post-doctoral scholars who will help advance the university's research and teaching goals and assist UVM in reaching its diversity goals, especially with respect to the academic curriculum. The UVM Henderson Fellowship Program are field specific and these fields change from year to year. Henderson Fellows are supported for up to two years (fellowships are renewable after the first year) and are offered either as a two-year pre-doc/post-doc fellowship. Fellows pursue their own publication, research agenda, and teach or co-teach one course per semester. U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents (LPR) are eligible to apply. The Henderson Fellowship Program is administered by the Office of the Vice President for Human Resources, Diversity and Multicultural Affairs. Abenaki Summer Happen Program: For approximately 30 years, The University of Vermont and Missisquoi Valley Union High School (MVU) have worked together to support the partnership between UVM and the Abenaki community. The largest part of the Abenaki population is located in Franklin County, where MVU is located. This collaboration was formed to provide educational programs, resources, mentoring and guidance to the Abenaki in the state of Vermont, with the aim that Abenaki students would have the opportunity to attend post-secondary colleges and universities. The relationship between UVM and the Abenaki people has evolved over many years, to include such things as the implementation of the Summer Happening Program and the creation of an Abenaki Outreach Coordinator position. FACULTY & STAFF: We provide on-demand and regularly scheduled training for search committees that give them best practices for conducting fair and equitable searches that consider an applicant’s diversity as a positive factor which will contribute to the University’s strategic goals. We help search committees with advertising and outreach to diverse populations, and help the committee members face and address their unconscious biases. In addition, we give bi-monthly presentations at the Department of Labor, attend diversity job fairs, meet with community organizations that represent diverse groups, and personally meet with diverse job seekers to assist with job search strategies (resume, cover letter, mock interviews…).

STUDENTS: The ALANA Student Center (ASC) offers the ASC Peer Mentoring Program for first year students. The first year students are paired with an upper-class student peer. This program includes academic, social, and cultural programming. Sisterhood Circle and The Brother are informal spaces in which as relationships form mentoring also naturally occurs while also providing spaces for affinity time and community building. We have a long-standing collaboration with Counseling and Psychiatry Services (CAPS) via Let’s Talk, a program that provides easy access to informal, brief, drop-in consultations with counselors from CAPS. No appointments are necessary, there is no paperwork to complete, visits are first come, first served, and the wait time to see the Let’s Talk counselor is usually very brief. This is a program offered weekly on Fridays in the ALANA Student Center. It is an opportunity for students to meet with a staff counselor from CAPS in an informal setting for brief consultations without being a full on counseling session. We offer the spring awards banquet as a way to recognize leadership and academic achievement of students and the greater community of color at UVM. Each summer the ASC runs a summer bridge program called the Summer Enrichment Scholars Program (SESP) for students who identify as one of the following: modest income family, student of color, or first generation college student. SESP exists to assist first year undergraduates in transitioning from high school to college. The ASC offers study breaks each semester so that students can de-stress and relax before going into finals. ASC works frequently with departments and academic units across campus to support students academically and proactively in their overall health and success. At the end of each semester ASC also works closely with colleges to advocate for students during the studies committee meetings in person and virtually. STAFF: The ALANA Student Center (ASC) has a monthly program called Sisterhood Circle and an annual fall retreat called the Women of Color Leadership Retreat. Both are collaborative programs between the ALANA Student Center and Women’s Center to support and build community among students, staff and faculty women of color. The ALANA Student Center offers book groups for graduate and staff and faculty women of color. Each semester the ALANA Student Center hosts a monthly program called Tea Time. Depending on the month, there have been times in which invited guests for Tea Time have been staff or faculty of color in order to assist these community members in getting connected to the greater community of color at UVM and people who might have a particular interest in the work that the staff member does. May 1, 2016 marks the third consecutive year that the ALANA Student Center, with funding from the Department of Residence Life, has organized a Women of Color Brunch for graduate students, staff and faculty as well as community friends. FACULTY: The Faculty Mentoring Program pairs new and junior faculty members with senior members in a related discipline outside the mentee’s department. This relationship can support junior faculty and lecturers to become familiar with institutional expectations, networks, and practices that are relevant to productivity and advancement at UVM. One of the specific mentor characteristics that mentee applicants most often seek is gender and/or race/ethnicity identification that resembles the applicant. The Faculty Mentoring Program ascribes to a structured mentoring format. In addition to matching mentors with protégés, various programmatic features are provided to support the mentoring pairs - such as training, faculty development tips, and workshops. All of the support outlined above for staff is also available to faculty.

The American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) Holmes Scholars Program supports students from historically underrepresented backgrounds who are pursuing careers in education at AACTE member institutions. UVM is an AACTE member institution. In the spring of 2014, then Dean of The College of Education and Social Services (CESS), Dr. Fayneese Miller, nominated Winnie Looby, PhD candidate in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, to become UVM’s first Holmes Scholar. The AACTE Holmes Program was established in 1991 and in 2015 a national initiative to expand the program was announced. The mentorship model has grown to encompass master’s level, undergraduate level, and high school aged students in addition to doctoral students. Winnie Looby has been working in collaboration with three other doctoral students, and Interim Dean Cindy Gerstl-Pepin to draft a five-year strategic plan for the expansion of the AACTE Holmes Program on our campus. http://aacte.org/programs-and-services/holmes-program

Contributors include Ellen McShane from the Academic Success Program, Keith Smith in Counseling Center, Faculty Senate for the Faculty Mentoring Program, and the Admissions Department.