Town halls to discuss implementing PACOR recommendations

Members of the UB community are invited to discuss how to advance diversity, equity, inclusion and justice at the university at three virtual town halls taking place next month.

The town halls, which are being presented by the Office of the Provost and the President’s Advisory Council on Race (PACOR) Implementation Committee, will be held from noon to 1:30 p.m. March 15, 16 and 17. PACOR subcommittees will present their recommendations at the sessions, each of which target key focus areas:

• March 15: Faculty recruitment, mentoring and retention, scholarship, and tenure and recognition. Join the session at this Zoom link.
  

• March 16: Curriculum and pedagogy, the student experience and programs, and inclusive space. Join the session at this Zoom link.

• March 17: Staff recruitment, mentoring and advancement, and community engagement.Join the session at this Zoom link.

Participants may submit questions to the panelists via Zoom during the town halls. More extensive feedback may be submitted after each session via the PACOR website, through March 31.

The town halls are being hosted by PACOR Steering Committeeco-chairsSuzanne Rosenblith, dean of the Graduate School of Education, and Mark Alnutt, vice president and director of athletics.

President Satish K. Tripathi established PACOR in June 2020 to help guide the university in realizing its ideals of equity, diversity, inclusion and social justice, and to ensure UB is equitable in its policies, programs, activities and traditions.

After months of discussion and research, PACOR, comprised of faculty, staff, students and alumni, presented its findings and recommendations to the UB community during a webinar last March.

During the town halls next month, subcommittees of the PACOR Implementation Committee will present their proposals on implementing those PACOR recommendations.

“We know, as a university community, that we can effect change through the education of our students, our research, our creative work and our clinical care,” Tripathi said in announcing the formation of the advisory council. “More than ever before, UB should serve as a bastion of hope and a community of action compelled by the greater good.

“As a scholarly community, it is imperative that we explore, understand and respond to racism and systemic inequality.”