Dean's Message: call to action update

Dear CAHS Community: 

The College of Allied Health Sciences has been working on many levels over the past couple of years in response to the escalation in racial inequities that have shaken our society and CAHS community.  We continue to stand firmly against racism in any form and we thank you for inspiring our continued call to action.    

One of the college’s Strategic Goals includes focused efforts around diversity and inclusion (located below) and our recent work seeks to not only reaffirm our commitment to the tenets of this goal, but also outline next steps to the members of the CAHS community. 

“Goal 5 – CAHS will foster a culture of inclusion and community to attract diverse students, faculty, and staff whose knowledge, skill and perspectives enhance their ability to provide health care, education and social services.”  

The following are some of the current plans related to Goal 5 that are in progress at the college and departmental levels. This is not an all-inclusive list but provides insight on the initiatives that are in progress:

• Democratizing Healthcare: A Discourse on Equity and Action – This honors course taught by Fran Kazimierczuk, PhD, and Amy Hobek, PhD,  was launched in the spring semester with an initial enrollment of 25 students (full enrollment for the class). The course was extremely well received by students.  
• HLTH 1001 –DEI modules were successfully launched this year for both the fall and spring semesters for CAHS freshmen in their Success in Allied Health Seminar. We will continue to carry forward the DEI engagement in our freshman seminar class as well as provide opportunities for discussion/reinforcement of content in the learning communities. 

• CAHS leadership was engaged in a 2-hour retreat session in April, led by Janet Reid of BRBS World Consulting Group. This session was dedicated to looking at best practices across the 5 pillars of the college’s DEI work, and determining how we can scale these efforts college-wide. We also discussed strategies to ensure we keep the momentum of these DEI efforts in response to leadership changes, and the importance of utilizing better collaboration, education, and resource allocation.
• Amy Hobek, PhD, created and officially launched the use of the self-assessment rubric designed to evaluate courses for inclusive teaching. The tool is housed on the college’s Bearcats Landing page for easy access for all faculty. Faculty has been encouraged to provide feedback and input for the utilization and further development of the rubric.  
• Ebony Speakes-Hall, LISW-S, and Monica Wilkins both attended and received certification through the UC Equal Opportunity Academy. This training is a full academic year training offered by the Office of Equal Opportunity and Access. Certification was awarded in April.
• The college is continuing to engage in university-offered DEI workshops/trainings offered by institutional resources such as the Staff Success Center, Office of Equity and Inclusion, Faculty Enrichment Center, and Office of Equal Opportunity and Access.  

• The college expanded its’ resources allocated to student recruitment, adding an additional full-time staff-member whose role is to focus on recruitment/retention of transfer and transition students. 
• Service abroad in Mexico– CAHS students resumed service abroad travel to Mexico in January and again in May 2022.CAHS students and faculty provided audiology, physical therapy, medical laboratory services, and medical screenings (blood pressure, blood glucose) to residents/families in 8 locations in Cancun and nearby areas in May. 
• UC and UniSA (University of South Australia) – Through a UC International Virtual Incentive Grant, CAHS sponsored an event on Mental Health in April. The event featured a virtual performance of She’s Crazy: Mental Health and Other Myths followed by post-show interprofessional (and international) student breakouts. Approximately 120 students from CAHS and UniSA attended. 
• CAHS Students and faculty partnered with community experts to host a mini conference entitled Transforming Healthcare: Equity and Access for Transgender Health. The event held April 14^th was deemed successful and was very well attended.

• DEI role re-envisioned – Dean Tina Whalen appointed Speakes-Hall to the newly created .5 FTE Assistant Dean of DEI. In addition, the college hired a new full-time staff person, Larisa Wright, in the Assistant Director position. This expanded and enhanced re-envisioning of the DEI position (providing for faculty and student facing DEI work) will create new opportunities to support the strategic goals and the 5 pillars of DEI more successfully. 
• The CAHS Diversity Council underwent a restructuring this spring to be included as part of the college’s formal committee structure and bylaws. The remodel after presentation to the college was met with overwhelming support from a > 90% faculty vote in favor of restructure and inclusion in the college bylaws. The restructuring of the diversity council includes a subcommittee structure that aligns with the 5 pillars of the CAHS DEI priorities. 
• DEI Inventory – This year the DEI Inventory was moved to the college’s intranet page for easy accessibility and utility. We are in the process of moving the organization of the information referenced to align with the 5 Pillars of our DEI work, again to better organize the work and priorities of our DEI efforts. 

• Curricular Approaches to Radical Education (CARE) Project – This project was awarded a total of $ 10,000 through the UC Equity and Inclusion Incentive Grant program for the upcoming year. The project has a threefold purpose to:
  • Develop a new interprofessional course partnering the CAHS Nutrition and Dietetics with the A&S Africana Studies department which will integrate nutrition science, public health and history relating to food/nutrition in the African diaspora.
  • Work on culturally responsive cardiovascular disease prevention and management education to support the health of Black/African Americans residing in the Camp Washington neighborhood of Cincinnati.  
  • Provide 4^th and 5^th year dietetics students experience in development, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of a culturally tailored evidence-based nutrition education program. 
• Amy Hobek, Gideon Labiner, and Monica Wilkins submitted and were selected for a poster presentation at the National Academy of Practice (NAP) conference held in San Diego California in March. The poster outlined the CAHS Diversity, Equity and Inclusion journey from strategic planning in 2015 through the creation of the ‘5 Pillars’ in 2020 along with outcomes from the University’s climate survey. The poster is entitled – From Vision to Execution: One College’s Commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. 
• Several research projects are underway focusing on health inequities in our communities – One explores health disparities across the cancer continuum affecting local underserved communities and the other project evaluates the iCan Diabetes self-management and prevention support group in lower income African Americans with diabetes. 

I am proud of the continued work of our CAHS and UC Community. Work in the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion space will not stop after my retirement in July but the college and new DEI staff are looking into how best to communicate updates and initiatives with our CAHS community moving forward.  In the meantime, please continue to get involved in DEI efforts through your coursework, within your department, or alongside student or professional organizations/affinity groups.

Best regards,

Tina F. Whalen, PT, EdD, DPT, MPA, FNAP
Dean, Professor
College of Allied Health Sciences
University of Cincinnati
Email: whalentf@ucmail.uc.edu