The Office of Equity and Diversity at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center has announced its newest grant awardees of the 2020 Diversity and Inclusion Mini-Grant Program. This is the second year that proposals have been accepted. Applicants could apply for up to $3,000 to fund a diversity and inclusion project of their choice. Overall, the Office of Equity and Diversity awarded $20,000 this year.
“It is truly commendable to see how strongly the students, staff, faculty, and trainees commitment to diversity and inclusion flourishes,” said Michael Alston, EdD, CCDP/AP, assistant vice chancellor for Equity and Diversity, Title IX coordinator, and chief diversity officer at UTHSC. “With recent events having shown the prevailing injustices occurring within our society, the UTHSC community continues to work to do their part in creating and fostering opportunities to practice cultural humility, aid in the recruitment of disenfranchised communities to attend UTHSC, and enhance the care of certain populations, while enriching the skill set of the health care professionals tasked with helping them. “
The 2020 Diversity and Inclusion Mini-Grant recipients are:
Leiberh Noel Diaz, MD, PGY-2 Resident, Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine
Project: Latino Mental Health Outreach
This project aims to increase the psychiatry residents’ and medical students’ exposure and involvement with the Latino population in Memphis by providing mental health services in Spanish.
David Hamilton DVM, DACLAM
Director
Laboratory Animal Care Unit
Project: SEED Training to Enhance Team Dynamic and Inclusiveness
The LACU team will partake in Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity (SEED) diversity training for all leadership levels.
Kirk E. Hevener, PharmD, PhD
Assistant Professor
Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy
Project: Minority Student Recruitment into UTHSC Graduate Programs
This project will direct recruitment efforts for the Pharmaceutical Sciences graduate program toward increasing the number of resident minority applicants from Tennessee (and nearby states).
Kenneth Hohmeier, PharmD
Associate Professor and Director of Community Affairs
Clinical Pharmacy and Translational Science, College of Pharmacy
Project: Promoting Inclusion and Engagement for Online Learning
The Student National Pharmaceutical Association will develop online learner support focused on inclusivity and social engagement to help ease the disproportionate impact that online distance learning can have on certain student groups.
Kathy Kenwright, EdD, MLS (ASCP)SI, MB
Medical Laboratory Science Program Director and Associate Professor
Diagnostic and Health Sciences, College of Health Professions
Project: Lend a Book (LAB)
The objective of the Lend a Book initiative is to provide textbook resources for students that are financially challenged to facilitate their retention and success in the program.
Thomas Laughner, PhD
Director
Teaching and Learning Center
Project: Universal Design of Learning: Creating a Culture of Change
As the campus attracts more diverse students, the Teaching and Learning Center and Student Academic Support Services and Inclusion are aiming to create a Universal Design for Learning program so that instructors can help create a creative and inclusive learning environment.
Phuong Nguyen
Employee Relations Counselor
Human Resources
Project: Playback at UTHSC: A Cultural Humility Workshop
Employee Relations will launch a cultural humility workshop in collaboration with Playback Memphis Theater Company that will provide an experiential learning opportunity for diverse employees to develop cultural competency knowledge interactively.
Amanda Simmons, MS, CCC-SLP
PhD Candidate
Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology, College of Health Professions
Project: Development and Implementation of Computer- Based Learning Modules on Alternative Communication for Pediatric Nurses and Nursing Students
The Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology, in partnership with the College of Nursing, will work to develop computer-based learning modules on alternative communication and communication boards that can be implemented in clinical settings, especially in the branch of pediatrics.
Kuan Xing, PhD, M.Ed.
Director of Assessment and Research
Center for Healthcare Improvement and Patient Simulation
Project: Developing Standardized/ Simulated Patients (SPs) to Better Portray the Social Determinants of Health (SDoH)
This project seeks to provide insight into the social determinants of health for the standardized/simulated patient to be able to portray the roles assigned to them more effectively and consequently increase the effectiveness of the healthcare simulations.
For more information about the Office of Equity and Diversity’s Diversity and Inclusion Mini-Grants Program, visit https://uthsc.edu/oed/grants.