Office of Diversity, Equity and Multicultural Affairs

The Diversity Programming Series (DPS) consists of programs that are implemented as part of the ODEMA’s efforts to promote inclusion and examine the ways in which diversity affects our lives. The DPS provides unlimited opportunities for collaborative and cross-agency support of ethnic, cultural, gender, theatre, and student choice programs.

Annually the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Multicultural Affairs, with guidance from the Diversity Advisory Council (DAC) issues a call for proposals available to campus and community members for sponsorships to develop programming for collective enjoyment.

The call is issued quarterly at the beginning of the fiscal year (July) for events to occur three months later, providing the campus enough time to develop and promote the activity. For example: a call for events in October will be issued for events taking place in January, February, and March. For January, for events occurring in April, May, and June. And so on.

Proposals for any event will be considered. Just be sure your proposed event/program educates, entertains and informs the community. Additional criteria for selection are also based on whether or not the proposed event/program:

• Reaches out to the community.
• Provides a service to students and citizens.
• Promotes diversity.
• Contains educational content.
• Is cost-effective.

Proposals may be funded in lesser amounts than that requested. Accordingly, events with multiple sources of support are highly encouraged. The next deadline for proposal consideration will be October 11, 2024. To apply, please visit the link below.

For more information, contact ODEMA at nwode@iu.edu or call 219-980-6596.

Submit Proposals

The purpose of the Diversity Advisory Council (DAC) is to prioritize and report the pulse of the institution regarding campus-specific concerns about faculty, administration, staff and student diversity issues. This report also helps to identify systemic approaches toward advancing the broader context of diversity (race, ethnicity, gender, age, geography, social class, religion, sexual orientation, and disability), equity, multiculturalism, and the developing strategic plan by providing data for use in increasing the presence of underrepresented minorities at IU Northwest.

DAC submits its annual report on diversity in compliance with Indiana state law (IC 21-27-4-4). This law requires the Trustees of Indiana University to create a diversity committee on each campus to submit an annual report to the Trustees regarding findings, conclusions, and recommendations relating to each of the statutorily defined areas below.

• Review and recommend faculty employment policies concerning diversity issues.
• Review faculty and administration personnel complaints concerning diversity issues.
• Make recommendations to promote and maintain cultural diversity among faculty members.
• Make recommendations to promote recruitment and retention of minority students.

Its members plan exciting and well received diversity and awareness events for the campus. The mission of DAC is to aid in retaining qualified faculty and staff reflective of the student body at IU Northwest, and to recognize excellence in work performance which promotes diversity.

DAC works to establish a positive record of providing excellence in service leadership on issues of diversity,by promoting best practices for retention and relevant awareness initiatives.

Subcommittees within DAC

Campus Diversity Awards

Every spring the Campus Diversity Advisory Council celebrates diversity in its many forms throughout the IU Northwest campus. This celebration highlights individuals, organizations, and groups, on campus or off campus, which exemplify the purpose of the IU Northwest diversity mission.

There are three categories of awards available. They are:

• Diversity Friend: an individual who contributes creative or unique ideas to support diversity, or is otherwise engaged in supporting diversity programming on campus or in the community.
• Diversity Advocate: a person who serves as a spokesperson or change agent for a particular dimension of diversity raising awareness of issues of concern or interest.
• Diversity Champion: an individual who has demonstrated leadership in diversity related work; acquired and disseminated resources to support diversity related efforts, or developed an innovative program or project related to diversity and inclusion.

***REMINDER*** Applicants are ineligible to win a Diversity Award for two consecutive years.

Diversity Awards Nomination Form!

Diversity Landmarks

The IU Northwest Office of Diversity, Equity and Multicultural Affairs is excited to welcome all students, faculty and staff to participate in Diversity Landmarks.

Each fall and spring Landmark signs are displayed throughout the campus yard during the first week of classes with the purpose of reminding the IU Northwest campus of the value in every person.

The IU Northwest campus is welcome to participate. Have your quote included in this empowering display around campus. Submit your favorite quotations that clearly convey the importance of diversity and cross-cultural acceptance and inclusion.

Create your own quotation and possibly have it included on the Diversity Landmark Wall of Fame!

Submit your quotation today to nwode@iu.edu. 

*Deadline for submissions is April 2, 2021. 

Diversity Advisory Council Meeting Schedule 2019-2020

The Office of Diversity, Equity and Multicultural Affairs is committed to reinforcing education about diversity issues. In collaboration with the IU Northwest Library, a pool of literature and periodicals has been compiled to lead the campus in developing its knowledge of diversity paradigms, pedagogy and imperatives.

Since its establishment, the Diversity Library has grown to over 200 pieces of literature, videos and links available for browsing and/or checkout. Located in the IU Northwest Library on the first floor adjacent to the Library Café, you will find articles, books, magazines, and flyers. Each will help with research and stimulating cognitive processes that are conducive to understanding and demonstrating the value of diversity. Students and faculty alike are encouraged to look here for challenging classroom assignments, and search for new ideas about how to introduce sensitive subjects in the classroom. From the laws pertaining to diversity to learning the importance of diversity, this Library is a growing resource offered at IU Northwest! 

Additional resources available here.

The Office of Diversity, Equity and Multicultural Affairs and the Center for Innovation and Scholarship in Teaching and Learning have collaborated to create, the Diversity Fellows Program (DFP), to provide support for faculty development in the areas of pedagogy, curriculum transformation, and institutionalization of inclusive approaches to teaching, learning, and assessment at IU Northwest. The DFP provides an opportunity for faculty to supplement their research budgets while developing diversity related enhancements to course content.

Faculty from participating units will be selected to create and implement an IU Northwest DFP project designed to expand faculty pedagogical expertise or transform curriculum content relative to diversity. The project can focus on research, curriculum development, or teaching methodology. Increased awareness and improved practices are expected to develop as a result of the DFP projects, thereby increasing the number of courses at IU Northwest which have diversity components or are solely focused on diversity.

Fellows will receive $1,000 for individual projects and $2,000 for teams of two. Funds may be used to conduct research, purchase resources, or fund activities associated with a DFP project and subsequent course development. These projects will become central to the IU Northwest diversity portfolio. As these projects will become central to the development of an IU Northwest diversity portfolio, they should be designed to support outcomes for General Education Principle 4.

(See full description of the Principle at here. While approval by unit administration is required for any funded proposal, applicants are encouraged to seek additional support from their academic units.)

Fellows will be expected to write a report and present their projects at a CISTL Brown Bag session before June 28, 2024. Awarded funds will be transferred into a designated research account use.

Who is Eligible?

All full-time and adjunct faculty members in any academic unit are eligible to apply. Interdisciplinary teams are encouraged. It is planned that at least four fellowships will be awarded.

Where, When, and How Do You Submit an Application?

Applications will be available by attachment on the official DFP announcement and on the ODEMA website. Applications must be submitted to ODEMA by October 20, 2023. Send applications to nwode@iu.edu.

Please contact nwode@iu.edu to receive answers to any questions about the program, guidelines, criteria, and expectations as well as deadlines. Fellows will be notified by email by November 3, 2023. All applications will be reviewed by a Selection Committee. Applications that do not meet the deadline will not be reviewed.

What Happens When I am Funded?

All applicants will be notified of the status of their proposal by email no later than November 3, 2023. Funds will be transferred into a university research account within two weeks, and must be expended by June 15, 2024, or they will revert back to ODEMA.

DFP Application Form

DFP Call for Proposals

As the nation marks historic anniversaries of the Emancipation Proclamation and the March on Washington, Created Equal brings together four nationally-acclaimed documentary films on the long Civil Rights movement.

The NEH Created Equal project uses the power of documentary films to encourage public conversations about the changing meanings of freedom and equality in America. The four films that are part of this project tell the remarkable stories of individuals who challenged the social and legal status quo, from slavery to segregation.

Created Equal is part of the Bridging Cultures initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities, produced in partnership with the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.

The four films included in this series are:

The Abolitionists
Slavery by Another Name
The Freedom Riders
The Loving Story

These films and many others are available for faculty use for educational purposes. Please contact nwode@iu.edu to borrow them.

For a more scientific analysis of individual unconscious bias try the Harvard Implicit Association Test. This test, developed by researchers at Harvard University assesses associations between concepts by measuring how quickly a person can categorize, for example, GOOD words with White faces compared to GOOD words with Black faces. The idea is that the more strongly associated the two concepts are in memory, the more quickly you will be able to categorize words into those paired categories. Your score is reported as an implicit preference for White people compared to Black people if you were faster at categorizing Good words with White faces compared to Black faces. The test often reveals associations that are different than one's conscious beliefs.

There are other tests available than those that test for Black/White bias such as gender, disability, Arab/Muslim, and others. Try one. Or, try them all!

To take the test, please click the following link:

https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html