Diversity
UNC School of Medicine’s Commitment to Diversity
The University of North Carolina School of Medicine and the UNC Medical Center are committed to fostering a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace that enhances our learning environment, innovative research, and the quality of care available to all. We believe that a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion leads to new ways of thinking, behaving, and caring.
We embrace the Association of American Medical Colleges’ (AAMC) definition of diversity, including the recognition that diversity is not limited to gender, race, and ethnicity, but must also include age, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, gender identity, religious commitment, physical ability and other varied backgrounds and life experiences.
Together, the UNC School of Medicine and the UNC Medical Center strive to recruit, retain, and develop a diverse group of individuals to ensure a vibrant community that promotes excellence in education, discovery, clinical care, and the elimination of health disparities locally, regionally and nationally.
Statement on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
An examination of diversity at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill can be divided into three
categories:
Presence is used to refer to the individual characteristics of members of the campus community
such as race, gender, sexual orientation/identity, religion, political philosophy, age, disability
status, and socioeconomic status among others.
The manner in which the campus community acknowledges encourages, and supports all
members of the campus community-faculty, staff, and students, regardless of their individual
characteristics.
Research refers to units that are self-reporting on their hiring trends, efforts to sustain a respectful
climate, and or educational sessions, and generally supports the other two goals.
The University had adopted five broad goals for diversity:
- Clearly define and publicize the University’s commitment to diversity.
- Achieve the critical masses of underrepresented populations necessary to ensure the educational
benefits of diversity in faculty, staff, students and executive, administrative and managerial
positions. - Make high quality diversity education, orientation and training available to all members of the
University community. - Create a climate in which respectful discussions of diversity are encouraged and take leadership
in creating opportunities for interaction and cross group learning. - Support further research to achieve the University’s commitment to diversity and to assess the
ways in which diversity advances the University’s mission.
The School of Medicine embraces the commitment of the University to create and sustain an environment that values a variety of perspectives and experiences. The medical school actively promotes an inclusive environment in which all students, faculty, and staff can work, learn, teach, research, and serve. Diversity is essential to fulfilling our mission of improving the health of North Carolinians and others whom we serve and in achieving our vision of being the nation’s leading public school of medicine. At the School of Medicine diversity encompasses the dimensions of race, ethnicity, gender, and geographic origin. The School of Medicine has a particular focus on enhancing the participation of individuals who are committed to serving underserved populations and geographic locations in North Carolina through education, research, and clinical practice. The local and regional communities are important partners with the School of Medicine and are critical to the success of the school’s diversity programs.
The School of Medicine selects individuals for admission, employment, or appointment on the basis of individual capability and potential for contribution to our mission of teaching, healing, and discovery. In creating a diverse and inclusive community we recognize the importance of age, creed, physical ability, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, language, culture, socio-economic status, spiritual practice, political ideology, national origin, and veteran status but these criteria are not used in distinguishing among applicants, students, residents, staff, or faculty. The School of Medicine acknowledges, encourages and supports all members of the medical school community regardless of their individual characteristics. The creation of a climate of inclusion is of vital importance to the School of Medicine. In concordance with the University’s five diversity goals, the School of Medicine is focused on creating diversity of presence, publicizing our commitment to diversity, providing diversity education and training, achieving an inclusive climate, and conducting research on diversity. We report annually on our efforts and successes in these areas as part of the University’s annual Diversity Plan. Monitoring the climate in which students, faculty and staff work, learn, and serve is critical to the school’s efforts to promote a positive environment for all. This environmental data, as well as other outcome data on medical school programs provides the basis for the assessment of the effectiveness of the school’s diversity and inclusion enhancement initiatives.
Approved 4/12/2011 by the DAC