University at Buffalo (UB)
As a university-wide academic support unit, Academic Affairs is committed to cultivating an inclusive environment where everyone in our community feels welcomed, valued and has a sense of belonging.
We vow to treat others with dignity and to affirm and respect the unique life experiences, self-expression, diversity and talents found within our VPAA community.
To create a just culture, we will eliminate barriers and implement fair and equitable practices and policies that provide opportunities for all to flourish and reach their highest potential.
The Academic Affairs Equity, Diversity, Justice and Inclusion (EDJI) Committee is charged with fostering an inclusive workplace and coordinating the implementation of the Academic Affairs Racial Equities Task Force recommendations.
If you want to join the committee or volunteer for a specific EDJI event, please email Jacqui Hollins at jhollins@buffalo.edu.
The Arthur A. Schomburg (Schomburg) Fellowship is a graduate fellowship program for eligible underrepresented students who will pursue graduate study on a full time basis at UB. Fellows meet regularly for Research Talks, community building events, days of service and networking. A mentoring program for fellows supports new and continuing doctoral students and Schomburg Fellows are mentors to Black and Latinx Honors College Scholars.
The Center for Excellence in Writing (CEW) is committed to ongoing action within each of our three pillars of linguistic justice: antiracism, translingualism, and gender inclusivity. In the spirit of accountability and transparency, we will report on our activities and next steps each academic year.
Power relations and hierarchies as well as spaces for freedom and change are created through language and shared through writing practices. Writing centers are often seen as mechanisms for norming or conventionalizing academic discourse, but are also spaces for transformative dialogue and individual voice. Knowing the simultaneously repressive and liberating nature of our work, we hope to lean into the practices of linguistic justice. Read more about linguistic justice.
Guided by our vision to provide UB with a strong foundation for equity and academic excellence, the Cora P. Maloney Center (CPMC) offers academic and cultural programs that address the needs and concerns of UB’s diverse student populations and residents in the City of Buffalo.
Undergraduate Programs
Pre-College Programs
CATT provides a variety of opportunities to learn and values student diversity. This is achieved through supporting:·
For a course to be effective, it must promote and support achievement for all students. Creating an equitable and inclusive learning environment is part of developing effective teaching and learning practices. CATT can provide classroom strategies and frameworks to help create a more equitable and inclusive course.
Equitable and Inclusive Instruction and Content
Equitable and Inclusive Teaching and Learning
In a program launched in 2023 by the Office of Curriculum, Assessment and Teaching Transformation (CATT), the EDJI Faculty Fellows Program helps faculty members become ambassadors for inclusive pedagogy within their decanal units. Throughout the academic year, fellows will support their colleagues as they review syllabi for inclusive and anti-racist language, incorporate EDJI content into courses, and develop inclusive teaching practices. They may provide this support through individual consultations, workshops, or retreats for their disciplinary colleagues.
UB’s First-Generation Peer Mentor Program provides mentorship and support to incoming first-year first-generation students. These diverse student populations are connected with an experienced upper-level student who serves as a role model, mentor and resources throughout their first year at UB. In an effort to supplement a student’s experience with the program, we offer a virtual Summer Bridge experience designed to help students gain a distinct advantage before the start of their first semester and throughout the first year.
The Honors College is creating innovative, research-based programs to better support our underrepresented scholars. The Generation Honors program welcomes a cohort of incoming, first-year honors scholars to participate in summer bridge programming, ongoing academic and experiential support, peer mentoring and other activities aimed at developing a sense of belonging within the Honors College.
The Graduate Opportunity Program (GOP) provides tuition assistance to EOP, HEOP and SEEK graduates who are undertaking graduate study at participating SUNY institutions. This program provides in-state tuition scholarships to full-time students who are pursuing graduate or first professional degrees. GOP students are supported by the Office of Fellowships and Scholarships with community building and professional development support.
The Office of Marketing, Communications and Digital Engagement (MCDE) follows a proactive approach to communicating through a lens of diversity, equity and inclusion on behalf of Academic Affairs. MCDE works with units to embrace diversity, equity and inclusion in written and visual communications, adhere to UB’s accessibility standards, and deliver communications through a range of mediums to ensure widespread access. MCDE is deeply committed to creating inclusive communications, ensuring that the Academic Affairs portfolio represents the many faces, voices, perspectives and experiences of the UB community.
The Network for Enriched Academic Relationships (NEAR) is a UB-wide interdisciplinary mentoring network for graduate students. Through NEAR, students can find mentors regarding issues that lie beyond coursework, comps and dissertations. Our hope is that by connecting with mentors who have experience navigating obstacles (e.g., systemic bias, personal hardship) or who can be effective allies, more students—and more diverse students—will feel supported and emboldened in their own careers.
Pronouns Everyone has the right to be addressed and referred to by the chosen name and pronouns that correspond to their gender identity, including the use of non-binary pronouns (e.g., they/them). Students can enter their pronouns into HUB and have those pronouns displayed in the system.
Pronouns will appear in:
Gender Identity: Students can enter their gender identity to reflect their gender identity in the system, recognizing that a binary legal sex format is not inclusive. Both gender identity and sex are confidential and are only displayed to a limited number of users. The university will use a student’s names and pronouns when possible. UB students can update their gender identity and pronouns in the HUB Student Center under the biographical tab.
The OOR is also currently working on preferred diploma names as well as X as a gender Identity.
The University at Buffalo Undergraduate Research Conference brings together the next generation of leaders, forward thinkers, researchers and influencers from across the nation. Conference attendees will discuss multidisciplinary approaches to discovery and the importance and challenges of communicating science in a changing world.