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.


Communications (Website/Newsletter)

Goal: Keep track of our committee’s initiatives and communicate them publicly via the website and newsletter

Description: The website and newsletter communicate our ongoing DEI initiatives to the rest of the department and the outside world and serve as a transparent record of our progress and plans to increase accountability and convey our commitment to the ideals of DEI in a public way.


Peer Mentoring

Goal: Set up/support peer mentoring system

Description: 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. The task force surveys students to understand their needs related to peer mentoring and utilizes evaluations to measure the effectiveness of peer mentoring activities.


Academic Standards and Coursework

Goal: Work to understand where the curriculum is regarding DEI strengths and areas of growth (especially from the students’ perspectives) and suggest curriculum goals and possible strategies for achieving those goals.

Description: Discuss coordination of coursework/clinical education activities and avoid overlap; discuss content, continuity, and coordination. Provide regular two-way reportouts to HAG, CAG, SLAG, and/or curriculum committees about the others’ discussions/goals to facilitate synergy across the various committees/task forces that deal with curriculum issues. Suggest goals for the department using the DEI annual report as a guide for dynamic assessment of the DEI curriculum.


Resource Database 

Goal: Coordinate resources for open discussions/readings/materials

Description: Maintain a database organized by category/topic, type of media, etc., for a variety of topics related to DEI; create/maintain a database of DEI resources as they relate to various Big 9 topics (i.e., fluency, voice, swallowing, cognitive-communication, etc.).


Admissions and Recruitment

Goal: Reexamine our admissions, recruitment, hiring, and retention practices, focusing on underrepresented students, faculty, and staff.

Description: Evaluate the department’s graduate applications process each year and explore avenues for recruitment and hiring to diversify the faculty. Brainstorm creative solutions to diversify the hiring and admissions applicant pools.


Student Discussion Groups

Goal: Organize discussion groups, one for students and one for faculty/staff

Description: Organize, schedule, and facilitate discussion groups around DEI issues. Points of contact coordinate meeting scheduling and task force members rotate in helping to choose readings/videos, write discussion prompts, prepare materials for the group meetings, moderate the discussions, and share resources for attendees to continue education following discussions.


Faculty Discussion Groups

Goal: Organize 2 discussion groups for faculty/staff each fall and spring term

Description: Organize, schedule, and facilitate discussion groups for faculty and staff around DEI issues. Faculty task force members gather schedule availability from faculty and staff at the beginning of each term to coordinate meeting dates and times. Faculty task force members follow the lead and work with the student discussion group leaders to align discussion topics and materials between the two groups. Selection of materials (e.g., literature, articles, readings, videos) and writing of discussion prompts can adhere closely to the student group’s content or more distantly related to the discussion topic. Preparation of materials for the group meetings, moderation of the discussions, and sharing of resources after the discussion group is also the responsibility of the faculty task force members.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion News and Events

More events

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

Hema Nair

Position title: Student Liaison

Email: hnair4@wisc.edu

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All Committee Members