The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona

Advancing inclusive excellence at the leading research university in the southwest

Programs for Inclusive Excellence, Office of the President serves as a focal point for campus diversity efforts and collaborates with campus leadership to develop high-quality, high impact strategies to advance inclusive excellenceⁱ at the University of Arizona, the southwest’s premier research institution.

Our most critical function is to use empirically based research findings and best practices to advise the President on methods to continually embed diversity, equity, and inclusion in the core of University’s mission; recognizing that only by doing so can the University sustain itself over the long-term in a dynamic, interconnected, diverse and global marketplace while also achieving the level of excellence necessary in its teaching, research, and service to become one of the nation’s top ten public research institutions.

Project/Activity Highlights:

Research

• Research and disseminate best practices for diversity and inclusion within higher education.  The UA’s ADVANCE Program is a major partner in these efforts.
• Monitor the University’s progress in building a diverse and inclusive campus.
• Partner with the Vice President for Human Resources, Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs, and Associate Provost for Institutional Research and Planning Support to develop and implement measures to assess faculty and staff diversity.
• Collaborate with the nationally recognized Center for the Study of Higher Education to conduct research on contemporary diversity and inclusion issues in higher education as the opportunity arises.

Education

• Identify and communicate best practices for inclusion, news/events, and recent diversity scholarship in higher education in order to contribute to an informed and productive campus dialogue.
• Create new and support existing institutional change agents for inclusion at every level of our institution by sharing resources and creating professional development opportunities.  Acknowledge campus catalysts for inclusion through the Peter W. Likins Inclusive Excellence Awards.
• Build a knowledge base and inventory of campus diversity programs.
• Develop and maintain the UA diversity portal, a gateway to campus diversity websites and select off-campus educational resources for building inclusion.

Community Engagement

• Partner with the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost to research and develop innovative initiatives that promote faculty diversity, enhance the retention of a diverse faculty, remove barriers to the full participation of groups typically underserved in higher education, and result in educational benefits for the University’s diverse student body.
• Collaborate with the Vice President for Student Affairs, Vice President for Human Resources, and the Office of the Provost to develop and distribute an annual campus diversity communications plan that tracks the UA’s progress towards sustaining a diverse and inclusive campus community.   At the UA, excellence through diversity and inclusion is a shared responsibility.  Therefore a systematic and timely communication of diversity/inclusion data and information will be useful to identify local best practices that can be used in other campus units, potential areas for collaboration to maximize resources, and aspects of campus life where additional efforts are needed.
• Continue to create opportunities for on-going dialogue between the President, senior leadership, and diverse campus constituencies in order to identify and remove any barriers to equity, address unmet needs, and create an affirming campus climate.
• Strengthen the University’s relationships with local, diverse southern Arizona communities by facilitating the work of the President’s Community Diversity Advisory Councils.
• Provide strategic support for the President’s “think tanks” for diversity, such as the Diversity Coalition and the Commission on the Status of Women.
• Facilitate communication and collaboration between campus diversity organizations and initiatives.

Programs for Inclusive Excellence is a unit of the President's Office and reports directly to the President.

ⁱInclusive excellence is a term originated by Clayton-Pederson, A., and McTighe-Musil, C.  (2005).  Defining “Inclusive Excellence.” Making Excellence Inclusive:  Preparing Students and Campuses for an Era of Greater Expectations. 6-9. Association of American Colleges and Universities.