As provost at the University of Connecticut, I know the entire Provost’s Office team is deeply committed to the principles of diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ) to ensure that our community is welcoming, representative, and supportive for our faculty, staff, students, and many other partners. Of course, there is considerable work to be done to truly feel like we all have created a community that lives up to our DEIJ goals. One aspect of this work is the development of new initiatives and approaches to address our shortcomings both at the individual and structural level of the university. A second important aspect is making sure we are communicating as clearly as possible our goals and initiatives that are underway. The launching of this university-wide DEIJ website is a critical step in sharing the many initiatives and efforts across UConn that are aimed at our DEIJ goals.

Specific to our effort in the Office of the Provost, we partner with the Office for Diversity and Inclusion to advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice at UConn in a number of ways. We support the hiring of faculty and resources for their continued development and growth in their careers. Examples include revising policies and procedures that may inadvertently exclude or hinder faculty access to resources, opportunities, or recognition; and launching hiring initiatives to recruit under-represented scholars and to support development of research clusters.

The Provost’s Office is also focused on broadening students’ access to curriculum that is culturally diverse and supporting programming that creates equitable opportunities for academic and career development. As a complement to that, we also provide faculty and instructors with a multitude of workshops and other training to enhance their skills as culturally aware educators. UConn’s faculty and student government bodies are critical partners in this work, as are our schools and colleges, and our academic success offices, including the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, Institute for Student Success, Honors and Enrichment Programs, Center for Career Development, Veterans Affairs and Military Programs, and Student-Athlete Success Program.

To successfully uphold our values as a diverse, equitable, inclusive, and justice-oriented university requires action across the institution. No one office or individual is responsible for progress; we must each consider the part we can play in this work and contribute to our collective success. In the Office of the Provost we are committed to carrying our share of the labor.