Our department is deeply committed to fostering an inclusive and equitable environment where every member—faculty, students, and staff—can thrive. Since 2016, we have implemented our Diversity and Inclusion Plan (DIAP), a collaborative effort informed by extensive feedback from all levels of our community. This plan focuses on increasing the representation of historically underrepresented groups (HUGs) among our faculty and students, ensuring that our department reflects the diversity of perspectives essential for academic excellence. We are also broadening our curricular offerings to align with our diversity and inclusion mission, ensuring that all voices and experiences are represented and valued in our academic discourse.

Moreover, our commitment extends beyond mere representation; we strive to cultivate an environment where every member of our community—students, faculty, and staff—feels valued, respected, and empowered to succeed. This includes creating supportive spaces for dialogue, providing resources to address structural inequalities, and continuously evaluating our progress toward these goals. Our programming, including lectures and colloquia, is designed to highlight and address issues of diversity and inclusion, fostering an atmosphere of mutual respect and understanding. Through these ongoing efforts, we strive to build a community where all individuals feel supported, respected, and empowered to reach their full potential.

In 2016, our department prepared a Departmental Diversity and Inclusion Plan (DIAP) with the support of undergraduate, graduate, postdoctoral, staff, and faculty members in the department. We held an undergraduate forum, conducted graduate student and postdoctoral staff surveys, a department-wide open forum, and multiple committee and faculty meetings.

The goals were to identify strategies, to be implemented over the next five years, for:

• Increasing diversity and inclusion at the level of HUGs faculty and student representation.
• Broadening our curricular offerings consistent with the diversity and inclusion mission.
• Fostering an environment where all are given every opportunity to succeed.
• Developing departmental programming (lectures, colloquia, etc.) that includes attention to issues of diversity and inclusion.

We are organized into four subcommittees: (1) Department Culture and Climate, (2) Community Outreach, (3) Hiring and Recruitment, and (4) Curriculum and Teaching. The subcommittees are charged with making recommendations to the department, taking actions in coordination with the department, evaluating our progress, and contributing to the annual DIAP report in each respective area.

If you are a CoPsy community member interested in participating in the work of this committee, please contact the committee's chair, William Warren.