GSDC

About the GSDC

Graduate Student Diversity Committee (GSDC)

Formed

September 2018

Charge

To promote an academic environment that engages all students and faculty in discussions of diversity-related topics through education, dialogue, and advocacy.

Composition

At least one student representative from each of the graduate programs (i.e., Addiction Neuroscience, Applied Social and Organizational Psychology, Clinical Psychology).

Recent activities

Organized focus group study of graduate students and faculty
Created the Psychology Graduate Student Diversity Award

Future plans

Develop DEI webpages for the Psychology website
Conduct a biannual climate survey for graduate students
Help the FSDC organize and deliver 1-2 DEI events/year

Graduate students within the Department of Psychology formed the Diversity Committee in an effort to support the department’s mission of maintaining a supportive, safe, and inclusive academic environment. The overarching mission of the Diversity Committee is to promote an academic environment that engages all students and faculty in discussions of diversity-related topics through education, dialogue, and advocacy. The Diversity Committee strongly believes that capitalizing on the structural resources in place (e.g., classrooms) is the most potent strategy for promoting such an environment. It is our hope that the Department will work with the Diversity Committee to send the message that our diverse students are seen, heard, and valued.

Proposed diversity committee activities

Curriculum reform
1. Collaborating with faculty to find ways to incorporate issues of power, privilege, and inequity into the curriculum. Students understand that syllabi are often carry- overs from prior semesters, and there is an opportunity here for students from traditionally marginalized groups to be given a “voice” through the course readings.
2. Taking the time to define diversity to be inclusive of all groups of people.
3. Covering topics such as microaggressions, racial tension, and racial trauma in a more extensive manner would benefit students and faculty alike.
4. Increase representation of academic work by scholars from underrepresented backgrounds. Promoting the work of underrepresented scholars increases the visibility of students who identify with those scholars, and sends the message that their work is valuable.
5. This could be done over the summer, in time for faculty to discuss as a group or individually the proposed changes.
6. We would have to consider how to make curricula program-specific:
  1. All programs – being a culturally sensitive mentor (faculty and students alike given that students will also provide mentorship to undergrads/junior grad students); ally work.
  2. Clinical Psychology – Culturally sensitive clinical training; including and updating scholarship about clinical assessment methods with culturally diverse groups in classes; hold a diversity focused workshop annually in addition to skill-based workshop that we have or alternate between the two every year.
  3. Add Neuro – A seminar day dedicated to highlighting diversity in STEM.
  4. ASOP/I-O – Perhaps a class project to design an effective diversity training.
Topics that are more pertinent to professional development, such as allyship, could be covered in less frequent workshop/seminar format.

Foster dialogue on diversity within our department and across campus
1. Annual Climate Survevy
  1. Conduct focus groups in early winter to inform Annual Climate Survey
  2. Design, implement, analyze, and interpret Annual Climate Survey in late spring. Write report for departmental faculty with resources and suggestions by summer.
Supporting a department-wide Diversity Award for graduate students that acts to formally recognize those that are engaging in excellent work in Education, Dialogue, and Advocacy
Highlight/promote student-led research on diversity issues (e.g., abstracts from students within our programs)
Sponsor an annual Diversity Workshop (e.g., ally training; person-first language)
Highlight relevant events across the IU Indianapolis campus
Possibly send a liaison to the faculty Diversity Task Force to capitalize on resources

Acting as the liaison/first contact for student concerns regarding diversity
1. For courses, initiating a mid-semester review that solicits students’ in-class experiences (positive and negative), specifically as they relate to the multicultural climate. Collecting that feedback, processing it, relaying back to faculty with resources and recommendations, and tracking the progress faculty or students are making in terms of remediating those issues at the end of the semester.
2. For peer-to-peer or faculty interactions, acting as the ‘sounding board’ for students to express their concerns. Providing a space where student concerns are heard (and documented), without necessarily relaying those concerns to faculty until the student is ready. Potentially advocating on behalf of the student by bringing in outside mediators if necessary.
3. Consider appointing an outside liaison in the case that a student with diversity concerns has an interpersonal conflict with one of the diversity committee members or the committee is concerned with their ability to address the issue as effectively on their own.
4. Concrete grievance process specific to diversity concerns (e.g., first occurrence vs. repeated occurrence even after an intervention; how would the change be monitored/assessed after the intervention of a specific incident?; the grievance process by the type of interaction: peer-to-peer, faculty-to-student, class setting, etc.)
Recruitment
1. As a part of personal statement during application process, give the applicants a prompt to write about diversity (a paragraph, or statement, on diversity). Department would not use the procedure to disqualify an applicant, but to provide us information about the incoming student body to learn the scope of diversity awareness or concerns to address or to provide relevant support/training while they are in our program to foster cultural-sensitivity as future faculty/clinicians/scientists.
  1. Potentially attach a writing prompt to the department-wide application, something like: “The Department of Psychology holds a strong commitment to diversity among faculty and students as one of its core values. We encourage you to comment on how you think you would contribute to this program/cohort in the domains of diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
  2. This would be separate from the program-specific solicitation of information used to make fellowship nomination decisions.
  3. Hold “diversity hours” in a separate room during Interview Day so that individuals who identify themselves as a member of an underrepresented group can stop by in between their interviews to ask questions about diversity related issues in a safe/protected environment.
    1. Heather could reach out ahead to see if anyone is interested in meeting with a few representatives and set aside a 30-45 minute block during their day. Clinical is attempting this for the first time this year.
Maintain a Diversity Committee website
Provide our support to iPREP students who are from underrepresented group

Solidarity statement

Committee members

Climate survey

GSDC

About the GSDC

Graduate Student Diversity Committee (GSDC)

Formed

Charge

Composition

Recent activities

Future plans

Proposed diversity committee activities

Education

Dialogue

Advocacy

Department of Psychology - Diversity, Equity & Inclusion resources