The UF College of Veterinary Medicine is committed to building an inclusive institutional climate and to preparing our graduates to work in an increasingly diverse world. Our goal is to foster a climate that leads to success for all members of our community by actively pursuing strategies for expanding diversity within all strata of the college.

We recognize that removing barriers to equity and inclusion is as important as creating socially conscious educational and work environments. Ongoing awareness of the importance of these efforts is key, as is engagement by all who are a part of our college community.

A plan to chart our path: With input from our community, we will develop a plan to increase diversity, equity & inclusion (DEI) among students, staff, house officers, graduate students and faculty. One component will be the creation of a recruitment plan and the development of targeted materials aimed at increasing the number of underrepresented minorities across all groups.

Externship opportunities: We will work to facilitate externship opportunities for our DVM students at Tuskegee University and will identify networks through which to attract qualified house officers and faculty from diverse backgrounds to our college.

Advancing leadership in DEI: We have created a new position of assistant dean for diversity, equity and inclusion to elevate engagement and awareness relating to DEI issues at the college. The assistant dean will be involved in all aspects of DEI evaluation and policy.

Creating a more inclusive environment:  A review of past college and UF climate surveys will provide perspective as we work to administer and evaluate results from new surveys to gauge involvement with DEI activities across groups. All of our stakeholders will be involved in the review of emergent themes and we will be vigilant about fine-tuning existing policies and engaging new ones as needed to reinforce the need for our college climate to be a welcoming one for all.

The number of underrepresented minorities we are able to attract to the college as applicants to professional and graduate programs, to residency and internship programs and as faculty and staff employees will be evaluated to measure our success.