NC State’s inauguralEquity Research Symposiumbrought together faculty, staff and students to explore research that examines issues related to equity from a variety of perspectives and disciplines. The February event featured more than 85 presentations representing all of the university’s colleges and a keynote address from Raj Chetty, William A. Ackman Professor of Economics at Harvard University.
We spoke withKaren Hollebrands和Juliana Makuchi Nfah-Abbenyi，他们与整个大学代表组成的委员会一起领导了计划工作。Hollebrands是教育学院研究与创新的副院长，Nfah-Abbenyi是人文与社会科学学院多样性助理院长。
摘要：What are your initial reactions about the symposium?
Hollebrands：对于我们许多人来说，研讨会是我们必须亲自见面的第一个机会之一，这本身就是令人兴奋的。直到那时，委员会实际上已经见面了，所以大家在一起并看到这一事件栩栩如生，真是太好了。对我来说，正是整体反应令人鼓舞 - 您把东西放在那里，您不确定人们是否会感兴趣。
The proposals and attendees far exceeded what we were hoping for, especially at a time when we were experiencing a spike in [COVID-19] cases with the omicron variant. While we had some people change the way they were attending from in person to virtual, we still had great participation overall.
nfah-abbenyi：它确实超出了我们的期望。所有大学都代表的事实对我来说确实令人印象深刻 - 它允许许多出色的对话和许多精彩的互动。而且，有这么多学生参加海报演讲的事实也很棒。总体而言是漫长的一天，但值得。
TA:活动的亮点是什么？
Hollebrands：从与会者的事后调查和轶事随访中，我们看到人们似乎真的喜欢小组讨论和主题演讲者。从参与的角度来看，我们从许多不同学科提交的88个摘要真是令人印象深刻。看到校园社区的回应方式确实是一个亮点。
nfah-abbenyi：主题演讲者确实花了一些时间来个性化北卡罗来纳州特定数据的演讲。他使数据易于访问 - 这样，与会者可以获取有关其社区和社区发生的事情的更多特定信息。他如何看待不同年龄和种族之间和种族之间的不平等，这确实很有趣，这确实表明，当存在差异时，不同的人会以不同的方式影响。它给了我们所有的思考。
TA:What were some things you learned from the inaugural event?
nfah-abbenyi：We heard from a number of attendees that they wanted more opportunities like this at the university, so that’s one thing. We learned that there’s a desire to expand equity-focused events and work on campus, which was encouraging. We’ve also known that there are so many people across campus doing equity work — one thing we’ve discussed is how we all can coordinate more for future opportunities.
Hollebrands：When we look at the abstracts we received, I think it gives a bigger picture of the work people are doing around equity and how it spans the university. The hope is that we can collaborate more. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to bring faculty together from different disciplines to think about potential courses or research projects we can pursue? It was just a great way to see how combined expertise can help us advance what’s happening around equity at the university. We also hope to increase attendance in future events. The current conditions of the pandemic made that challenging, but that’s certainly an area we hope to improve.
TA:您对未来大学研讨会和研究活动的希望是什么？
Hollebrands：When you step back and think about the university’s strategic plan, this symposium really speaks to several priorities. In particular, it helps move our culture forward around equity, diversity and belonging, and it advances us around research and scholarship. I look forward to seeing how the university envisions advancing the goal around equity, and whether this symposium and similar events could be a part of that.
nfah-abbenyi：将公平和包容性作为战略计划的关键组成部分非常令人鼓舞。当我们有计划中时，它就说明了我们作为大学的身份。我认为研讨会对这一目标有很大的贡献，我们希望我们能够将其推向未来的几年并扩展。
To learn more about the inaugural Equity Research Symposium and watch virtual sessions and the keynote address, please click这里.
Hollebrands and Nfah-Abbenyi want to thank the other members of the symposium planning committee for their support and participation. Members included:
- Bryan Bell, associate professor, College of Design
- 人文与社会科学学院研究与参与副院长汤姆·伯克兰（Tom Birkland）
- Angelitha Daniel, special advisor, DEI initiatives and director, College of Engineering
- Genevieve Garland, assistant vice chancellor of research operations and communications
- Alex Graves, director, Office of Diversity and Inclusion, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
- Holly Hurlburt, assistant dean and director, Division of Academic and Student Affairs
- Julie Ivy, professor, College of Education
- Melvin（Jai）Jackson，教师参与助理副教务长，机构公平与多样性办公室
- Latisha Knight，兽医学院助理临床教授
- 研究与创新办公室研究计划经理Laura Kroeger
- 威尔逊纺织学院的文化，才华和人力资源助理院长Alicia Lecceardone
- Stacy Nelson, interim associate dean for diversity and inclusion, College of Natural Resources
- 希瑟·帕蒂萨尔（Heather Patisaul），科学学院研究副院长
- Sheri Schwab，机构公平与多样性的副教务长
- David Shafer, assistant dean for outreach and diversity, the Graduate School
- Richard Warr, associate dean for faculty and research, Poole College of Management
- Phil Westmoreland, professor, College of Engineering
- Cranos Williams, Goodnight Distinguished Professor of Agricultural Analytics, College of Engineering
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