Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

News

DEI Committee

Initiatives

NERS Small Grant Assistance Program
Contact: Carolyn Kuranz
NERS is committed to the well-being of our students, including those coming from underrepresented educational, cultural, geographic, and economic backgrounds or other underrepresented identities. The department has recently received Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) grants from the College of Engineering to provide financial assistance for laptops and textbooks for our students. Applicants will be considered as long as funding is available. As long as the form is still active, funding is still available. Apply here.

Supporting a Diverse Student Population in NERS
Contact: Carolyn Kuranz
It is imperative that the department fosters an inclusive and supportive environment to allow minoritized groups to achieve their academic and professional goals. 

Gender Champions in Nuclear Policy (GCNP)
Contact: Todd Allen
NERS has joined the GCNP leadership network, which brings together heads of organizations working in nuclear policy who are committed to breaking down gender barriers and making gender equality a working reality in their spheres of influence.

Recruiting Trips to Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) and Women’s Colleges
Contact: Ryan McBride
Faculty from the NERS DEI Committee will travel to MSIs and women’s colleges to hold information sessions for students about the exciting research being done in the nuclear engineering and radiological sciences field today. All NERS faculty are invited and encouraged to make recruiting trips. 

Rackham Faculty Allies and Student Ally Diversity Initiative
Contact: Carolyn Kuranz
To strengthen DEI within the department, Kuranz has put together a series of events and activities. The planning of these events will be shaped by student input and any NERS student with ideas may contact Kuranz directly.

Rackham Recruiting Bootcamp Grant (ReBoot)
Contact: Igor Jovanovic
With support from Rackham, NERS hosts an annual recruiting boot camp to which we welcome 20 talented undergraduates—most of whom are women or from underrepresented groups—to acquaint them with our graduate program. While at NERS, the students are coached on how to apply to graduate school and motivated to do so.

MARS (Macroethical Responsibility to Society) Dialogues
Contact: Aditi Verma and Mackenzie Warwick
A discussion series presented by NERS and Aerospace Engineering that reflects on the Macroethical Responsibility to Society of our respective disciplines. These dialogues include workshops, case studies, journal club sessions, and social events.

Events

• Centering the Community in Nuclear Energy, September 6, 2024
• Whose Responsibility is DEIA in Stem After All? April 12, 2024
• Building Inclusive Teams, September 9, 2022
• Nuclear Innovation, Decarbonization, and Environmental Justice, September 15, 2021
• Increasing Diversity and Inclusion in Academic Departments, September 10, 2021
• DEI Townhall, April 23, 2021
• Towards Intersectional Equity in Complex Sociotechnical Systems, February 5, 2021
• Intro to LGBTQ+ Identities & Inclusive Language, January 22, 2021
• Antiracist Action Workshop, November 13, 2020
• Professional Cultures and Inequality in STEM with Erin Cech, U-M Department of Sociology, September 4, 2020
• Nuclear communities: Consent in nuclear waste siting, February 14, 2020

Resources

Reporting Concerns and Misconduct