TO: UNLV Campus Community
FROM: Dr. David B. Ashley
RE: Institutional Development Grants

In January, we called for proposals for the diversity-related Institutional Development Grants (IDG).

We received 28 proposals with funding requests totaling more than $1 million — an excellent sign of the campus' interest in undertaking diversity-related projects. The proposals were so strong and timely that we decided to add an additional $150,000 to this program and fund the initiatives at a full $300,000.

It is my pleasure to announce the IDG award winners for the 2008 and 2009 academic years. The 10 winning proposals were categorized by project theme and organized into two groups to facilitate collaboration across multiple disciplines. The two groups are titled:

  • Research Center for the Study of Race, Class, and Social Justice.
  • Institute for Multicultural Education and Diversity Training.

Each group will receive $150,000. The funding will allow us to develop the center and institute, which will also require the approval of the NSHE Board of Regents to be formally established. I expect members of each program to build their projects into model programs for inquiry, scholarship, education, training, outreach, and service.

The center and institute are campus and community responsibilities. And   similar to our other diversity and inclusion programs   it is up to us to establish and sustain them. I encourage campus colleagues to join these efforts. It is collectively, through the success of these and other programs, that UNLV will achieve excellence through diversity.

We are currently building a website with detailed information about this year's award winners. An update will be sent once that project is completed. Until then, please review the information below for introductory details.

Research Center for the Study of Race, Class, and Social Justice

This center will prioritize research that focuses inquiry and analysis at the intersection of race and class and locates it in a social justice context. The center's formal structure will help researchers across campus develop and sustain highly collaborative, cutting-edge research initiatives, and disseminate the results of this work through traditional scholarship and presentation venues, as well as through an array of non-traditional, highly innovative, and more accessible vehicles in order to broaden the basis of who has access to and, thus, can directly benefit from it.

Co-coordinators of the center are:

  • Sylvia Lazos, Law
  • Sonya Horsford, Educational Leadership
  • Elaina Bhattacharyya, Diversity and Inclusion

Colleagues of the center are:

  • Maria Raquel Casas, History and Chicano Studies
  • Jorge Luis Galindo, Foreign Languages
  • Randy McCrillis, Student Diversity Programs and Services
  • José Luis Melendrez, Student Diversity Programs and Services
  • Alicia Rico, Foreign Languages
  • Karen Strong, Campus Life
  • Anita Tijerina Revilla, Women's Studies
  • John Tuman, Political Science and Latin American Studies

Institute for Multicultural Education and Diversity Training

This institute will provide consultation, training, education, and organizational development services on issues of diversity and inclusion, broadly considered. The institute will develop and disseminate cutting-edge professional development initiatives and related resources for UNLV faculty, staff, and students, as well as PK-16 faculty, staff, and students in the greater Las Vegas community.

The institute will focus on:

  • Multicultural curriculum development with foci on establishing teacher cultural competency including proficiency in Teaching English as a Second Language.
  • Diversity training that includes attention to workplace climate and worklife quality.

Co-coordinators of the institute are:

  • Porter Troutman, Curriculum and Instruction
  • Edith Rusch, Educational Leadership
  • Randy McCrillis, Student Diversity Programs and Services

Colleagues of the institute are:

  • RR Apache, Sports Education Leadership
  • Bea Babbitt, Assessment
  • Leora Baron, Teaching and Learning Center
  • Ramona Denby, Social Work
  • Jennifer Fabbi, University Libraries
  • Angela Farrar, Hotel Management
  • John Filler, Special Education
  • S. Kathleen Krach, Educational Psychology
  • Greg Levitt, Curriculum and Instruction
  • LeAnne Putney, Educational Psychology
  • Joanne Thompson, Social Work