Diversity, Inclusion, & Accessibility
Cornell University is a place where intercultural skills are developed and used everywhere: throughout our diverse campus groups, with our community partners, within our classrooms and in our workplaces. At Cornell, we recognize people with diverse backgrounds and experiences bring great value to education, discovery, creativity, and engagement which is reflected in our long history of diversity and inclusion.
Here in the School of Integrative Plant Science, we take pride in the ways in which our land grant mission calls us to address the needs of diverse stakeholders as well as our long tradition of international engagement. However, we are continuing to actively work at identifying barriers faced by underrepresented groups among faculty, staff, and students. Our goal is to insure that SIPS provides a welcoming environment where individuals can bring their diverse backgrounds and experiences to our collective task of finding science-based solutions to the world's challenges. See SIPS diversity data - Fall 2017. See also: Cornell diversity dashboard.
For more insights on the benefits of a diverse working environment, read Katherine Phillips' article in Scientific American, How Diversity Makes Us Smarter.
Diversity Resources at Cornell
- Resources for Engaging in Conversations About Race and Anti-Racism
- CALS Diversity & Inclusion Resources: mentoring, students, faculty
- Resources for students and post-docs at Cornell
- Diversity Policies and Initiatives
- Resources for students, staff, and faculty in need of assistance
- Guides from the Office of Institutional Equity and Title IX
Cornell Accessibility Services
Cornell's Accessibility Services page provides accessibility information for faculty/staff, students, and visitors including:
- Assistive technology for classes and meetings
- Accessible dining and library details
- Contacts to report a physical barrier to accessibility
- Accessible meeting and event checklist
- Contacts for the ADA Coordinator Team
- Resources for obtaining accommodations at Cornell
Readings/resources - diversity & inclusion in science, nature, and agriculture
- White Academia: Do Better - Jasmine Robert
- Cognitive Reserve and Racial Privilege in STEM - Mélise Edwards
- Lab heads should learn to talk about racism (Nature, 2018)
- To Learn Inclusion Skills Make it Personal (Nature, 2020)
- Science has a racism problem (Cell, 2020)
- Equity in Nature Resource Guide (compiled by Don Rakow)
- Uprooting Racism in the Food System (training)
- Leah Penniman: Farming While Black: African Diasporic Wisdom for Farming and Food Justice (video)
Outreach activities at SIPS directed at enhanced diversity and inclusion in our community
- SIPS Chair of Diversity & Inclusion - September 2021: Tom Silva welcomed as SIPS Chair of Diversity and Inclusion
- Connecting in SIPS - August 2021: SIPS Diversity & Inclusion Council sponsors a discussion of Beronda Montgomery’s book Lessons from Plants
- SIPS
- SIPS Chair of Diversity & Inclusion - May 2020: Hale Tufan was welcomed as SIPS Chair of Diversity and Inclusion. In addition to serving on the SIPS Executive Committee she also serves on the CALS Committee for Diversity & Inclusion.
- Diversity Audit: 2017-2018 SIPS contracted with Gender at Work to conduct a gender/diversity audit to identify barriers to enhancing diversity in SIPS.
- Diversity Preview Weekend: introduces underrepresented minorities to our research programs the year before they apply to graduate school (News coverage: 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021)
- 2021 SIPS Annual Report: See the Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion section and appendix of the Annual Report for a list of activities by SIPS members
- Plant science outreach in the public schools: graduate students teach science to the elementary grades in Ithaca, Geneva, New York City
- Expanding your Horizons: graduate students, faculty and staff present lead workshops for girls in grades 7-9 (2020, 2017, 2016)
- Summer Research Scholars Program: providing undergraduate interns with the opportunity to work with faculty, graduate students, postdocs, and staff on laboratory or field-based research projects