University of Wisconsin-Madison
PA-7: Support for Underrepresented Groups

Statement on non-discrimination:
The University of Wisconsin-Madison is committed to providing equal opportunity and equal access in compliance with all applicable federal and state laws and regulations and University of Wisconsin System and university non-discrimination policies and procedures, including but not limited to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, which prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability, and the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of age. (https://compliance.wisc.edu/eo-complaint/)

Statement on diversity:
Diversity is a source of strength, creativity, and innovation for UW–Madison. We value the contributions of each person and respect the profound ways their identity, culture, background, experience, status, abilities, and opinion enrich the university community. We commit ourselves to the pursuit of excellence in teaching, research, outreach, and diversity as inextricably linked goals. The University of Wisconsin–Madison fulfills its public mission by creating a welcoming and inclusive community for people from every background — people who as students, faculty, and staff serve Wisconsin and the world. (https://diversity.wisc.edu/institutional-statement-on-diversity/)

When a report of bias is submitted to the Dean of Students Office (https://doso.students.wisc.edu/bias-or-hate-reporting/), the Bias Response Coordinator will acknowledge receipt of report and offer to meet with the reporter to discuss next steps and connect them to resources.

Responses to incidents of bias or hate will vary depending on the severity of the event. Responses range from referrals to appropriate offices on campus to restorative conversations between the targeted individual and the respondent.

When the student code of conduct is violated, the Office of Conduct and Community Standards begins their own investigation and determines possible sanctions. When criminal activity occurs, UWPD or Madison Police Department are notified and pursue their own investigation and respond accordingly. When cases involve faculty or staff as respondents, Human Resources and the Office of Compliance work on addressing the incident or concern.

In addition to the Bias Response Coordinator, the Bias Response Advisory Board advises on the process of responding to incidents of bias or hate and also supports the Coordinator in their role as a student advocate.

Bias incident reporting is conducted every Spring, Summer, and Fall term to catalog all reported incidences and their resolutions. Each report includes summary details on past bias incidents. For example, in the Spring 2020 report (https://doso.students.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/273/2021/03/Spring-2020-Bias-Summary.pdf), most reporters were undergraduates, followed by faculty. The most common response to reported incidences is a support meeting that provides a time and space for the targeted individual or reporter to share what happened, to receive support and guidance and get connected to campus resources/partners

Students:
- PEOPLE (https://peopleprogram.wisc.edu/): UW-Madison’s Precollege Enrichment Opportunity Program for Learning Excellence, also known as PEOPLE, started in 1999 with 66 high school students from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. PEOPLE has grown to over 1100 students in the pipeline ranging from 8th graders to college seniors. This program has two separate units — one for precollege high school students and one for college scholars. Together, the program's vision is to be the premier college access program for student success. PEOPLE is the UW’s most successful venture in creating such opportunities and improving campus diversity.
- Posse (https://posseprogram.wisc.edu/): Posse identifies public high school students with extraordinary academic and leadership potential who may be overlooked by traditional college selection processes. Posse extends to these students the opportunity to pursue personal and academic excellence by placing them in supportive, diverse teams, or Posses, of 10 students. Posse partner colleges and universities award Posse Scholars four-year, full-tuition leadership scholarships.

Faculty:
- Faculty Diversity Initiative (https://facstaff.provost.wisc.edu/faculty-diversity-initiative/): The Faculty Diversity Initiative is designed to encourage department chairs and their deans to work together to strengthen faculty diversity broadly and with particular attention to historically underrepresented minorities. Campus has committed to investing significant new resources across the life cycle of faculty hiring, from the recruitment process to the initial hire and throughout the career. To help departments diversify their faculty (and student) populations, the Faculty Diversity Initiative provides support in the form of funds for hiring, outreach, and faculty support, from the recruitment process to the initial hire and throughout the career.
- Target of Opportunity (TOP) Program (https://facstaff.provost.wisc.edu/faculty-diversity-initiative/#top-targets-of-opportunity-support): A TOP candidate is defined as a prospective faculty member who will greatly enhance the quality and diversity of an academic department. Deans, department chairs and center directors are encouraged to actively engage with colleagues and to seek out exceptional prospective faculty who would add diversity to the campus community. Central administration will provide full salary for individuals hired through TOP (up to 90K) for six years in the case of assistant professors (for five years in the case of tenured hires); after the initial funding period, central administration will provide an amount equal to 50 percent of the individual’s salary (up to $45K) thereafter, with the department/school/college bearing the balance of the cost.

Students:
- Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Funding (https://grad.wisc.edu/diversity/inclusion-and-engagement/): The Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Funding is a resource for social networking, learning, and professional development. Housed within the Graduate School at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, it focuses on the needs of underserved graduate student populations such as graduate students of color and first-generation graduate students.
- Graduate Research Scholars Communities (https://grad.wisc.edu/funding/graduate-research-scholars/): Graduate Research Scholar Communities are organized by the schools and colleges within UW–Madison to support underrepresented students.
- Legal Education Opportunities Program (https://law.wisc.edu/leo/): LEO’s stated purpose is to recruit and retain students of color and those from other traditionally disadvantaged groups, but its objective is more far-reaching. The program provides an informal academic and social support network for law students while they are in school, and beyond.
- Student Groups: There are many registered student organizations on campus that provide peer support for underrepresented groups. A few notable organizations include:
* Wunk Sheek (https://win.wisc.edu/organization/wunksheek): An organization that serves students of indigenous identity and members of the UW-Madison community interested in indigenous issues, culture, and history.
* Asian American Student Union (https://win.wisc.edu/organization/aasu): A Pan-Asian organization that aims to unite the Asian American community by holding educational workshops and social events to endorse solidarity, networking and community among students.
* Latinx Student Union (https://win.wisc.edu/organization/lsu): The purpose of the Latinx Student Union is to bring together all UW-Madison students who hold a Latinx identity and/or ally to build a strong community and presence on campus. We serve as the advocates for all Latinx identified students and educate our peers, faculty and staff regarding our needs to be successful. This organization hopes to provide resources, spaces and serve as a support group to all Latinx students on campus.
* Wisconsin Association of Black Men (https://win.wisc.edu/organization/wisconsinassociationofblackmen): WABM develop young men by hosting and participating in events with our allies that promote social justice/progress on campus and in the community at large.

Faculty and Academic staff:
- Junior Faculty of Color (https://diversity.wisc.edu/inclusion-resources/audience/faculty/): UW’s Junior Faculty of Color aims to build a supportive community where racially minoritized assistant professors can celebrate, support and share information with each other. Its structure is informal and based upon what the group wants.
- National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (https://diversity.wisc.edu/inclusion-resources/): The University of Wisconsin-Madison maintains an institutional membership with the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD), which provides all faculty, post doctoral fellows, and graduate students access to their resources.

Staff:
- Inclusion@UW (https://hr.wisc.edu/professional-development/programs/inclusion-at-uw/): Inclusion@UW is specifically designed for employees to learn and practice skills that build our collective capacity to promote UW–Madison’s commitment to “value the contributions of each person…and create a welcoming and inclusive community for people from every background”. Through interactive workshops, shared discussion, intentional practice, and researched strategies, each course aims to empower employees with knowledge and skills that support—fully and actively—healthy, inclusive, and engaging practices.
- Cultural and Linguistic Services (https://hr.wisc.edu/cls/): Cultural and Linguistic Services offers translation and interpretation services, workplace learning opportunities, and inclusive and effective communication training.