Unit Spotlights

The framework clearly defines a compensation philosophy, job classifications, salary grades and a salary structure for all units in B&F. In addition, it will serve as a guide for compensation decisions, will promote pay consistency, and will help ensure market competitiveness across Business & Finance. B&F will analyze and assess the impact of this initiative on an ongoing basis.

A working group launched by the project team has completed four action items:

• Mapping the current state of Electronic and Information Technology (EIT) accessibility
• Conducting an initial gap/needs assessment
• Developing a strategy to bring more assets into alignment with the EIT Standard Practice Guide (SPG) 601.20
• Creating a coordinated, all-college plan to meet requirements set forth in the EIT SPG

As a next step, recommendations were made to leadership to provide training, hire staff, provide specialized faculty support in digital accessibility and invest in software, hardware and services that support best practices. Training is now in development and the college is hiring and onboarding a disability navigator position, similar to the positions within LSA. In addition, two new workshops were presented to over 100 members of the Michigan Engineering community: introduction to neurodiversity and neurodivergence; and neurodiversity and digital accessibility.

Data from the DEI 1.0 Evaluation indicated that, although a number of U-M initiatives focus on physical disability, none specifically address neurodiversity. Historically unacknowledged, this disability affects an estimated 20% of the population, and research shows that 30 to 35 percent of those individuals are underemployed or unemployed.

Consisting of individuals from the College of Engineering, the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, the School for Environment and Sustainability, Michigan Medicine, Rackham Graduate School, and the Institute for Social Research, the BMC group seeks to change the narrative by changing how the University approaches neurodiversity. The first Beautiful Minds Conference, held in April 2024, was supported and funded by 25 U-M units, and planning for a second conference is underway. The Neurodiversity Project has attracted widespread interest from the U-M community, including support from ISR-DEI to build out programming, education, research and awareness.

During the event, U-M student and staff panelists shared their experiences within the military and discussed how those experiences continue to resonate in their lives at U-M today. The event was significant for showcasing a form of diversity—military/veteran status—that is not often highlighted. By learning more about the lives of active duty military/veterans within our community, attendees gained a better, deeper understanding of their experiences, their needs and the similarities and differences between and among those community members and themselves. In addition to creating a broader understanding of "diversity," as set forth in the University's DEI charge, this event provided attendees with a deeper understanding of the impact of military service on our students, staff and faculty.

The purpose of this effort is to demonstrate the broad impact and outcomes of embedding DEI principles in the workplace. In the case of the Office of the Provost, DEI is never regarded as an add-on or a temporary element but, rather, is an essential part of the workplace culture. This initiative establishes a clear expectation for consistently integrating DEI principles into daily work routines. It broadens the understanding of diversity, equity and inclusion and the wide range of tasks it may encompass, while also enhancing accountability for engaging in DEI-related activities, regardless of job title or role.

In Year One, the University of Michigan’s Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) Office hosted an honoring and recommitment ceremony that brought together its Native Nation partners and other stakeholders. The event included an Anishinaabek ceremony in which the U-M recommitted to continuing NAGPRA compliance work with integrity, and as relatives with its partners as everyone works to meet the requirements of Federal law. Guests included tribal representatives, state and agency partners, U-M faculty and staff, students and community members. Attendees heard from tribal and U-M officials, participated in the ceremony, and shared a traditional Anishinaabek-style meal. In the words of a NAGPRA spokesperson, “The true impact of this event cannot be fully appreciated at this time, but it will become more apparent as actions and prayers continue to strengthen our relationships, and the return of Ancestors and Items under NAGPRA leads to more collaborative opportunities for the University and its Native Nations partners in the future.”

During the first year of DEI 2.0, Student Life’s Office of Student Conflict Resolution (OSCR) partnered with U-M schools and colleges to pilot a new conflict resolution skill-building program that provides faculty and staff with the tools to support communities in challenging times. Through the Adaptable Conflict Resolution Collective, academic partners across five schools/colleges honed their conflict resolution skills during four training sessions and a mid-pilot feedback session. During trainings, participants learned restorative justice principles and OSCR services while practicing key conflict resolution techniques. Participants integrated practices within their respective schools’ policies, leading to a cultural shift from problem-solving to addressing harm. Under this model, Student Life is elevating the campus’s understanding of conflict resolution and enhancing peer support networks, solidifying a campus environment that supports proactive conflict management and student empowerment.

This initiative aims to prepare students for a wide range of roles in social work, where they can actively contribute to creating more inclusive and equitable communities. Currently, a total of eight full-time students are engaged in the program, with each participant receiving a stipend of up to $6k per semester (renewable for up to $24k). The DEI Training Program is intended to help prepare future social workers for a wide variety of public and private work settings including mental health, behavioral health, physical health, community-based health agencies, child welfare, K-12 schools, social service agencies, higher education and public service organizations.

Access to identity-affirming spaces creates a supportive community while providing meaningful opportunities to shape the culture of the University Library, making it more inclusive and equitable. While ERGs focus on celebrating identity and building community to create belonging for people with shared interests, each of the ERGs are open to all who wish to participate, with the reminder that the focus of each group will be to center the voices and experiences of the group members'/participants' shared social identities. As of Fall 2024, UL had launched 12 ERGs:

• Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islander Employee Network/Resource Group
• Black Library Advocacy Coalition (B.L.A.C.)
• Disability Employee Network/Resource Group
• Gender Diverse Employee Network/Resource Group
• Latinx and Hispanic Heritage Employee Network/Resource Group
• LGBTQIA+ Identity Employee Network/Resource Group
• Middle Eastern & North African Employee Network/Resource Group
• Mixed Race and Interracial Families Community Employee Network/Resource Group
• Parenting Employee Network/Resource Group
• People Leaders Network/Resource Group (People who supervise or manage individuals or teams)
• Retirement (ERG for older persons and imminent retirees)
• Women of Color Employee Network/Resource Group

The theme semester was co-organized by a cross-campus coalition that includes the Arts Initiative, U-M Museum of Art and LSA, with participation from a wide variety of campus units and nine schools and colleges as well as the Arts Initiative at the UM-Flint and UM-Dearborn campuses. The purpose of this initiative is to invest in intentional and reciprocal partnerships that co-create projects, beginning with the region’s BIPOC communities. The 100+ public events that took place in Fall 2024 included more than 20 visiting artists. UMMA also continued Future Cache: Andrea Carlson, an exhibit commemorating the Cheboiganing (Burt Lake) Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians who were violently forced from their land in northern Michigan in 1900. Another example exhibit is the Angkor Complex: ​Cultural Heritage and Post-Genocide Memory in Cambodia, which opened in February of 2024. It was a U-M Faculty curated exhibition by Professor of Art History Nachiket Chanchani. This exhibition brought together more than 80 works of art spanning a millennium to present how the visual culture of Cambodia and its diaspora has changed in the face of upheavals.

Additionally, in Year One, 6,114 students and Staff from U-M used UMMA with their courses or for DEI training and learning.