Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) are essential components of the RARC’s core values. If you are interested in joining the DEI Workgroup, please reach out to DEI Chair Alexandria Bauer, Ph.D. at agb133@gsapp.rutgers.edu.

The RARC has collated Diversity, Equity and Inclusion-related resources at Rutgers University that may be applicable to the RARC community. Rutgers Office of Equity and Inclusion shares comprehensive resources at diversity.rutgers.edu.

  • Rutgers University Equity and Inclusion (UEI). The Rutgers Office of Equity and Inclusion has the mission to integrate the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion into all aspects of our university. UEI maintains an active web and communication presence across the university. They developed the University’s first-ever Diversity Strategic Plan in March 2022 outlining the plan to realize the institutional commitment to inclusive excellence. The plan contains results from an equity audit, details about the planning process, strategic planning goals and university diversity priorities, as well as action steps for each goal laid out in the report. Further, the UEI oversees the Faculty Diversity Collaborative, a group of dedicated staff and faculty diversity liaisons who work across four Chancellor-led units to prioritize individualized and targeted support across the faculty life cycle; ensure culturally responsive mentoring; expand cross-campus networking, mentoring, and community-building opportunities to reduce isolation, and; foster leadership ambition in diverse faculty and equip them with the skills to succeed.  
  • Rutgers Developing Inclusive Leaders. Inclusive leadership development opportunities aim to enhance understanding of bias and discrimination, emphasize institutional culture’s impact on climate and unit culture, and boost leaders’ confidence in addressing inequity promptly. The Inclusive Leadership Network hosts the Inclusive Leadership Academy, a cohort-based program to equip academic and administrative leaders to engage in critical self-reflection, foster positive relationships, and work toward institutional transformation within their scope and areas of responsibility. 
  • Rutgers IDEA Innovation Grant Program. The mission of the IDEA innovation grants is to support projects that enable students, faculty, and staff across Rutgers University to take an active role in building an inclusive community. As Rutgers invests in broader institutional efforts to advance equity, the IDEA grant program offers a way for innovative grassroots efforts to join in our larger strategy. We invite projects that encourage understanding and learning, invest in relationship-building across difference, and offer new ways to promote equity and diversity to achieve our goal of an inclusive university culture. 
  • Rutgers NJMS Center for Cultural Competency. Cultural Competency” initiatives” at NJMS (New Jersey Medical School) refers to culturally competent training over the entire spectrum of learners including faculty and residents. Training of Faculty/Preceptors consists of a 3-hour workshop.  The training aims to develop the facilitation skills and content needed to lead small group discussions on cultural and linguistic competency topics. It is anticipated that over time these faculty members will serve as future cultural competency trainers for their colleagues.  In the immediate future they will impact the medical students and residents they train by fostering discussion on rounds and seminars relative to cross-cultural care. Similar to their faculty mentors, the training for residents aims to increase their understanding of their own culture, perceptions about others, and enhance their cross-cultural skills. Through a series of carefully crafted activities residents have an opportunity to explore how these perceptions impact their delivery of care to diverse populations. Case-based videos, role-playing, and hands on exercises permit the acquisition of knowledge, self-reflection, and skills building. Training is conducted in a manner that residents can also safely share their beliefs, biases, and stereotypes. It is anticipated that over time these residents will serve as future trainers to their colleagues and reinforce the education provided to NJMS medical students.  
  • Rutgers RWJMS Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA). Established in 1996, the RWJMS (Robert Wood Johnson Medical School) Office of Multicultural Affairs mission and goals are to assist students at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School by preparing them to become competent, compassionate, culturally aware and sensitive physicians in our increasingly diverse society. OMA sponsors and supports educational and cultural programs to enhance awareness of and sensitivity to race, gender, religion, ethnicity and culture and to promote culturally competent health care as well as respect for all communities. RWJMS offers a comprehensive approach to increasing diversity in the health professions with the ultimate goal of eliminating healthcare disparities through educational programs, community outreach and healthcare promotion and awareness activities. The school offers several high school and undergraduate pipeline pre-medical programs.  
  • School of Graduate Studies (SGS). SGS was created in July 2017 following the merger of the former UMDNJ-Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS) with the former Rutgers Graduate School-New Brunswick (GS-NB). The impetus for this merger, which was led by the deans of GSBS and GSNB (Scotto and Kukor), was the desire to provide an integrated and robust infrastructure that would best support the trans- disciplinary education and training of our future scholars. SGS hosts 5200 students enrolled in over 150 doctoral, master’s and dual-degree programs in the humanities, social sciences, life sciences, biomedical sciences, physical and mathematical sciences, and engineering. This newly created infrastructure is facilitating interactions and training opportunities within and across disciplines, harmonizing common processes and procedures and fostering stronger collaborations among our faculty. It has provided an opportunity to optimize and synergize operations that previously existed in the two schools, with the intent of creating a single world-class infrastructure that affords the graduate education and support found at our AAU and Big Ten peer institutions. Building and sustaining a diverse, inclusive, and equitable community is a core mission of SGS and is acted upon through funding, mentoring, outreach and partnership. SGS offers graduate school preparation support, and recruitment databases and fellowship sources to support Rutgers students. Additionally, SGS oversees RISE (Research Intensive Summer Experience), a nationally acclaimed summer research program for outstanding undergraduates from diverse backgrounds, and SROP (Summer Research Opportunity Program), a gateway to graduate education at Big Ten Academic Alliance universities.

  • The Rutgers-Newark Honors Living-Learning Community creates a culture of inclusion by fostering a diverse and collaborative environment where students, faculty, and staff can learn from each other’s perspectives, experiences, and aspirations. 

The RARC collates addiction-related funding opportunities for RARC researchers. Some of these opportunities focus primarily or in part on promoting DEI in research. Click here to view the list of current funding opportunities.