Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Respect at AREC
Our department is committed to advancing Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Respect (DEIR), with four overarching goals:
Goal #1: Foster a departmental environment that supports diversity and equity and encourages inclusion with respect for all
- We conduct an annual assessment of DEIR efforts undertaken by faculty, students, and staff.
- Our department faculty meetings include monthly updates from AREC’s DEIR Committee.
- Our department is actively represented on the AGNR College-wide DEIR Council
- We participate in College-wide DEIR initiatives, including diversity trainings (for faculty and staff) and the Climate Survey (for faculty, staff, and students).
Goal #2: Recruit, retain, and develop a diverse departmental body
- We acknowledge the lack of diversity in the economics profession, which is a long-term structural issue.
- We broadly market both our PhD program and open faculty/staff positions, with the goal of attracting a diverse body of applicants, prioritizing underrepresented minorities, gender diversity, and international candidates.
- We are committed to the professional development and retention of faculty and staff.
- We are committed to mentoring graduate students (especially those from diverse or non-traditional backgrounds) to maximize their success in our PhD program.
- We are committed to 1-on-1 mentoring of undergraduate AREC majors.
Goal #3: Ensure that AREC programs are inclusive of underserved, underrepresented, and socially disadvantaged audiences
- Our department seminar series targets presenters from diverse backgrounds, as well as research on DEIR-related topics.
- DEIR is promoted through undergraduate student associations.
- Outreach to underserved populations is a core part of our department’s Extension programming.
- We aim to attract a broad range of undergraduate students to AREC majors by incorporating DEIR-related topics into the curriculum (including environmental justice and food security).
- We support undergraduate exchange students (including the China 2+2 Program) and international programming for our undergraduate students (including the Kenya Lecture Series).
Goal #4: Acknowledge current and historical inequalities and hold ourselves accountable for recruitment, research, and teaching to improve the world
- We include DEIR-related activities as a performance metric in annual faculty activity reporting.
- Our department has a standing DEIR Committee, with members from all 5 department constituencies (tenure-track faculty, professional-track faculty, staff, graduate students, and undergraduate students). AREC’s DEIR Committee has the following roles:
- executing the department’s DEIR initiatives and communications
- encouraging participation in College-wide DEIR efforts
- interface with members of AREC on DEIR-related issues
Please get in touch with Louis Preonas (lpreonas@umd.edu) with any questions about the DEIR at AREC.
