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The university will establish a program to recruit and support faculty across campus and beyond whose research addresses diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) issues, with an emphasis on cutting-edge and next-generation scholarship. Designated as University Diversity & Social Transformation Professors (UDSTP), these faculty will be affiliated with the National Center for Institutional Diversity (NCID). Through NCID’s Diversity Scholars Network, they will have access to special activities and resources for promoting and supporting their work, as well as to scholarly collaborations with diversity scholars.
Year Four Progress
In Year Four, nine faculty members from U-M and beyond were designated as University Diversity & Social Transformation Professors (UDSTPs). This first cohort of high-achieving honorees represented disciplines ranging from sport management to public policy, from biomedical engineering to psychology, and from dentistry to marketing.
In September 2019, a set of nine candidates, drawn from within and outside of the U-M, were approved by the Board of Regents as inaugural University Diversity & Social Transformation Professors (UDSTPs). Awarded the new designation were Ketra Armstrong, professor of sport management; Susan Dynarski, professor of public policy, education and economics; Lola Eniola-Adefeso, professor of chemical engineering and biomedical engineering; Stephanie Fryberg, professor of psychology; Marita Inglehart, professor of dentistry; Carla O’Connor, professor of education; Denise Sekaquaptewa, professor of psychology; David Wooten, professor of marketing; and Audrey Bennett, professor of art and design, who served as NCID’s faculty fellow-in-residence during the winter 2020 semester (partially disrupted due to COVID-19).
In Year Four, NCID worked jointly with the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (ODEI) to oversee the nomination and selection process for the second cohort of UDSTPs. The Provost’s list of five recommended faculty were submitted to and approved by the Board of Regents in July and September 2020. Four were approved in July 2020, including Vincent Hutchings, professor of political science and AfroAmerican and African studies, Amy Schulz, professor of health behavior & health education; Daphne Watkins, professor of social work; and Camille Wilson, professor of educational foundations, leadership & policy; and one was approved in September 2020: Celeste Watkins-Hayes, professor of sociology and public policy.
NCID also partnered with the Center for Academic Innovation (CAI) to develop a series of videos aimed at elevating and disseminating the work of the UDST professors.
Responsibility: National Center for Institutional Diversity