National Award Recognizes Purdue Veterinary Medicine’s Continued Excellence in Diversity

September 27, 2024

For the fifth consecutive year, the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine has received the national Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award. Presented by INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine, the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education, the award recognizes U.S. health colleges and universities that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion. As an award recipient, the college will be featured, along with 70 other recipients, in the November/ December 2024 issue of Insight Into Diversity magazine.

Purdue Veterinary Medicine assistant dean for diversity, equity and inclusion, Marsha Baker, said the college has a strong record of advancing core values of DEI through evidence-based mentoring, teaching, research, hiring, promotion, recruitment, and retention. “As a result, our college has established a solid foundation for sustaining a welcoming environment and actively valuing diversity, equity, and inclusion,” Baker said. “Receiving this award demonstrates that we have outstanding programmatic initiatives, and that our approach to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion is interwoven into all aspects of our missions of learning, discovery, and engagement.”

The college’s DEI programs include:

Ongoing efforts to implement and monitor DEI initiatives, including the work of the Diversity Action Committee to foster the college’s successful implementation of the DEI Strategic Plan.
Creative initiatives launched and sustained through the college’s Office of Engagement, including the League of VetaHumanz, which provides access and support for underserved children as they pursue their dreams of becoming veterinary professionals; and Global Engagement programming that expands study abroad opportunities for DVM and Veterinary Nursing students by attracting funding to support student travel overseas.
The Vet Up! program that provides opportunities and support for equity-minded individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds to enter the veterinary profession and serve society by advancing public health, ensuring food safety, or serving rural areas.
Active partnerships with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU).
DEI training programs for faculty, staff, and students that include Learning Cafes and Mediation Training.
The Certificate Program for Diversity and Inclusion in Veterinary Medicine that involves a unique combination of distance learning, community service, and reflective assignments to equip participants with the skills and understanding needed to foster inclusivity within their respective institutions.
The Purdue Post-Baccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP) for Translational Biomedical Sciences that fosters diversity in the biomedical sciences through a one-year post-baccalaureate program that provides in-depth research experience, graduate coursework, professional development, and career planning.
Development of the new Animal Allies Veterinary Nursing Summer Program to recruit and advance a diverse community of faculty, staff and students involved in veterinary nursing education.
An active chapter of the student organization VOICE – “Veterinarians as One Inclusive Community for Empowerment.”
Recognition programs to celebrate faculty and staff who have contributed to diversity within the college as well as externally.

“The Health Professions HEED Award process consists of a comprehensive and rigorous application that includes questions relating to the recruitment and retention of students and employees — and best practices for both — continued leadership support for diversity, and other aspects of campus diversity and inclusion,” said Lenore Pearlstein, publisher of Insight Into Diversity magazine. “We take a detailed approach to reviewing each application in deciding who will be named a Health Professions HEED Award recipient. Our standards are high, and we look for schools where diversity and inclusion are woven into the work being done every day across their campus.”

Purdue Veterinary Medicine is one of only nine colleges of veterinary medicine selected to receive the 2024 Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award.

High school students from Indiana’s capitol city of Indianapolis visited the College of Veterinary Medicine this summer to participate the Animal Allies in Veterinary Nursing Summer Program.

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