The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy hosted the 2018 Transformative Diversity and Inclusion Retreat on Aug. 14.
The diversity and inclusion core team, which includes 29 pharmacy faculty, staff and students, used the retreat to begin establishing a shared philosophy of inclusivity and collaboration within the School.
The retreat was focused on expanding opportunities to enhance diversity and inclusion at the School. It featured conversations between the core team and faculty, staff and students at the School, who came to share their input on how the School could improve its outreach and inclusivity.
“We must continue to foster a culture in which diversity and inclusion is embraced and embedded in everything we do,” said Interim Dean Dhiren Thakker, Ph.D. “The School has made tremendous progress towards building an infrastructure to facilitate increasing pharmacist workforce diversity, but there is still work to be done.”
Carla White, the associate dean of organizational diversity and inclusion, said the core team will incorporate the information gathered at the retreat into a plan of action for the School.
“The retreat helped us to better understand the School’s diversity and inclusion landscape,” she said. “The next step will be to organize and report the findings to identify priorities and key strategies.”