Page 17 - Dentistry Viewbook

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
The University of Minnesota School of Dentistry assures that all persons shall have equal access to its programs, facilities, and employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, gender, age, marital status, disability, public assistance status, veteran status or sexual orientation. The commitment to diversity is expressed in the School’s goal of providing culturally competent oral health care to a diverse patient population in a variety of settings. To fulfill this mission, the School of Dentistry has made a commitment to recruit, retain and graduate students from underrepresented communities to ensure adequate representation in the dental profession. The School of Dentistry aims to create a diverse student body that mirrors Minnesota’s diverse population, including its ethnic/racial communities, rural populations and low-income populations. The vision
is to educate future dentists who will return to their communities to provide care and increase access to oral health care in these vulnerable populations.
The School of Dentistry’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee leverages the diversity of the school to create and sustain an environment that values and fosters diversity in teaching, research and community engagement.
The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee
serves as a venue for gathering data and channeling feedback to the appropriate parties within the school and the university, developing recommendations and prioritizing actions to improve the school’s climate.
Developed in 2012 as an ad hoc committee under the auspices of the Dean’s office, the committee held the original goal of creating and sustaining an environment that values diversity in its purpose, people and programs. The committee has since transitioned to a standing committee with the following responsibilities:
• Assess and further the School of Dentistry’s
progress in recruiting and retaining diverse faculty, staff and students
• Develop strategies to improve the School of Dentistry’s cultural climate
• Improve the quality and quantity of the discussion and education on issues of equity and diversity in the
School of Dentistry
• Serve as a resource on issues of equity and diversity for the school
University of Minnesota Land Acknowledgment
The University of Minnesota Twin Cities is located on traditional, ancestral and contemporary lands of Indigenous people. The University resides on Dakota land ceded in the Treaties of 1837 and 1851. The School of Dentistry recognizes and acknowledges the complex and layered history surrounding these treaties. This land acknowledgment is one of the ways we work to educate our patients, faculty, staff, students and community about this land and our relationship with it and each other.