Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)

UConn School of Nursing is committed to diversity and the excellence it facilitates. We embrace diversity of race/ethnicity, gender, abilities, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic situation, background, experiences, and thought. This diversity culminates in strength that advances our learning, research and scholarship, practice, service, and innovation.

Our faculty, staff, and students are required to cultivate equity and inclusion in all campus and clinical-based activities. A perception of belonging for all and the creation of equitable health care for our communities will be realized. We understand that first we must dismantle our social constructs founded on racism and are dedicated to eliminating all acts of racism or bias at the School of Nursing. We will have zero tolerance for actions that breach our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Acts that defy these beliefs will be examined and adjudicated.

School of Nursing faculty, staff, current students, and recent graduates were invited to fill out a Diversity, Engagement Survey, which contained 22 questions consisting of eight factors that connect engagement theory to inclusion and diversity constructs. All responses on the survey are scored on a five-point Likert scale, with five corresponding to strongly agree and one to strongly disagree. Email invitations to participate in the survey were sent to 1,076 faculty, staff, and students. Around 572 responded and 511 completed the survey in its entirety.

The School received an overall score of four, indicating students, faculty, and staff feel engaged and included. This scoring pattern was similar across all races and ethnicities in students. A few outliers scored the School at a one or a two; open-ended questions at the end of the survey revealed that those participants chose those scores based on racial incidents on campus from a few years ago.

As a result of the survey, we discussed the importance of addressing racial trauma as incidents occur to ensure a sense of safety in students. We also knew from anecdotal data that some students didn't participate in the survey and didn't feel comfortable sharing their thoughts on the survey. Therefore, we hired an outside facilitator to administer a Restorative Healing workshop during the spring of 2022.

Students created the Future Nurses for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion student organization. The group is dedicated to the mission of creating diversity, equity, and inclusion within health care as a service and in the workplace. Group members intend to create a community of underrepresented students and allies varying between ethnicity, race, country of origin, socioeconomic status, gender, sexual orientation, age, ability, cultural practices, religious affiliations, etc., so that they can acknowledge and appreciate individual experiences as they affect practices. They are creating this opportunity to influence the School's social atmosphere and to educate each other so that they may all respect varying experiences and views, making them better professionals in the future equipped with empathy, understanding, and knowledge for their interactions with patients and coworkers. The group's activities include social and educational events (i.e. keynote speakers), as well as, volunteer opportunities for clinical work in communities that are affected by the very systemic inequities that we plan to learn about. The organization is nursing-focused/School of Nursing affiliated but is open to all health care majors.

Diversity:

The UConn School of Nursing community is comprised of individuals and groups with varied ages, abilities, citizenship status, countries of origin, cultures, ethnicities, genders, sexes, sexual orientations, races, religions, spiritual practices, or existential worldviews, and socioeconomic backgrounds.

Inclusion:

The UConn School of Nursing embraces the diversity of lived experiences, histories, aspirations, thoughts, and ideas.

Equity:

The UConn School of Nursing supports individual needs for achieving excellence. The School is a community in which all people can safely teach and learn, generate and disseminate knowledge, serve the community, and use their voice.

External DEI Advisory Committee

The committee’s charge is to advise the School of Nursing on matters of diversity, equity, and inclusion. It has no authority to establish policy or to make decisions or take action concerning students, faculty, or staff. The committee will work directly with the School’s designated leadership: Deborah A. Chyun, dean; and MaryAnn Perez-Brescia, coordinator of diversity, equity, and inclusion. The School’s designated leadership will be the liaison to the committee and the University of Connecticut’s leadership.