 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
|
Institutional Office of Institutional Diversity Office of Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action Disability Support Services for Students Athletics and Physical Education Governing Boards Committee on the Status of Women Subcommittee on Diversity in Hiring Resource Centers Residential Life Programs Mentoring Programs International Mentoring Program Orientation Programs Building Understanding Across Differences Third World Transition Program International Students Orientation Program Affinity Groups Alumni Relations Affinity Group Graduate School Retention Programs |
Diversity Programs and Services at Brown:Diversity programs and services at Brown are designed to accomplish three major goals: (1) to build diverse student, faculty and staff populations through aggressive and strategic recruitment efforts; (2) to create significant opportunities to engage diverse ideas inside and outside the classroom through curricular innovations; and (3) to provide sufficient structures for managing a diverse environment. Below are descriptions of and links to many of the diversity programs and services at Brown. Structural SupportInstitutional Office of Institutional Diversity The Office of Institutional Diversity (OID) is charged with advancing the cause of diversity by providing leadership for the formulation and oversight of policies related to pluralism and equity, and by initiating programs and practices that promote diversity, inclusion and fair treatment of all members of the community. Office of Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action The Office of Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action (EEO/AA) is part of the OID. Its major purpose is to provide services related to affirmative action; equal employment opportunity; sexual harassment awareness and prevention; faculty and staff employment disability management; and complaint resolution. Disability Support Services Disability Support Services offers, coordinates, and facilitates services for students with physical, psychological, sensory, and learning disabilities, and provides counseling, encouragement, and guidance in the development of self-advocacy skills. Psychological Services All of Brown’s clinicians are required to have experience in working with students from diverse backgrounds. The office provides ongoing programming for students on topics, including ethnic and racial identity, hate crimes in Asian American communities, psychological barriers to self-esteem and intimacy in the LGBTA community, and group sessions on culture consciousness. University Health Services Working with a wide range of individual and student organizations, University Health Services is dedicated to the promotion of healthy lifestyles. Programs range from sexual health to relaxation techniques, from eating disorders to domestic abuse. Athletics and Physical Education The department provides ongoing support for women through a senior women’s administrator, seeks to diversify its coaching staff through its relationship with the Black Coaches Association, and supports diversity programming though the Student Athletic Advisory Council. Further, Brown and the Black Coaches Association co-sponsor an annual Fritz Pollard Award presented to the college or professional coach chosen by the BCA as coach of the year. The award honors Frederick Douglass “Fritz” Pollard of Brown’s Class of 1919, the first African American to play in a Rose Bowl Game, first to quarterback an NFL team, and first to coach in the NFL. Dining Services Dining Services offers Kosher and Halal meal plan options for observant Jewish and Muslim students, served in a separate section of the Refectory. This enables students to adhere to dietary laws while also dining with friends. Chaplains and Religious Life The Office of the Chaplains and Religious Life works collaboratively with nearly two-dozen student organizations, spanning the breadth of Brown’s religious diversity and involving more than 40% of the student population. The office cares for and responds to the broad pastoral needs of Brown’s faculty, staff and students. Governing Boards Diversity Advisory Board (DAB) The Diversity Advisory Board is a broadly representative group that meets to consider matters that concern the campus community especially with regard to diversity. Its mission concerns the well being of the community — the capacity for collegiality and the pursuit of the common good while preserving an excellent education for all students. Diversity Advisory Council The Council considers long-term policy and planning issues, strategic directions, and efficacy of implementation concerning issues of diversity and programs and practices that promote diversity, inclusion, and fair treatment of all members of the community, in keeping with the mission of the University. Committee on the Status of Women (CSW) The Committee on the Status of Women monitors the status of women faculty and the staff in the University and is involved in working with other groups such as the Sarah Doyle Center. The committee consists of five faculty members, one undergraduate student, one medical student, one graduate student, and the Dean of the faculty, the Dean of the College, and the Coordinator of Women’s Concerns (ex officio members). Subcommittee on Diversity in Hiring (SDH) The Subcommittee on Diversity in Hiring (SDH) is a standing subcommittee of the Faculty Affairs Committee (FAC) with a separately elected membership. The SDH: 1) works with the Associate Provost and Director of Institutional Diversity, the Dean of the Faculty and the Dean of Medicine and Biological Sciences, and the Faculty Affairs Committee (FAC) to articulate goals for a more diverse faculty and help these officers to achieve these goals, 2) assists departments and programs in achieving a diversity that not only reflects the pool of qualified applicants but also identifies Brown as a leader in building a diverse faculty, 3) monitors the progress of current searches by reviewing monthly reports of searches provided to the SDH by the Dean of the Faculty and the Dean of Medicine and Biological Sciences, and 4) reviews denials of promotion, tenure, and reappointment for adherence to the Corporation Statement on Nondiscrimination and submits findings, in writing, to the TPA and the Provost. Resource Centers Sarah Doyle Women’s Center The SDWC welcomes women and men who have interests in issues of gender and issues that concern women in particular. The Center offers a variety of services and programs, as well as meeting space for University and community groups. Third World Center (TWC) The Third World Center at Brown University, created in 1976, was designed to serve the interests and meet the needs of all Third World students and to promote racial and ethnic pluralism in the Brown community. The director of TWC holds an appointment as an associate dean of the college and supports the academic needs of Third World Students. The LGBTQ Resource Center The center provides a comprehensive range of education, information and advocacy services on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer issues and works to create and maintain an open, safe and inclusive environment for LGBTQ students, faculty, and staff at Brown. The Center advises LGBTQ student groups and oversees LGBTQ programs such as the Safe Zone Ally Program, the Renn Mentoring Program, as well as the planning and implementation of social, cultural and educational programs planned by students during National Coming Out Week in October and Pride Month in April. Brown Hillel As the largest student organization on campus, Hillel offers performing artists, lectures, Jewish learning, symposiums, community action projects, Israel study, and a safe place for students to be Jewish. The foundation looks to sustain a vibrant Jewish community. Residential Life Programs Housing Options Program Houses foster a sense of community by bringing people of common interests to a common living environment, with the implicit understanding that said common environment is essential to the purpose and functioning of the house. Harambee House is a residential program house whose goal is to provide a culturally rich living and learning community for students interested in African and African American culture. Buxton House is home to sixty residents, approximately half from the United States and half international. The house seeks to promote internationally minded cultural exchange through numerous events such as dinners, study breaks, community service, and parties. Machado House is a community interested in both Spanish language and Hispanic culture and encourages members to speak Spanish with each other. Residents engage in sabores, fiestas, and service projects to Latino communities, as well as cultural activities that involve Spanish and Latin American speakers, intellectuals, and artists. Substance-Free Residence is a special-interest residence hall that includes programs that promote a substance-free environment. Residents and their guests agree not to consume alcohol or be under the influence of alcohol or other substances, nor smoke while in the residence hall. They are included in program planning in order to ensure that the substance-free housing mission is fulfilled. BACH is a nonprofit student-run housing cooperative that has been in operation on campus since 1971. Owned independently and operated by its residents, this option for students is entirely dedicated to a sense of community and shared living. Greek Houses consist of fraternities, sororities and coed societies, and are made up of a diverse group of individuals who participate in community service, scholarship, and social activities. The residents of Inter-faith House foster discussion, understanding, and inter-religious dialogue and respect for people of faith and those without a religious background, stressing social justice, peacemaking, nonviolence, and community work. Mentoring Programs The International Mentoring Program (IMP) is a student-based program responsible for International Orientation for incoming freshman. IMPs also serve as peer mentors throughout the year. A dean from the Office of Student Life serves as an advisor to this program. Renn Mentoring Program The Renn Mentoring Program serves lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) students, who are paired with LGBT staff and faculty through the LGBTQ Resource Center. Students can get support and guidance from their mentors in areas such a coming out to their families, in academia or in the workplace. ALANA Mentoring Program The ALANA (African, Latino, Asian and Native American) Mentoring program links first year students of color at Brown to Faculty, staff and alumni of color. The interaction between mentors and mentees is based solely on their mutual interests and personal goals. This is an opportunity for students to establish relationships that are unique to the Third World Community at Brown. Orientation Programs Building Understanding Across Differences (BUAD) The Building Understanding Across Differences pilot project was developed and implemented in the fall of 2001 as a collaborative effort between the offices of Student Life and the Dean of the College for entering first year students. The program is designed to: 1) increase participant awareness of personal social identities in relation to race, gender, sexual identity, religious affiliation, ability and class; 2) increase participant knowledge about diversity at Brown; 3) provide information and skills in assisting students to explore the relationships between identity and social systems of privilege and disadvantage; and 4) encourage dialogue across students identity groups regarding diversity. Third World Transition Program (TWTP) Third World Transition Program (TWTP) is designed to explore the particular issues faced by minority students as they pursue their studies at Brown. The general aim of the program is to raise awareness of the many barriers that continue to challenge minority students’ ability to thrive in a diverse environment. The goal of the program is achieved by providing students with a safe space to discuss issues and concerns that effect minority students in predominately white institutions and by offering the participants the opportunity to explore the types of institutional supports available to help with negotiating such environments. The International Students Orientation Program (ISO) is a student-based program responsible for introducing incoming international students to Brown and to the United States. ISO is linked with the International Students Mentoring Program. Upper class students serve as peer mentors for first-year international students throughout their freshman year. Affinity Groups Student Organizations There are several student organizations at Brown addressing the many facets of diversity. They include Arab-American Students Anti-Discrimination Coalition, Asian American Students Association, The Brotherhood, Brown Christian Fellowship, Brown International Organization, Brown Organization of Multiracial and Biracial Students, Brown Sistas United, Brown Taiwan Society, Cape Verdean Students Association, Brown Chinese Students and Scholars Association, El Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Atzlan, La Federacion de Estiadiantes Puertorriquenos, Filipino Alliance, Friends of Turkey, Hong Kong Students Association, Japanese Culture Association, Korean American Students Association, Latin American Students Association, Queer Alliance, Muslim Student Association, Organization of United African Peoples, Pakistani Students at Brown, South Asian Students Association, Students of Caribbean Ancestry, and the Young Communist League. Alumni Relations Affinity Group This group is composed of the Inman Page Black Alumni Council (IPC); the Brown University Latino Alumni Council (BULAC); and the Asian American Alumni Alliance (AAAA). The Multicultural Alumni Committee (MAC), which is a standing committee of the Brown Alumni Association Board of Governors, supports these groups. The groups’ leadership works in collaboration with MAC to engage and re-connect alumni of color to Brown and to each other in vital and meaningful ways that strengthen the mission of the University and enrich the Brown community. Other Programs Graduate School Retention Programs The Graduate School sponsors an active Minority Graduate Student Association that hosts monthly dinners, events and support activities for students of color. A monthly support group for LGBT students meets with the Graduate School Associate Dean of Student Life. In addition, the Graduate School provides support to a variety of student associations that represent Brown’s diverse graduate students. Mellon Mays Minority Fellowship Program With the sponsorship of the Andrew Mellon Foundation, students from underrepresented groups and those interested in eradicating racism in the academy are provided with mentorship and support to encourage their enrollment in Ph.D. programs in selected academic disciplines. Leadership Alliance The Leadership Alliance is a consortium of 29 leading U.S. research and teaching academic institutions, including minority serving institutions, all dedicated to improving the participation of underrepresented students in graduate studies and Ph.D. programs and, ultimately, research professions in the academic, public and private sectors. |