Diversity Plan

Instructor measures volunteer's head for stimulation placement during workshop

Ratified August 17, 2016; last updated July 13, 2023

Mission

The NC NM4R fully embraces the Diversity Plans of the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), where the center is housed and has its governance, and the National Institute of Health, where it is primarily funded. The Center further agrees to provide an environment that endorses the inclusion of all research investigators and/or clinicians in the field of Neuromodulation for Rehabilitation. Moreover, we pledge, that every NC NM4R Executive Committee (EC) Member, Faculty Investigator, Consultant, Collaborator, and staff member will make a good faith effort to provide equality of educational access to investigators with disabilities and appropriate necessary funding for reasonable accommodations.

Objectives

Our plan to solidify this commitment is as follows:

  1. In collaboration with the Office of the University Chief Diversity Officer, make sure that we are in step with university’s policy and procedures to assist our center members with providing reasonable accommodations for disabled investigators, collaborators, and applicants.
  2. Utilize MUSC’s, “A Faculty Guide to Accommodating Students with Disabilities,” as a reference and guide to making sure that we frequently address questions about working with investigators, collaborators and applicants with disabilities, as well as identifying a professional staff network.
  3. We will work with the Medical University of South Carolina to ensure that our recruitment plans include processes that will make sure that investigators, who have a disability or are from an underrepresented minority and/or ethnic group are aware of our programs and opportunities designed to serve participants from a variety of different types of backgrounds including ethnic minorities and individuals with disabilities.
  4. The NC NM4R will work to ensure that its web site, hosted by The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), will use responsive web design to adapt to various viewing devices. MUSC is committed to providing access to all individuals--disabled or not--who are seeking information on its Web sites.
  5. Likewise, as MUSC complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards for accessible design, we will remain committed to ensuring that every facility that we utilize is completely in compliance with this standard as it pertains to any training or activity that this center sponsors.
  6. The EC will also prioritize diversity in funding and collaborating opportunities when sponsoring research. Consideration will be given to representation across rehabilitation disciplines (e.g., NM4R faculty presenters at the workshops will include physical therapists, occupational therapists, bioengineers, neuroscientists, neurologists and psychiatrists), across research institutions (e.g., research intensive centers, NIH AREA institutions, Historically Black Colleges, and Universities, etc.) and across different NM4R research topics (e.g., rTMS, tDCS, VNS, etc.).
  7. The EC will also prioritize diversity in funding and collaborating opportunities when sponsoring research. Consideration will be given to representation across rehabilitation disciplines (e.g., NM4R faculty presenters at the workshops will include physical therapists, occupational therapists, bioengineers, neuroscientists, neurologists and psychiatrists), across research institutions (e.g., research intensive centers, NIH AREA institutions, Historically Black Colleges, and Universities, etc.) and across different NM4R research topics (e.g., rTMS, tDCS, VNS, etc.).
  8. When selecting experts for workshops, conferences, and webinars, utilization of diverse experts in the field will be a primary consideration.
  9. We will encourage the formation of affinity groups among the online research community to enhance the communication and sharing of resources and diverse perspectives.
  10. We will inform students, research fellows and their mentors about NIH’s Research Supplements to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research (PA-12-149) and help them prepare successful proposals for supplemental grants for stipend/salary/research costs.

Finally, we as a body, will work towards developing an inclusive culture by recruiting investigators with disabilities, who represent underserved groups and diverse populations who are currently working in the field of or who are interested in gaining immediate knowledge and training in cutting-edge NM4R applications.

An NIH Medical Rehabilitation Research Network center at the Medical University of South Carolina.

The National Center of Neuromodulation for Rehabilitation (NC NM4R) is supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development of the National Institutes of Health under award number P2CHD086844. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.