University programs and resources

Members of the Astronomy department have participated in all of the following. If you are interested in anything in particular, you can contact the DEI committee chair to be connected with a current/previous participant.

Equitable and inclusive admissions practices

• Our faculty members attend Faculty Recruitment Workshops offered by the University's Committee on Strategies and Tactics for Recruiting to Improve Diversity and Excellence (STRIDE). This nationally recognized committee (of which our department Chair, Ted Bergin, is a member) provides information and advice about practices that will maximize the likelihood that diverse, well-qualified candidates for faculty positions will be identified, and, if selected for offers, recruited, retained, and promoted.

• Faculty who serve on the graduate admissions committee also attend the Rackham Faculty Workshop on Graduate Admissions for Excellence and Diversity

Recruitment and retention

• The University runs several recruitment programs including a Faculty Call Out, where faculty call select admitted underrepresented students to talk with them about their academic field and answer questions

• The Summer Bridge Scholars Program provides a supportive community to assist scholars in transitioning to the University of Michigan

• Growing STEM: a U-M Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Knowledge Community led by faculty and staff seeking to form collaborations across academic units to improve the pipeline and experience of underrepresented groups into STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math).

• Efforts to use learning communities to help support students in STEM fields from all backgrounds to stay in STEM

DEI training

• Rackham DEI Professional Development Certificate: this program is designed to prepare graduate students to work in a diverse environment while fostering a climate of inclusiveness. Events are open to grad students and postdocs, whether or not they sign up for the full program.

Affinity groups and programs

• The University of Michigan's chapter of the Society for Women in Physics. (Their website also has a nice list of other affinity groups.)

• Females Excelling More in Math, Engineering, and the Sciences

• INDIGO – The LSA Asian and Asian-American Faculty Alliance

• University of Michigan LGBT Faculty Alliance