Anti-Racism Urgent Action Committee Update

More than 100 recommendations were received

General ARUAC Goals

  • Make Recommendations to establish an Anti Racism Culture for UICOM
  • Develop Timeline for implementation of recommendations
  • Promote Diversity and Inclusion at all levels
  • Plan short and long term goals

  • Provide Implicit Bias Training for all Faculty, Staff, Students, and Trainees (Spring 2021 and ongoing)
  • Create a COM strategy/protocol for decreasing bias during recruitment and ensuring equity in promotion/advancement opportunities; Provide specific anti-bias training to respective functional groups and committees
  • Sponsor regular conferences and targeted workshops to mitigate racism in more specific settings
  • Prioritize anti bias training for all selection committees and student facing committees/organization including but not limited to Admissions, Promotions, Student Affairs, Residency Selection and Faculty Search committees.
  • Develop a faculty development program for teaching faculty to reinforce concepts such as professionalism in the educational setting, cultural
    competency, and bias mitigation

  • Create a staff task force focused on equity and policies focused on staff development and retention for BIPOC employees [can use COM FAAC-DEI (Faculty Academic Advancement Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) as a potential model]
  • Continue support for COM FAAC-DEI to provide same focus as staff task force but for faculty
  • Create career coaching program [potentially using external resources]
  • Provide faculty and staff development programs, opportunities and tools for BIPOC/underrepresented employees using dedicated FTE specifically focused on this mission [dedicated resource for staff] and working with task forces established above. Focus on STAFF development in addition to faculty
  • Create a central fund to support retention of underrepresented staff
  • Align ARUAC development plans with COM Strategic plan goal of Staff development and add underrepresented staff recruitment and retention as a goal

  • Offer grant support for residency applications potentially improving match outcomes
  • Provide BIPOC students the necessary tools for assuring informed career decisions – speaker’s series, career fairs,coaching for interviews and for the grant application process
  • Create viable mentoring for medical students, PhD candidates and residents

  • Enhance internal student/trainee communications to facilitate awareness of resources and opportunities for BIPOC students and trainees
  • Establish contact and develop partnerships for outreach; develop sustained, anti-racist partnerships with local and state organizations that are mutually beneficial
  • Connect and collaborate with other programs that focus on Diversity and Inclusion as well as other colleges within UIC.
  • Coordinate better with exisiting internal support groups, such as HCOE and UHP
  • Create UI COM URM Alumni Network
  • Website Enhancement: develop a webspace which will 1. house COM-wide information, events, contacts related to mitigate the impact of race and/or reducing systemic inequities facing people of color 2. focus on specific stakeholder groups as needed, and 3. reference university-wide information
  • Create a set of available resources (referenced online) to further engage faculty and staff around anti-racism
  • External Communications: Provide public information and alertness regarding common health issues and quality of life

  • Creation of a resident led and run GME Diversity Council
  • Provide an environment and culture for interaction and knowledge exchange  
  • Develop a culture of accountability within the various student-facing units (eg, Office of Student Affairs, Office of Educational Affairs, Office of Medical Student Learning Environment)

  • Implement Curriculum Reform (Mandatory vs. Non-Mandatory Lectures)
  • Development of Longitudinal Antiracism in Medicine Course
  • Create an ongoing curriculum review mechanism for all current and proposed instructional material
  • College Wide Book Reading and Discussion Spring 2021
  • Hiring of Anti Racism Curriculum (ARC) Tutors to support, enhance and help to implement curricular changes

  • Creation of a subsidized 4th Year away elective for URM medical students.
  • GME Learning Specialist to support all trainees with diverse educational needs
  • Create “partners” between incoming students and students at immediate higher levels
  • Improve resources and access to academic support; MD Peer Education, GME professional development and board exam support.
  • Enhance the Peer Educator Program. Upgrade the appointment system to web based and provide an opportunity for scholarly activity for
    the Peer Educators.

  • Provide dedicated financial compensation for all involved faculty and students
  • Considering budget and constraints, develop alternative means of recognition of anti-racism work and means to compensate or offset
  • Hiring Diversity Office Programming Staff

  • Add Mental Health Staff
  • Remove Counseling Cap
  • Create 24/7 hotline (specific for medical professionals but maybe shared across medical schools)
  • Integrate Mental Health Messaging in Mandatory Classes 
  • Create a centralized Office of Wellness in COM

  • Conduct an assessment and evaluation program of any type of faculty/staff development currently in place
  • Establish diversity metrics*, gather data where available, and create action plan to obtain missing data
  • Implement a data driven equity strategy with the participation of relevant staff and administrators in Chicago
  • Provide regular student application, admissions, matriculation and progress metrics to, but not limited to: The Admissions and Promotions Committees for quality improvement processes in regards to diversity recruitment and retention.

  • Issue Formal College Statement on Racism
  • Develop specific Guidelines for Faculty/Resident/Fellow expectations of behavior
  • Develop New Policies to foster anti-racism and improve engagement and retention
  • Create formal evaluation mechanism for faculty, student facing staff & Deans with formal, predictable consequences for repeated professionalism concerns
  • Create a formalized college-wide approach for reporting and addressing anti-racism behavior (aligned with the UIC protocols already established)
  • Make a concrete commitment to hire, develop and retain a faculty and staff of color that represents the racial make-up of Chicago, with special attention to promotion to leadership positions
  • Develop “purpose Statement” and principles of partnership (for example CCPH guide), to include anti-racism, and educate COM members
  • Create System for Anonymous Consultations for complaints of biases, mistreatment, discrimination for staff and faculty similar to process
    designated for the students.

  • Increase institutional funding to support and improve the recruitment initiatives of Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPoC) students
  • Provide scholarships for underrepresented minority medical students (see related item under PROPOSED CHANGES TO COLLEGE-WIDE GOALS & METRICS)
  • Review, assess, and improve current faculty and staff hiring strategies
  • Review, assess, and improve current admissions processes.
  • Collaborate with UIC Native American Support Program to develop a strategy to target Indigenous student recruitment
  • Develop a centralized information hub for prospective student pipeline programs and a set of partnerships for further developing those pipelines.
  • Increase the collaboration with underrepresented minority medical student ambassadors and underrepresented minority student organizations in recruitment efforts
  • Explore funding opportunities for DACA applicants to the COM
  • Create a College-wide Salary Equity Review Process

  • Pilot Research grants for Diversity and Inclusion Projects
  • Improve offering, increase visibility and increase accessibility to scholarly opportunities
  • Expand the scholarly concentration programs; coordinate the scholarly concentration programs
  • Develop Mechanism for regular reporting of student progress through curriculum Data provision for numbers, demographics, outcomes for students entering the College, coming to Promotions Committee, graduation outcomes and residency acceptance

  • Establish a dedicated learning space for African American/Black, Latinx, and Indigenous students
  • Creation of a physical/SAFE space for faculty and staff which focuses on wellness, diversity and inclusion

  • Develop and implement Resident Applicant Exit Survey
  • Develop and implement Programmatic recruitment ERAS survey
  • Close the Loop on Anonymous Reports: Follow-Up & Messaging
  • Evaluate the accessibility, use and outcomes of those who participate in the peer education program every 6-12 months.
  • Survey Faculty and Staff to better understand the specific needs as it relates to their work environment
  • Set and Monitor COM target of Increasing the number of African American/Black, Latinx, and Indigenous faculty and staff in Peoria and Rockford and in Chicago in areas with low numbers
  • Develop Mechanism for regular reporting of student progress through curriculum