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Department of Statistics

Department Diversity Committee

Mission

Our commitment to diversity is built on our fundamental belief that our community and the Statistics department are better with diverse cultures, perspectives and members. Our mission is to build a Statistics department that is representative of the richly-diverse population of the people of North Carolina, our country and the world and that supports the success of its students, postdocs, staff, researchers and faculty.

Charge

  • Recruiting diverse faculty, staff, postdocs, researchers and students
    • Serve on and/or provide advice and training for faculty and staff members serving on search and admissions committees in order to highlight diversity goals and ensure inclusive, fair and thorough searches.
  • Mentoring for all members from underrepresented groups for success in our programs
    • Develop a departmental plan or approach to ensure that underrepresented minority (URM) and first generation students, and URM faculty and staff have effective and timely mentoring to navigate the university and department environment. A key goal of the plan will be to go over timelines, expected milestones, and strategies for overcoming potential obstacles and regularly revisiting and revising them.
  • Identifying and addressing barriers to success (e.g., isolation, advising issues) for Department members
    • Publicize department and university processes and resources for addressing barriers and enhancing success (department, Ombuds, Bias Impact Response Team, Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity) and connect department members with appropriate resources.
    • Propose actions such as training for advisors on culturally responsive mentoring, flexible pathways to account for student preparation, resources for enhancing faculty and staff career progression.
    • Systematically monitor and analyze factors affecting recruitment, retention and success of under-represented students, postdocs, researchers, staff and faculty. Coordinate with the Math Alliance Group and academic advisors of URM students.
  • Strengthening the pipeline for the discipline (LSAMP Bridge to the Doctorate, McNair Scholars, SEAS (Data-Enabled Science and Engineering of Atomic Structure project), Math Alliance F-GAP program, ASA’s Diversity Mentoring Program, College programs through Jamila Simpson, Science House outreach)
  • Facilitating development and adoption of departmental diversity plans and sections on diversity in departmental documents, such as strategic plans
  • Providing regular discussion topics and points to faculty, staff and students via faculty meetings, GSA meetings, Stat Club meetings, and email 
  • Suggesting and hosting speakers for the Departmental Seminar Series from a diverse array of backgrounds and/or on topics related to diversity in statistics
  • One member of the Diversity Committee shall serve as a member of the Climate Committee.
  • The Diversity Committee and Climate Committee hold joint meetings at least once per semester. 
  • Both Committees shall contribute to and provide updates to the Statistics Department Diversity and Inclusion website, https://statistics.sciences.ncsu.edu/know-us/diversity-and-inclusion/ 
  • The Diversity Committee and Climate committee shall jointly work on areas that overlap both charges, such as developing inclusive curricula and peer mentoring.

Membership

Adrian Blue, Emily Griffith (chair), Jessie Jeng, Paul Savariappan, Srijan Sengupta, Len Stefasnki

Student Representatives: Sachi Vyas, Kris Wilson (Stat Club reps), Sukanya Bhattacharya (GSA rep)

For more information, please contact the Committee Chair, Emily Griffith (emily.griffith@ncsu.edu).

Return to Diversity Website