August 17, 2020

SAFS Equity & Inclusion Committee reflects during transition

The SAFS Equity & Inclusion Committee is finishing up their second year and is reflecting on what was accomplished. We have written an Annual Report summarizing our activities and are excited to share it with the SAFS community. Some highlights from the year include the formal establishment of a lactation room for nursing parents, the implementation of the SAFS Diversity Hiring Tool, the first-ever Diversity Seminar by Dr. Ivan Arismendi, and an application for a UW Diversity and Inclusion Seed Grant to plan for the creation of a Professional Development Certificate Program for SAFS Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Researchers emphasizing equity in STEM. We pause for a moment, hold onto our reflections, and look outwards to the next year. Many questions arise. It becomes clearer that fostering a truly safe, supportive, and equitable School environment for students, staff, and faculty will require considerable work. 

As we adjust to the realities of working during a pandemic and as our university has conversations about reimagining public safety and policing, we too strive to help pivot SAFS in significant ways. Restructuring what an academic institution or a department has to offer is no easy task. It will require specific and nuanced understanding of what students, staff, and faculty need now and in the future. 

A first small change that the SAFS Equity & Inclusion Committee will employ is better communication with our SAFS community through this DEI Blog. The blog will also serve as a place to announce and retain information that can get overlooked when only posted on a website and lost when only sent through email. 

The SAFS Equity & Inclusion Committee will reconvene at their next meeting at the beginning of the term which spans September 1 to August 31. At any time, please feel free to reach out to your peer representatives or to the committee’s Co-chairs through safsincl@uw.edu.