Statement of Purpose
The University of Rhode Island (URI) recognizes diversity, equity, and justice as integral to creating and sustaining an open and inclusive learning community. The Diversity Task Force of the Division of Academic Affairs is committed to promoting open-mindedness, respect, and equal opportunity within the university. The Task Force will promote a broad understanding and appreciation of diversity – engendering in faculty, staff, and students the wisdom to listen to and respect voices and perspectives different from our own.
As a Diversity Task Force seeking to foster a community of inclusion, we aspire to create an atmosphere that celebrates diversity, promotes learning and discovery, while encouraging understanding, integrity, and justice. We believe that diverse teams generate effective and imaginative solutions that result in better outcomes. With a rapidly changing demographic profile of our nation, this endeavor becomes urgent and vital for our university. Attracting and retaining people from diverse backgrounds and experiences are critical to URI and its academic mission. The creation of an inclusive, equitable, and pluralistic learning environment is equally important to our mission. This will require reviewing what and how we teach and ensuring an awareness of implicit bias, privilege, differential opportunity, and multiculturalism are incorporated into the curriculum.
URI Inclusion Workshops for Faculty
Guidance for Diversity Statements and Search Strategies from AADTF and the Office of the Provost
Specific Goals of the Diversity Task Force
- To raise consciousness about privilege, implicit bias, and stereotype threat in the URI community among faculty, staff, and students;
- To promote a welcoming, respectful, and inclusive community that encourages understanding and appreciation of difference;
- To gather and use data on access, retention, institutional receptivity, and quality of experience to enhance the diversity of the URI community by promoting and supporting active recruitment and retention programs throughout the Division;
- To lead efforts to ensure that academic, along with co-curricular, experiences of all students reflect understanding of multicultural perspectives and the value of working within diverse contexts.
- To assist faculty, staff, and students develop and enhance skills and competencies to effectively relate and work with people who are different from themselves.
2022-2023 Meeting Schedule
The Great Room, Green Hall
- 10/26 @ 3-4:30
- 11/22 @ 3-4:30
- 12/21 @ 3-4:30
- 1/24 @ 3-4:30
- 2/22 @ 3-4:30
- 3/21 @ 3-4:30
- 5/17 @ 3-4:30