DEI Accomplishments and Progress

Overview

Our diversity, equity, and inclusion goal: We will center diversity, equity, and inclusion in our identity through our research, practice, operations, and educational activities.

To achieve our DEI goal, we set two specific objectives:

• Establish a school-wide accountability structure to achieve our diversity, equity, and inclusion standards.
• Integrate values of diversity, equity, and inclusion across all aspects of our mission.

All of the activities across Strategic Plan goals are anchored on our commitment to fostering an environment where every individual feels valued, respected, and empowered to thrive.  In pursuit of this, we have enhanced or initiated structures to highlight our DEI efforts and hold each other accountable to our goals, including curriculum support; training for faculty, staff, and students; support for student organizations dedicated to DEI; and programming dedicated to awareness and scholarship around DEI, racial trauma, and inclusivity.

Key Achievements

Establish a school-wide accountability structure to achieve our diversity, equity, and inclusion standards.

• Initiated the student bias reporting navigation tool to assist faculty, staff, and students in clearly understanding their options for reporting possible bias and discrimination incidences.
• Highlighted expectations for DEI activities during annual reviews of faculty and staff, including completion of DEI-related training modules.
• Contributed to a recruitment guidance document for faculty searches, including considerations of diversity and equity during the recruitment and hiring process.
• Continued support for our Community and Diversity Committee and departmental DEI committee and student organizations, totaling over 70 faculty, staff, and students engaged in DEI activities across the school.

Integrate values of diversity, equity, and inclusion across all aspects of our mission.

• Completed the fourth cycle of the Health Professions Readiness Education Program (HealthPREP) summer pathway program. To date, 20 Rollins graduate teaching assistants have served as HealthPREP mentors and teachers to nearly 100 HealthPREP scholars. Notably, two of the 2023 Rollins HealthPREP teaching assistants were graduates of earlier cycles of the HealthPREP program and are now Rollins students. HealthPREP was renewed for another five years in 2023, with a new program focusing on social determinants of health beginning in June 2024.
• Implemented the DEI curriculum assessment tool to foster ongoing reflection and improvement of course content and implementation through the DEI lens.
• Promoted DEI professional development and education at the department and school level to provide learning opportunities for faculty, staff, and students through DEI-related seminars, courses, workshops, trainings, and special retreats.
• Hosted a two-part educational series on racial trauma.