Employee Affinity Groups

Getting Involved

Affinity groups are sites for community building and formation and are not part of the formal governance structure. 91´«Ã½ faculty and staff who are interested in joining or starting an affinity group can find more information in the internal .

Overview

The Office of the Senior Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (OSVC-DEI) is pleased to announce a new investment in 91´«Ã½â€™s employee affinity groups. We are committed to supporting, growing and assessing affinity groups, including providing guidance, access to funds and programmatic assessment. Affinity groups will support faculty and staff as they meet regularly with colleagues.  

Recommended by the Inclusion, Diversity and Excellence in Academics (IDEA) Council, affinity groups are collegial groups for faculty and staff and are typically formed around a shared identity, common bond and a commitment to historically minoritized or underserved people at 91´«Ã½.

Affinity groups can play an important role in nurturing an inclusive campus culture, including: 

  • fostering inclusion and community through a support network of mentors, allies and peers; 
  • providing shared opportunities for resource sharing, education, training and development; 
  • supporting the recruitment and retention of historically minoritized groups and their allies and/or 
  • advocating for policy change and culturally responsive programming to meet the needs of all campus constituents. 

Each affinity group determines its own scope and priorities. To receive support and recognition from OSVC-DEI, a group should: 

  • have a clear purpose, including purpose and mission statements that support and align with the university’s mission, core values and diversity, equity and inclusion goals; 
  • be accessible to all 91´«Ã½ employees (faculty, staff and administrators) around the affinity topic or identity; and 
  • hold open, accessible meetings and have a public presence, such as a website.Â