Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Welcome to the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at the UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences.
This new office, led by the School's Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Dr. Don Warne, works to implement and improve DEI efforts at the School and University broadly, whether the diversity in question concerns gender, social class, sexual orientation, or ethnicity.
Our Diversity Working Group includes representation from each SMHS department and maintains DEI accreditation standards from each department.
Inclusion in the UND Strategic Plan
School of Medicine & Health Sciences Diversity Statement
The University of North Dakota and its School of Medicine & Health Sciences (SMHS)
take pride in their mission to meet the individual and group needs of a diverse and
pluralistic society through education, research, and service. The people served by
and associated with the SMHS vary widely; all are valued for the richness their different
cultures, heritages, perspectives, and ideas they bring to the community. The SMHS
is, in part, a conduit through which individual perspectives and global interrelationships
are enhanced by a working, learning, and teaching environment that is aware of and
sensitive to the diversity of its constituents. Diversity in the SMHS is constituted
by the full participation of people of different racial and ethnic heritage, age,
gender, socioeconomic background, religion, sexual orientation, and disability; and
of people from other countries. Of special and particular importance is the SMHS's
longstanding commitment to the education of American Indian students and the cultures
and traditions of American Indians/Alaska Natives. The SMHS’s commitment to diversity
extends to students from rural America, in particular those from North Dakota, Minnesota,
and states in the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) consortium.
The School has a longstanding commitment to the employment of those with an American
Indian background and promotes gender equality across all hires including ensuring
gender equality within the full-time faculty and full-time senior administrative staff.
The SMHS is committed to providing working, learning, and teaching experiences that
promote self-determination, educational advantages, and professional opportunities.
(Updated 5/20/2020)