Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Department Actions

Our student-faculty DEI Committee works to shape departmental diversity initiatives and to increase transparency and accountability by documenting our efforts and plans. View the committee’s meeting minutes and updates.

  • The Peer Mentoring task force develops and implements large group, small group, and one-on-one peer mentoring opportunities surrounding issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion for students interested in or pursuing a degree/career in Communication Sciences and Disorders. We survey students to better understand their needs related to peer mentoring and utilize evaluations to measure the effectiveness of peer mentoring activities.
  • The DEI Resource Database task force coordinates resources for open discussions, readings, and other materials for the CSD Department in order to support independent exploration of relevant diversity, equity, and inclusion topics.
  • The Canvas Course (Racial Equity and Justice in Speech-Language Pathology) task force creates a didactic course to educate CSD students on issues related to diversity, equity and inclusion to create more culturally responsive clinicians and community members.
  • The DEI Initiatives in Clinical Education task force focuses on diversity, equity, and inclusion in clinical education and clinical services within the UW Speech and Hearing Clinic and the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. The task force evaluates the need for DEI initiatives, implements initiatives, and then evaluates the effects of these initiatives on the clinical education experience.
  • The ASHA Big 9 Resources task force creates and maintains a database of DEI resources as they relate to Big 9 topics (such as fluency, voice, swallowing, etc.) for clinical and academic faculty as well as others to use to improve services to clients in each Big 9 topic.
  • The Students of Color Affinity Space offers a safe and supportive community for students. We will host monthly informal meetings to share experiences, resources, and mentorship. The task force aims to advocate for and educate underrepresented groups in the community about opportunities in our fields.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion News and Events


Past Events

Prosem Lecture: Gender-Based Discrimination in CSD Programs and Research

NSSLHA Social Justice Workshop

Setting Your Own Path: Navigating Different Career Paths Stemming from CSD

NSSLHA DEI Guest Speaker Event: Marilouise Elizabeth

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Discussion Panel

Resources Related to CSD

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NSSLHA’s Stop the Silence Resources

Activity ideas, blog posts, and resources from from the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association (NSSLHA): https://www.nsslha.org/about/stop-the-silence/resources/

ASHA Multicultural Affairs and Resources

Volunteer opportunities and cultural competence resources from the Office of Multicultural Affairs at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association: https://www.asha.org/practice/multicultural/

LGBTQ+ CSD Resources

Groups that offer community, resources, and support for LGBTQA+ students and professionals.

Campus Resources

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Diversity Inventory

Diversity Inventory, a centralized online database of diversity initiatives: https://diversityinventory.wisc.edu/

Bias Reporting

Campus Multicultural Student Center

Campus Multicultural Student Center

The primary mission of the multicultural student center is to collaboratively strengthen and sustain an inclusive campus where all students, particularly students of color and other historically underserved students, are engaged and can realize an authentic Wisconsin experience.

Native American Center for Health Professions

Native American Center for Health Professions

Among its missions, NACHP is focused on enhancing the recruitment of Native students to UW-Madison health professional schools and programs and improving the Native health professional student experience.

STEM Diversity Network

STEM Diversity Network

While several programs on campus offer support to students, faculty and staff from diverse backgrounds, the STEM Diversity Network is a place designed to help all interested in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) careers specifically.  This network exists to aid the academic and social advancement of students (undergrad, grad, postdocs) in STEM by providing students with connections to other students, faculty, and resources available to help them succeed.

Multicultural Graduate Network

Multicultural Graduate Network

Sign up for the MGN email list by emailing join-mgnlistserv@lists.wisc.edu.

Housed within the Graduate School, the MGN is a social and networking group devoted to learning and professional development. This organization was originally created to serve the needs of graduate students of color and has recently grown to be an inclusive network for all graduate students on the UW-Madison campus.

SACNAS Student Chapter

SACNAS Student Chapter

SACNAS is a national society dedicated to advancing Hispanics/Chicanos and Native Americans in science and to promoting cultural diversity in the U.S. academic environment. All UW-Madison undergraduate and graduate students who are interested in STEM fields may join SACNAS.

Contact: Ahna Skop, faculty advisor, skop@wisc.edu

Women in Science and Engineering Leadership Institute

Women in Science and Engineering Leadership Institute

WISELI is an on-campus institute dedicated to promoting women scientists. The WISELI website hosts a useful collection of general and sexual-harassment-related information.

Graduate Women in Science

Graduate Women in Science

GWIS is a national organization that advances the participation and recognition of women in science and devoted to fostering research through grants, awards, and fellowships. The UW-Madison chapter provides a network for connecting female scientists across campus.

Learn about the GWIS graduate student representatives at http://www.gwisbeta.org/about-gwis/officers/.

LGBT Campus Center

LGBT Campus Center

This center offers several programs to support LGBT students on campus and provides training to help make classrooms and departments more inclusive. The LGBTCC staff members also organize a number of special interest groups, including one for graduate students.

Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Committee Members

Committee Points of Contact

Caroline Niziolek, Ph.D.

Credentials: DEI Committee Co-Chair

Position title: Assistant Professor

Email: cniziolek@wisc.edu

Courtney Seidel, M.S., CCC-SLP

Credentials: DEI Committee Co-Chair

Position title: Clinical Associate Professor, Speech-Language Pathologist

Email: cseidel3@wisc.edu

Ainsel Levitskaia-Collins

Position title: Student Liaison

Email: levitskaiaco@wisc.edu

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All Committee Members