The Alliance of Professionals of African Heritage (APAH) is a long- standing affinity group on the University campus for over 30+ years. The APAH is comprised of faculty, administrators, and classified staff. The APAH’s student-centered focus is to:

• Celebrate academic excellence, acknowledge the dedication, perseverance, and commitment to higher education for students of African Heritage.
• Recognize students’ outstanding academic, leadership, and community service.
• Acknowledge graduates of African Heritage receiving degrees from UNLV.
• Foster open communication and collaboration among students’ organizations of African Heritage to promote an optimum college experience at UNLV.

The Latinx Faculty Alliance’s mission is to support the Latinx and Hispanic communities on- and off-campus by promoting and advocating for diversity initiatives at UNLV. Our mission also includes mentoring junior faculty and providing a support network for faculty and students. The Latinx Faculty Alliance(ALF) has met regularly since 2000, which makes it the most active faculty group of its type at UNLV. We’ve been involved in urgent issues such as increasing faculty diversity, supporting Dreamer and other immigrant students, and supporting and promoting diversity initiatives campus-wide. Although ALF began as a faculty group, it now welcomes administrative faculty and others, on an ad hoc basis, whose work and interests overlap with those of faculty members.

The American Indian Alliance (AIA) is composed of faculty and staff who are committed to advancing Native American/Alaska Native education. The alliance advises and supports efforts to:

• Recruit, retain, and advance Native American/Alaska Native students, faculty, and staff.
• Foster a climate supportive of positive experiences for Native American/Alaska Native students, faculty, and staff - an environment that attracts, welcomes, and retains students, faculty, and staff.
• Ease the transition to campus life by creating an environment that emphasizes involvement, inclusion, and identification with the campus community.
• Create and sustain a First Nations community that celebrates achievements, acknowledges milestones, represents concerns, and provides advocacy.
• Promote open communication and strengthen relationships between UNLV and Native American/Alaska Native communities.

The Asian, Pacific Islander, & Middle Eastern Faculty Staff Alliance (APIME-FSA) serves Asian, Asian-American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, and Middle Eastern faculty and staff. The APIME-FSA affinity group provides networking opportunities that build community through faculty-staff connections across campus. Our work focuses on the following areas of engagement:

• Liaising with and advocating for APIME student groups
• Fostering a positive workplace that welcomes, retains, and values employees of the APIME community
• Promoting cultural awareness and competency through the creation and sponsorship of academic, social, and professional development programs that are of particular interest to the APIME community
• Working with campus leadership teams to address concerns that are impacting members of the APIME community

Our leadership team consists of an executive board of faculty and administrative members from across the campus community. Social events and meetings are shared through a Google Group, which you can join by emailing APIME-FSA at apime@unlv.edu (formerly known as the Asian Pacific American Faculty Staff Alliance).

The Black Professional Women’s Alliance (BPWA) is composed of 80+ faculty, staff, and administrators who work at UNLV and the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE). The BPWA supports black and multi-ethnic women by:

• Promoting cultural awareness about the experiences of black and multi-ethnic women working at UNLV and the NSHE
• Providing professional development, networking opportunities, and campus and community resources to faculty, staff, and administrators who identify as black and multi-ethnic women
• Fostering a positive workplace that welcomes and retains black and multi-ethnic women
• Celebrating the professional achievements and scholarly accomplishments of black and multi-ethnic women, and
• Creating a space for the voices of black and multi-ethnic women to be shared with one another.

The Council of African-American Professionals (CAAP) serve the UNLV community by:

• Providing information, networking opportunities, and other resources for black faculty, staff, administrators, students, as well as other members of the campus and surrounding communities who are interested in promoting diversity and inclusion
• Highlighting and supporting research and scholarship of black professionals at UNLV
• Participating actively in campus governance, programs, services, and mentoring
• Promoting cultural awareness and competency through academic and professional development programs
• Sponsoring and co-sponsoring targeted programming about issues that affect and are of particular interest to black professionals
• Advancing a respectful and informed environment in which issues of real and perceived inequity and injustice are effectively identified directly addressed, and discussed in a manner that incorporates the most current academic research

First generation faculty members face many of the same challenges entering their first jobs in higher education as they did when they were first generation students pursuing their academic degrees. Some of these challenges include:

• Being unfamiliar with the new environment
• Difficulty accessing campus and community resources
• Building or expanding personal and professional networks
• Meeting other first-generation faculty and first-generation students
• Understanding how to navigate various university processes and procedures

Q:UNLV is an alliance of faculty and staff dedicated to the following:

• Fostering a climate of support and service for the LGBTQIA+ community
• Promoting a campus environment that values the recruitment, retention, and advancement of LGBTQIA+ students, faculty, and staff
• Creating educational and advocacy opportunities to promote a diverse and inclusive environment
• Sponsoring professional and social networking opportunities to strengthen and maintain positive working relationships between UNLV and the LGBTQIA+ community

The Undocu Task Force is composed of students, faculty and staff who are committed to building a comprehensive support system for campus community members who are undocumented or who receive Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), as well as those who identify as immigrants and are from mixed-status families.

The Task Force advises and supports efforts to:

• Collaborate to increase campus accessibility for the undocumented community through advocacy, policy changes, and programming
• Establish a network of support to promote undocumented student success

UNLV Able and Active (UNLV A & A) is a dedicated group of staff and faculty who are committed to advancing the principals of the Disability Rights Movement, namely equity, accessibility, and opportunity in employment and scholarship, and to support a University-wide culture of excellence. A & A encourages efforts to:

• Recruit, retain, and advance world class faculty and staff with lived experience of disability as self-advocates and allies.
• Engage in and support advocacy efforts that will increase knowledge, awareness, and acceptance of disability and diversity issues that impact the campus community.
• Ease the transition to campus life by creating an environment that emphasizes involvement, inclusion, and identification with our dimensionally diverse campus community.
• Promote open communication and strengthen relationships between UNLV, the Las Vegas community, and faculty and staff.

The UNLV Jewish Faculty and Staff Affinity Group (JFS-UNLV) is dedicated to establishing a supportive community for faculty and staff across our diverse campus by developing programming, both social and curriculum, related to Jewish culture, peoplehood, religion, and heritage. Our mission is to create an environment where experiences are shared, concerns are addressed, and identities as Jewish people are further developed. Through community-building initiatives, we aim to contribute to the study and sharing of the Jewish experience, foster connections, and cultivate a sense of belonging within the vibrant tapestry of UNLV's community. The Las Vegas Jewish community contributed to the establishment of UNLV in the 1950s. Its involvement has continued to this day. This Jewish Faculty and Staff Affinity Group builds upon and develops that mission. Join the group by emailing jewish.fs@unlv.edu.

The UNLV Military & Veteran Services Center (MVSC) is staffed with veterans and VA education benefit-experienced staff who are nationally recognized for assisting our more than 1,800 veterans, active duty service members, persons in the Reserve or National Guard, and military families. We support their academic and personal success and we are dedicated to helping them with their transition to college life. Our programs and honors include:

• Nevada residency is granted to all “honorably” discharged veterans within five years of separation and within three years for military family members using benefits.
• Priority registration is provided to all veterans to expedite payment of the Chapter 33 GI Bill® housing allowance.
• UNLV is ranked as a GOLD-rated “Veteran-Friendly” University (GIJOBS.COM 2011-2019).
• Military Times magazine ranked UNLV #33 in the Nation out of 605 4-year schools – “Best for Vets.”
• UNLV offers the VetSuccess program with a VA Benefits Counselor on campus.
• UNLV sponsors a nationally recognized Student Veterans Organization chapter, Rebel Vets.
• UNLV participates in the University of Michigan Peer Advisors for Veteran Education (PAVE) peer-to-peer mentoring program.
• UNLV co-sponsors the semiannual Veteran Hiring Fair with local employers ready to hire veterans.
• Since 2012 the Eleanor Kagi Foundation has funded 12 Rebel Vet Graduation receptions to honor our 1,968 student veteran graduates.
• In 2020, UNLV hosted our annual VA Compliance Inspection resulting in “No Deficiencies Noted.”

The mission of the UNLV Women’s Council is to ensure that the voices of UNLV women are heard and to advocate for a positive quality work-life for women at all levels of the university. The Council, a volunteer group of faculty and staff, contributes to the creation, implementation, and monitoring of initiatives designed to ensure that women are treated equitably and respectfully and are valued and supported in pursuit of their professional and personal growth. The Women’s Council has identified five key areas of focus:

• Hiring, Retention and Assessment
• Programming
• Communication and Networking,
• Family Advocacy
• Health and Safety.