Anti-Racism Urgent Action Committee

Anti-Racism Urgent Action Committee

The University of Illinois College of Medicine has established the Anti-Racism Urgent Action Committee.

The committee’s charge is to use the next two to three months to establish an immediate action plan for mitigating the impacts of racism and/or reducing systemic inequities facing people of color by focusing on two types of urgent actions:

• Immediate changes in policies, processes, or training that will ensure short-term change
• Immediate change to college-wide goals and metrics that will enable necessary medium and long-term change

The initial focus areas are:

1. Medical School Curriculum
2. Student Learning Environment
3. Resident Recruitment and Concerns
4. Student/Faculty /Staff Recruitment & Retention
5. Faculty/Staff Development
6. Faculty/Staff Environment
7. External Impact

Committee Members

Subcommittee Information

Below are detailed descriptions of each of the subcommittees. Four subcommittees (*) will address the concerns at the Chicago campus. These same four concerns will be addressed at the Peoria, Rockford and Urbana campuses by the various task force/committees identified below. The three college wide subcommittees will consist of members from all four campuses in order to provide a unified strategy of action.

*Student Learning Environment – This Chicago subcommittee will focus on improving all aspects of the black student experience – counseling, mentoring, mental health and wellness, reporting mistreatment or concerns, learning climate, tutoring, scholarship support, etc.

*Resident Recruitment and Concerns – This Chicago subcommittee will focus on improving the recruitment of black residents/fellows and will focus on the experience of these learners. Aspects of counseling, mentoring, mental health and wellness, reporting avenues for mistreatment racism/ concerns, hospital support and the clinical climate will be primary focus areas.

*Student/Faculty/Staff Recruitment and Retention – This Chicago subcommittee will focus on strategies to increase attention to recruitment of black students, faculty and staff. Student recruitment falls under the Admissions Office – recent changes in recruitment and active engagement of ambassadors and staff can be further expanded to encourage more black applicants and acceptances to the COM. Some of these strategies can be utilized in the search/hiring of black faculty and staff. Outreach approaches, widening and conducting holistic searches and strategies for holding hiring officers accountable will be tasks for this committee to consider. Plans to improve retention of the black faculty and staff must also be addressed.

*Faculty/Staff Environment – This Chicago subcommittee will focus on improving all aspects of the faculty/staff experience – counseling, mentoring, mental health and wellness, reporting mistreatment or concerns, the clinical, administrative and research climate.

Faculty and Staff Development – This college-wide subcommittee will develop and present faculty and staff education around being active in the anti-racism culture. Education on racial inequities, micro aggressions, caring for diverse patient populations, improving teaching techniques/content that is free of bias and encouraging engagement of active bystanders will be some of the content presented to faculty and staff in order to improve the environment for students and other members of the college community.

Medical School Curriculum – This college-wide subcommittee will plan the summer anti-racism reading/discussion group for incoming students and plan roll out across all phases later this year. Additionally, this subcommittee will focus on reviewing the current curriculum content in all phases to remove biases and inaccuracies, identify deficiencies/omission (that need to be added into the curriculum) and to continue to incorporate the social determinants of health into the materials being taught.

External impact – This college-wide subcommittee will formulate a call and action plan for UI COM to make an impact in the communities we serve. The college should serve as an advocate for patients and the needs of the community while addressing the health disparities affecting our patients. This subcommittee will recommend steps for moving forward for UI COM.

Peoria – The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Task Force will prioritize and address all of the components of the subcommittees denoted with an asterisk* as they pertain to Peoria.

Rockford – The ad hoc Committee on Diversity and Inclusion will prioritize and address all of the components of the subcommittees denoted with an asterisk* as they pertain to Rockford.

Urbana – The Racial Reform and Social Justice Task Force will prioritize and address all of the components of the subcommittees denoted with an asterisk* as they pertain to Urbana.

The steering committee will meet twice monthly and we expect that the subcommittees will have substantive progress reports at these sessions.

If you have any questions, please email Dr. Elam, Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion, and Chair of the Anti-Racism Urgent Action Committee at [email protected] or Beth Wrona Murphy, Senior Director of Special Projects, at [email protected].