For 5th consecutive year, School of Nursing receives Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award
October 6, 2020
The University of Minnesota School of Nursing was one of only 11 American Association of Colleges of Nursing member schools and 46 institutions nationwide to receive the Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity Magazine. This marks the fifth consecutive year the school has received the HEED Award, which honors U.S. nursing, medical, dental, pharmacy, osteopathic, veterinary, and other health schools and centers that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion.
The School of Nursing’s increased involvement of students, staff and faculty in its initiatives that promote a climate of equity and anti-racism, its educational programming that promotes inclusivity, and its efforts to recruit and retain diverse and underrepresented students and faculty factored into its selection as a HEED Award recipient.
“Our school has a strong history of equity and inclusion, but the events of 2020 have helped us realize more fully the inequities in healthcare and academia,” says Clinical Associate Professor Barbara Peterson, PhD, APRN, PMHCNS-BC, director of Inclusivity, Diversity & Equity. “We are innovating ways of responding to the needs facing our school and are committed to the everyday work of inclusivity, diversity and equity. We still have much to do to dismantle racism and create a more equitable and just school, and, we are appreciative of this award that affirms we’re on the correct path.”
The School of Nursing and the other recipients of the 2020 HEED Award will be featured in the December issue of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine.
“The 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,” says Lenore Pearlstein, publisher of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine. “We take a detailed approach to reviewing each application in deciding who will be named a HEED Award recipient. Our standards are high, and we look for institutions where diversity and inclusion are woven into the work being done every day across their campus.”
More information on inclusivity, diversity and equity efforts at the School of Nursing can be found on our Inclusivity, Diversity & Equity page.