The HUB Advisory Council, Belmont's interdisciplinary council, is devoted to diversity, inclusion and belonging efforts across campus and is focused on enhancing and embedding a culture of inclusive excellence, meeting community members where they are. The HUB Advisory Council meets regularly to support Belmont's diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and serves in an advisory capacity to senior leadership. Members include administration, faculty, staff and students who represent the entire campus.
Mission & Vision
Mission: The champion of all campus-wide diversity and inclusion efforts, the council is focused on implementing thoughtful strategies to enhance and embed a culture of justice and inclusive excellence for faculty, staff and students.
Vision: The HUB Advisory Council’s vision is to ensure a welcoming climate, campus and workplace environment, and educational curriculum for all students, faculty and staff at Belmont University to thrive regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender expression, background, or experience.
What are Our Shared Values?
Social justice and equity: We are collectively responsible to ensure civil and human rights are experienced by everyone, and that all have access to opportunities for success.
Intercultural competence: We work to equip everyone with cognitive affective, and behavioral skills and characteristics to support their effective and appropriate interaction in a variety of intercultural contexts.
Unity and collaboration: We work together as individuals and groups toward a single purpose.
Leadership: We create an inspiring vision, model behavior, and motivate and inspire all to accomplish our vision.
Respect and civility: We exercise the fundamentals of courtesy, politeness, and consideration leading to mutual respect.
Faculty, Staff and Student Diversity:
- 477 FT Faculty (F1, F2) – 72 are diverse = 72/477 = 15%
- 622 FT & PT Staff (B1, BP, BO, BF, S1, S2, S4, S5) – 154 are diverse = 154/622 = 25%
- Student data
- Class of 2025 which represents Belmont’s most diverse entering cohort in history with 21.3% of students from historically underrepresented groups.
Belmont's Definition of Diversity:
"We are all created in the image of God, living as Christ’s body on earth with respect to differences that include, but are not limited to, ethnicity, gender identity, race and sexual orientation. The institutional definition of diversity at Belmont is consistent with our mission to engage and transform the world with disciplined intelligence, courage, and faith. Our words and actions toward everyone must be embodied with respect, dignity and compassion."
Diversity Focused Groups:
The HUB Advisory Council meets regularly to support Belmont's diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and serves in an advisory capacity to senior leadership. Members include administration, faculty, staff, and students who represent the entire campus.
The Faculty Inclusion and Diversity Education Committee (FIDE) which is a sub-committee of faculty senate and the University Staff Affairs Council (USAC) to understand how to better engage faculty and staff in diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. Representatives from FIDE and USAC are now members of the Welcome Home Diversity Council.
- Amidst the national conversation about racial justice and equity, the University held more than twenty listening sessions with students, faculty, staff, and alumni to determine how Belmont could further demonstrate its commitment to be a welcoming and inclusive campus that loves and values every individual.
- Extended the reach of the HUB Advisory Council by establishing dedicated sub-committees to focus on each core diversity strategy: Communication, Access and Success, Diversity Education and Campus and Community Engagement.
- In partnership with Student Life and the Office of Multicultural Learning & Experience (MLE), we have established and implemented a bias incident reporting system for students where they are able to share their concerns by reporting through the Office of the Dean of Students and submitting a Complaint & Bias Grievance Incident Reporting Form.
- In coordination with Human Resources, Belmont has added an informal resolution procedure for faculty and staff as an option for resolving disagreements and conflicts of various degrees of seriousness that may or may not rise to the level of a violation of the nondiscrimination policy.
- Established direct lines of communication between leaders of The Black Student Association (BSA) with both campus leadership and Faculty Senate leadership.
- Expanded and strengthened all diversity programming, providing opportunities for students, faculty, staff, and community members to be involved, learn, and participate in a more extensive lineup of events, speakers, and panelists than in previous years. These efforts include the annual MLK Celebration – A celebration of the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Belmont’s Diversity Week – An initiative of the HUB Advisory Council now in its 6th year, and the Curb College’s annual “Minding the Gap” Diversity in Entertainment Symposium.
- Held a workshop with Sodexo’s Global Diversity Officer and Senior Vice President of Corporate Responsibility Dr. Rohini Anand covering workforce trends and the importance of diversity in higher education.
- Partnered with Sodexo for a Diversity Summit for key campus leaders.
- Further developed self-directed learning opportunities for faculty and staff, as well as added opportunities for shared experiences and discussion in areas related to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
- Faculty and staff participated in 45 Diversity and Inclusion workshops, and student leaders participated in Belmont State of Mind diversity training.
- Awarded a faculty member (Anthony Blash) a one-year membership to the National Center for Faculty Diversity & Development (NCFDD). Blash will be bringing his findings to the WHDC, and subsequently to the faculty to share. His first significant benefit is finding mentorship from a colleague to be of great benefit.
- Prior to COVID, the Provost and selected faculty attended The Southern Regional Education Board annual meeting, to meet and engage with newly minted PhDs, to attract them to our Fellows program or to apply to open faculty lines. We also post our open positions on their virtual job board.
- Continued our support of scholarship programs designed to recruit diverse students to Belmont
- Diversity Fellows Program This post-doctoral teaching and research program provides a two-year, comprehensive, university-level teaching and research experience with a Belmont faculty member mentor to members of under-represented groups that have recently completed their terminal degree. The Fellows program assists in developing the pipeline for faculty to transition from graduate research at “R1” institutions into teaching-research positions at institutions like Belmont. Appointments are for a 12-month, full-time contract that includes teaching two to three courses per semester over two years (including summer teaching/research assignments), under the guidance and supervision of a Faculty Mentor All Colleges throughout the University are encouraged and able to participate in the Fellows program. Fellows are assigned to a faculty member who serves as an academic mentor. To date we have hired six persons from this program to join our faculty in CMPA, CHS, COB, CEMB and CLASS. Others who completed the program have all been hired into academic and scientific practice positions.
- We have worked with the provost’s office and Human Resources to reach agreement on methods to more effectively attract diverse faculty by advertising our open positions in locations more common to diverse faculty and have encouraged diverse faculty to be members of search committees for faculty positions.
- The Faculty Senate has established a standing committee named the Faculty Inclusion, Diversity and Equity (FIDE) Committee. This body has been influential as a part of the faculty senate to enhance the awareness of DEI on our campus by supporting the Memorial Plaza creation and is a part of our Welcome Home Diversity Council.
- Each year, there is a breakfast and update meeting sponsored by the University to update diverse faculty of the progress made on campus to improve DEI.
- University You at Belmont
- Freedom Plaza
- Juneteenth Celebration as well as the establishment of an additional Juneteenth paid holiday for employees.
- Scholar-in-Residence Program, an initiative that began in 2016 that brings diverse scholars– deans, senior administrators, presidents, or other scholars– whose lives and careers serve as an inspiration to underrepresented students. This program provides financial support for diverse faculty to visit from 3-5 days on our campus to share their successes and ideas, and to engage them with our faculty, our staff, and our students.
- Belmont Accelerator for Social Innovation Collaboration, or BASIC. BASIC promises to encourage and empower individuals across Belmont’s campus to use their intellectual capital and faithful commitment for the betterment of students, the local community, and the region.
- Guest Speakers, Belmont Faculty Hold Anti-Asian Racism Roundtable