Research Center & Education and Training Institute
The UNLV Institutional Development Grant (IDG) focuses on campus-based research and development activities that support specific institutional goals and values. In 2006, the university committed $150,000 as seed money for diversity and inclusion-related projects that would be implemented during the 2007-2008 academic year. Because of the high quality of a number of proposals submitted for funding consideration in this area, rather than run a second competition for proposals the following year, the 2007-2008 winners were grouped into partnership cohorts around their shared/related projects themes and funded at double the rate for a two-year period. In sum, the university committed $300,000 for two major projects to both support the growth and development of diversity and inclusion, as well as collaborative partnership building on and off campus. These major projects are the provisional Research Center on Social Justice and Institute for Multicultural Education and Diversity Training. Within the next 15 months, both the Center and the Institute must secure additional non-state funding, including one or more sources of sustaining funding, in order to be formally approved by the NSHE Board of Regents. The Office of the Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion coordinates the efforts of the Center and the Institute.
Research Center on Social Justice
The Research Center on Social Justice (RCSJ) is being developed to provide much needed background information and related data to inform policy and related budgetary decision-making at all levels in the state of Nevada. The Center supports community-based research projects for faculty and graduate students, provides developmental research opportunities for undergraduate students, and engages faculty, students, and community stakeholders in a broad array of participatory action research and service-learning opportunities designed to improve the quality of life for those who are most vulnerable in our state members of traditionally underserved and underrepresented economic and racial minority groups in the state of Nevada. In these ways, the knowledge the Center produces is made accessible and put into service to solve the complex social justice issues facing the state of Nevada. It is precisely this kind of research that will enable state-level policy makers develop effective strategies to not only resolve these challenges, but to improve the quality of life for all Nevadans. The RCSJ is conceptualized as a nonpartisan research collective dedicated to publishing for the benefit of state leaders as well as the interested public fair, objective, and thorough research. The Center conducts and commissions, especially demographic and/or empirical studies on a wide range of social justice topics impacting our state, including, but not limited to, employment, immigration, language, geographic origin, ethnicity, socioeconomics, and race. This 2008-2009 academic year, the RCSJ has: built a formal cohort of 15 core faculty and staff; developed and begun implementing 11 collaborative research projects; brought two major speakers to campus; completed the preliminary paperwork for securing the BOR approval for formally establishing itself; put forth four major funding proposals to secure the sustained non-state funding stream (or streams) required for BOR approval; secured an operational home on the UNLV campus (FDH 552); and, hired a full-time graduate student to formally support its growth efforts.
Institute for Multicultural Education and Diversity Training
The Institute for Multicultural Education and Diversity Training is being developed to provide diversity and inclusion-related consultation, training, education, and organizational development services to campus and community stakeholders. More specifically, the Institute develops and offers, on a sliding- scale, cost-recovery fee basis, cutting-edge professional development initiatives and related resources for UNLV faculty, staff, and students; PK-16 faculty, staff, and students; nonprofit organizational staff; and, business and industry professionals primarily in the greater Las Vegas. These initiatives include, but are not limited to, multicultural curriculum development seminars and consultation services across academic disciplines and instructional levels; professional development courses dedicated to establishing cultural and related second language competencies; educational guides on multicultural subject matter; speakers' bureaus on a broad range of diversity themes; diversity training on the array of subjects that fall under the diversity umbrella; training guides on diversity topics; and multicultural organizational development services that focus on enhancing educational and workplace climate and quality. This 2008–2009 academic year, the Institute has: built a formal cohort of eight core faculty and staff; developed and begun implementing six collaborative research projects; responded to 50 requests for education and training; brought three major speakers to campus; completed the preliminary paperwork for securing the BOR approval for formally establishing itself; put forth two major funding proposals to secure the sustained non-state funding stream (or streams) required for BOR approval; secured an operational home on the UNLV campus (FDH 552); and, hired a full-time graduate student to formally support its growth efforts.