Diversity & Inclusion

UNMC's Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

Whether engaged in patient care, research or education, UNMC touches the lives of millions of people. As part of a global health community, we recruit students from around the world and here at home who have an interest in serving patients from all walks of life.

UNMC is creating an environment of inclusion for everyone – patients, visitors, employees and students. When you step foot on this campus, we hope you feel valued, respected and connected. And we hope you feel this way beyond the confines of our campus as our students, faculty and staff reach out into the surrounding communities, the nation and the world.

College of Dentistry Diversity and Inclusion News

Inclusive excellence focus of college enrichment day At the annual College of Dentistry Faculty and Staff Enrichment Day, participants engaged in "Conversations for Inclusive Excellence" around the topics of identity and inclusion, adverse childhood experiences affects across a lifetime, and behavioral science and inclusion. Yun Saksena, BDSc, MMSc, DMD, associate dean for education, organized the event to help the college community reflect on the importance of inclusion "to advance our college mission, be excellent in all we do, and help each member of our community thrive." "We need to acknowledge every individual is different like us, and ensure every person feels they belong, they matter, and they can fully participate and thrive," Saksena said. "Inclusion is a verb. We need to be intentional about it, otherwise we may accidentally exclude." [More]		New student organization offers support to minority students Second-year dental students Ian Fullinfaw and Shyamaly Premaraj started a local chapter of the Student National Dental Association (SNDA), a national organization with a longstanding goal to promote, aid and support the academic and social environment of minority students. The goals of the College of Dentistry's SNDA chapter are to: increase the representation of dental students from underserved and underrepresented communities through mentorship; build an inclusive, caring community at UNMC; build awareness of important social and racial issues; and increase outreach to underserved communities in Lincoln and Nebraska. For their first project, in celebration of Black History Month, SNDA featured trailblazing minority leaders in dentistry on flyers around the college and posts on the college's social media channels.

Core Principles

UNMC defines the core principles of inclusion, diversity and equity as defined by the Association of American Colleges & Universities.

Diversity: Individual differences (e.g., personality, learning styles and life experiences) and group/social differences (e.g., race/ethnicity, class, gender, sexual orientation, country of origin and ability, as well as cultural, political, religious or other affiliations)

Inclusion: The active, intentional and ongoing engagement with diversity—in the curriculum, in the co-curriculum and in communities (intellectual, social, cultural, geographical) with which individuals might connect—in ways that increase awareness, content knowledge, cognitive sophistication and empathic understanding of the complex ways individuals interact within systems and institutions

Equity: The creation of opportunities for historically underrepresented populations to have equal access to and participate in educational programs that are capable of closing the achievement gaps in student success and completion

Equity-Mindedness: A demonstrated awareness of and willingness to address equity issues among institutional leaders and staff 

More: Inclusion, Diversity and Equity at UNMC