Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)

The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee at the CREC is comprised faculty, staff, students, and postdoctoral associates. The role of this committee is to promote, strategize, educate, and encourage DEI and its mission at the CREC to foster diversity across the community and ensure accountability. The committee will work with the center Director and CREC committees to promote the recruitment, retention, and support of people from diverse backgrounds, including women and underrepresented minorities such as, but not limited to, Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and other POC groups, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, the neurodivergent community, and persons with varying degrees of physical able-bodied status. The committee will facilitate access to tools, resources, and knowledge that will contribute to an equitable, diverse, inclusive workplace and address the goals outlined in our strategic plan.

The CREC Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Plan is a defined framework and set of initiatives that will guide our future decisions and investments across all departments and communities, including those defined by race, ethnicity, physical ability, sexual orientation, gender and gender expression, religion, socioeconomic background, and first-generation status.

• Strategic Plan

  Strategic Plan

  At the UF/IFAS Citrus Research and Education Center (CREC), we are committed to diversity in its many forms, and we aim to promote an inclusive and equitable environment with a strong sense of belonging for all students, faculty, and staff. We recognize that individuals from all groups have not historically had the same access to education, in general, and to the CREC, more specifically, and we seek to address this moving forward. We recognize that the different spaces that community members inhabit may require different approaches to diversity, equity, and inclusion. We embrace the differences among us and strive to create learning and working environments enriched by those differences.

  GOALS AND IMPACTS

  Through a sustained effort to strengthen diversity within CREC community and through the long-term implementation of the DEI Strategic Plan. Through a sustained effort to strengthen diversity within CREC community and through the long-term implementation of the DEI Plan,, CREC aims to achieve the following long-term impacts:

  Goal 1. Foster an inclusive center climate that supports and encourages community members and provides a strong sense of value and belonging among all students, faculty, and staff.

  Goal 2. Recruit diverse applicants for faculty, student, and staff that is also reflective of Florida’s diverse demographics.

  Goal 3. Increase diversity and the community’s knowledge of diversity among faculty, students, and staff.

  Goal 4. Retain and recognize diverse faculty, and staff.

  Goal 5. Improve experiences, success, and sense of belonging for all community members.

• Committee
  • Kirsten Pelz-Stelinski
  • Fred Gmitter
  • Perseveranca Mungofa
  • Ahmad Omar
  • Rhonda Schumann
  • Christopher Vincent
• Resources

  Resources

  • Human Resources Discrimination/Harassment Reporting
  • Graduate Student Diversity Organizations
  • UF Office of Multicultural Affairs Black Affairs
  • UF Office of Multicultural Affairs LGBTQ+ Affairs
  • UF Association of Black Faculty and Staff
  • UF Office of Asian Pacific Islander Desi Affairs (Students)
  • UF Asian Faculty and Staff Association
  • American Friends Service Committee
  • Department of Microbiology & Cell Science
  • Department of Entomology & Nematology DEI
  • Soil and Water Science DEI
• Idea Box

  Idea Box

  This is an anonymous ideas box for members of the UF/IFAS Citrus Research and Education Center to make suggestions for changes in practices, policies, and procedures surrounding our missions of research, teaching and extension. What would you like to see our center start doing, stop doing, or do more of to promote a more inclusive, diverse and equitable center-wide community?

  The DEI committee will discuss these anonymous submissions to find solutions to problems, integrate any suggestions provided, and look for opportunities for learning and growth at CREC. Thanks for your participation in helping to improve our work environment.