LEADing Inclusive Excellence Strategic Plan

The University of Maryland School of Pharmacy LEADs with Inclusive Excellence

The University of Maryland School of Pharmacy’s (UMSOP) core values are at the heart of our mission to globally engage and lead education, pharmacy practice, scientific research, and pharmapreneurial initiatives to collaboratively and equitably improve the health of society. 

To achieve this mission, we are dedicated to L.E.A.D. with Inclusive Excellence. This approach emphasizes engaging the diverse talents and expertise of all stakeholders to enhance student success, cultivate a culture of inclusion, and strive for institutional excellence in addressing the most pressing health challenges of today and tomorrow.

Our commitment to L.E.A.D. with Inclusive Excellence centers around four key themes:

 

Goal 1: Establish global shared equity leadership competencies to support an inclusive institutional culture

1. Collate a list of UMSOP global shared equity leadership competencies from existing frameworks
2. Collaborate with internal and external partners to facilitate engaging professional development workshops in alignment with UMSOP mission, values, and shared equity leadership competencies

Goal 2: Launch a three-year capacity-building action plan to promote and support equitable and inclusive teaching and learning environments.

1. Offer professional development opportunities to support equity-minded practice in curriculum development, teaching, and learning.
2. Create resources and support systems for faculty and instructors to evaluate and enhance inclusive teaching practices.

 

Goal 1: Foster a culture of inclusive stakeholder participation, recognition, and engagement in EDI strategy and initiatives 

1. Increase staff participation and input on schoolwide committees
2. Enhance recognition of EDI contributions among stakeholders
3. Improve stakeholder engagement in EDI strategies and initiatives
4. Increase organizational capacity to support schoolwide EDI programming and initiatives such as employee resource groups and student affinity groups

Goal 2: Cultivate and promote an organizational culture that embraces everyday inclusive excellence

1. Facilitate annual schoolwide events for faculty and staff recognition and community building
2. Establish required professional development for faculty, staff, and students to promote an inclusive workplace, teaching, and learning environment.
3. Enhance multicultural representation and appreciation across all aspects of the institution, including organizational marketing, communications, celebrations, policies, and practices, to foster an inclusive and culturally responsive environment.
4. Define metrics and benchmarks to measure impact and track progress towards everyday inclusive excellence goals.

 

Goal 1: Strengthen and expand early engagement, recruitment, and success programs to attract, retain, and graduate highly talented and diverse students and scholars

1. Build sustainable partnerships and funding opportunities to expand early engagement and recruitment programs to attract highly talented students and scholars with diverse perspectives, lived experiences, and backgrounds
2. Ensure equitable access to resources and tailored support services/systems to foster academic, personal, and professional success of all students and scholars
3. Review and revise programmatic policies and practices to promote equitable student and scholar retention, progression, completion, and post-graduate outcomes
   • Develop and implement an equity auditing framework for program self-evaluation and reporting to promote equitable student success outcomes
4. Define and routinely collect, analyze, and report disaggregated student success data across the student lifecycle (Example metrics: recruitment, progression, graduation rates, and postgraduate success)

Goal 2: Increase access, persistence, and retention of faculty less well-represented in pharmacy, research, and scientific fields    

1. Build sustainable partnerships and funding opportunities to support post – graduate/doctoral and early career programs for less well-represented groups in academia and biomedical sciences workforce (with a focus on underrepresented and minoritized groups impacted by structural inequities) 
2. Expand access and support for culturally responsive early and mid-career mentoring and faculty success programs to retain diverse faculty (with a focus on underrepresented and minoritized groups impacted by structural inequities)  

Goal 3: Review and revise policies and practices to promote equitable and inclusive recruitment, promotion, and advancement of faculty and staff.

1. Standardize and embed equity-building practices into the hiring, promotion, and advancement process
2. Integrate core values and principles of equity, diversity, and inclusion into the promotion and tenure process
3. Integrate core values and principles of equity, diversity, and inclusion into employees’ professional development plans

 

Goal 1: Tell a compelling story of inclusive excellence at UMSOP through storytelling, disseminating innovations and best practices, and recognizing exemplary stakeholders.

1. Feature stakeholder profiles and unit inclusive excellence accomplishments internally and externally through meetings, newsletters, and schoolwide communications
2. Identify and create opportunities to recognize and reward exemplary individuals, teams, and institutional efforts to advance inclusive excellence through research, practice, service, administration, and community engagement

Goal 2: Create an organization-wide infrastructure to support the institutionalization of equity, diversity, and inclusive excellence

1. Create and implement an organizational map for EDI, outlining key roles responsible for driving EDI initiatives across the institution
2. Establish key advisory roles and committees to promote equitable decision-making, and monitor progress on EDI strategic plan and initiatives
3. Develop the UMSOP Inclusive Excellence Report Card, featuring key metrics that track progress towards goal outcomes and provide access to timely information for reporting, monitoring, and decision-making. 
4. Provide programming and resources to support committees, programs, departments, and units in developing equity-minded decisions and policies