Diversity Conference Schedule and Registration
JMU 2020 Diversity Conference
Transforming Community Through Diversity and Inclusion
Wednesday, March 18, at Festival Conference Center
Registration is now open for the Diversity Conference. Please register today for your preferred sessions and lunch. Registration closes at 9:00 a.m. on Monday, March 16th. We look forward to welcoming you.
For additional conference information, please scroll through this page or click on an info button:
Conference Schedule
8:00 – 8:30 a.m. Check-in and Morning Refreshments
Outer Reception Area and Grand Ballroom
8:30 – 8:55 a.m. Welcome and Opening Remarks
Grand Ballroom
9:00 – 10:15 a.m. Session 1 – See below for titles and links to descriptions
10:30 – 11:45 a.m. Session 2 – See below for titles and links to descriptions
12:00 – 1:45 p.m. Lunch and Keynote Address
Grand Ballroom
Keynote
Dr. Janice Underwood
Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer
Office of Governor Ralph S. Northam
Recognition of Awards
Compass Awards
Woman of Distinction Awards
IDEA Grants
Provost Faculty Diversity Curriculum Grants
2:00 – 3:15 p.m. Session 3 – See below for titles and links to descriptions
3:30 – 4:00 p.m. Wrap-Up Session With Dr. Underwood
Grand Ballroom
Session Topics and Links to Session Descriptions
Sessions will be held in various locations throughout the Festival Center and Rose Library. Click on session title for a description of the session and presenter information.
Voices of JMU Faculty With Disabilities
Promising Practices and Interventions for Faculty Diversity Recruitment at UMBC
What Classroom Inclusion and Diversity Activities Can Teach Us!
Using the Organization Development Process to Create an Inclusive Culture in the Workplace
WOKEish: Building Cultural Competence, Moving From Concept to Action
Cross-Racial Mentoring: Moving Beyond Diversity and Inclusion to Belonging and Co-Creation
Reference Letter Writing: Writing About the Individual and Social Considerations
Microaggressions and Their Impact on Professional Identity in Higher Education
Sport for All: Developing Your Cultural Competency in the Coaching Context
Promising Practices and Interventions for Faculty Diversity Recruitment at UMBC
Rethinking Thinking: Designing for Neurodiversity
Diversity through Internationalization: Fulbright, INU, and More
Breaking the Binary: Supporting Non Mono-Sexual Students and Colleagues
The Experience of Preparing Future Faculty in Harrisonburg
Developing Culturally Competent Clinical Faculty
Creating Spaces to Combat Imposter Syndrome in Higher Education
Real Talk: Inclusion and the Black Male Student Experience at Madison
Promising Practices and Interventions for Faculty Diversity Recruitment at UMBC
Restoring Civility in the Workplace
Rethinking and Revising Your Syllabus with Diversity and Inclusion at the Center
Fighting Words: Expanding Awareness and Exploring Bias Through Black Poetry
JMU and Rwanda: Understanding University Initiatives in the Land of a Thousand Hills
Keep C.A.L.M. and Check Contrast
An I.D.E.A. to Promote Collaborative Learning within Undergraduate Student Teams
Share Your Story: The Journey Towards Culturally Responsive Practice
Conference Site Map and Parking
Festival Conference Center Floor Plan: Please use the Diversity Conference Site Map (PDF)
Parking Information: JMU faculty, staff, and students are required to park in appropriate parking lots with a JMU parking permit. All regulations will remain in effect while attending the conference. For your convenience, here is the Inner Campus Shuttle schedule. Campus visitors are directed to park in the East Campus Parking Deck (see JMU Campus map) between the hours of 7:45 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. on March 18, 2020. No parking permits will be necessary. Note that regular enforcement will continue in other parking lots, and guests may receive parking citations if parked in restricted lots. Guests are prohibited from parking in specialty spaces such as Service Vehicle spaces, accessible spaces without proper permit, or expired timed spaces. Guests are also prohibited from parking in Fire Lanes.
Access and Accommodations
Building Accessibility: Both Festival Conference Center and Rose Library are accessible with automatic doors, elevators between floors, and accessible and gender-neutral restrooms. For more information on building accessibility, please visit their respective pages: Festival Conference Center, Rose Library.
Accessible Parking: Accessible parking is available in D3 lot (2 van, 8 total accessible spaces), C12 lot (4 van, 12 total accessible spaces) and the Alumni Drive lot adjacent to the Leeolou Alumni Center (1 van, 5 total accessible spaces). If using Alumni Drive lot, enter Festival Center via connection in the Leeolou Alumni Center. Proper accessible permits are required, no JMU permit is required. See JMU Campus map for lot locations.
American Sign Language: ASL interpretation will be provided for the keynote and award presentations during lunch. Preferred seating near the interpreter will be available. Please email Lisa Hess to reserve a seat.
Dietary: The lunch buffet has been selected to accommodate common dietary restrictions. Items will be clearly labeled to designate them as made-without-gluten, vegetarian or vegan. JMU Special Events Catering is managed by Aramark. Aramark relies on our vendors' allergy warnings and listings. Because we operate a commercial kitchen where ingredient substitutions, recipe revisions and cross-contact with allergens is possible, Aramark cannot guarantee that any food item will be completely free of allergens. If medically necessary, meals made without gluten or made without dairy can be prepared and packaged separately. To request a packaged meal please email Kim Moubray.
Lactation Space: Festival Room 2016 has been designated as a private lactation space for the duration of the conference. To access the room please go to Festival Events Services (Room 2010) for a key on the day of the conference.
Accommodations: The Diversity Conference Committee makes every effort to ensure the conference is welcoming and accessible for all presenters and attendees to engage fully. To request an accommodation not listed above, please contact Lisa Hess at least two weeks in advance. In all situations, a good faith effort (up until the time of the event) will be made to provide accommodations.
Keynote Speaker
The JMU Diversity Conference is pleased to welcome Dr. Janice Underwood as our 2020 keynote speaker. Dr. Underwood serves as the Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer for the Office of Governor Ralph S. Northam. As the Commonwealth's first diversity officer, she is committed to addressing racial, ethnic, disability, gender-based, and other cultural inequities in formal and informal policies and practices in Virginia state government.
Prior to her appointment, Dr. Underwood served as Old Dominion University’s Director of Diversity Initiatives and as the chair of the President’s Task Force on Inclusive Excellence. She previously served as the Executive Director and Co-Principal Investigator for the Old Dominion University Teacher in Residence master’s program. Dr. Underwood also served for a number of years as a national board certified teacher for students with exceptionalities in Hampton City Schools. During her time as a classroom teacher, she served for two terms on the Virginia Advisory Board for Teacher Education and Licensure (ABTEL). As a national expert in the cultural contexts of public education, change management and leadership, and professional development/training, Dr. Underwood works to make the public and private sectors more culturally relevant. In doing so, she prepares professionals from a myriad of fields to meet the demands of working in diverse environments and address difficult truths, such as the school-to-prison pipeline, the lack of diversity in the workforce, and systemic and institutional bias.
She earned her Bachelor’s (1998) and Master’s (2002) degrees from Hampton University in Psychology and Behavior/Learning Disorders, respectively. In 2015, she earned her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from Old Dominion University, where her research focused on culturally relevant pedagogy.
Meet with Dr. Underwood at 3:30 p.m. for a conference wrap-up conversation.
Non-JMU Guests
Please register using the provided registration link on this page. You will be prompted to register as a guest on the registration form.
CEUs are available to non-JMU participants who attend ALL three sessions of the conference (0.6 CEUs will be awarded). There is a $25 certificate processing fee payable to JMU. JMU will follow up with you after the conference for processing CEUs.
Campus visitors are directed to park in the East Campus Parking Deck (see JMU Campus map) between the hours of 7:45 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. on March 18, 2020. No parking permits will be necessary. Note that regular enforcement will continue in other parking lots, and guests may receive parking citations if parked in restricted lots. Guests are prohibited from parking in specialty spaces such as Service Vehicle spaces, accessible spaces without proper permit, or expired timed spaces. They are also prohibited from parking in Fire Lanes.
Walk-In Policy
All conference attendees are highly encouraged to register using the link on this page. Space is limited and sessions will fill up. Walk-in registration will be allowed starting at 8:00 a.m. Session availability cannot be guaranteed.
Inclement Weather Policy
If JMU is closed - Conference will be cancelled.
If JMU opens one hour late - Conference schedule will be:
9:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. Check-In and Morning Refreshments
9:35 a.m. - 9:45 a.m. Welcome and Opening Remarks
9:50 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. Session 1
11:10 a.m. - 12:15 a.m. Session 2
12:30 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. Lunch with Keynote Speaker and Award Ceremony
2:10 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. Session 3
3:30 p.m. - Wrap-Up Conversation With Dr. Underwood
If JMU opens two hours late - Conference Schedule will be:
10:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. Check-In and Morning Refreshments
10:35 a.m. – 10:50 a.m. Welcome and Opening Remarks
Session 1 Cancelled
11:00 a.m. – 12:10 a.m. Session 2
12:15 p.m. – 1:55 p.m. Lunch with Keynote Speaker and Award Ceremony
2:00 p.m. – 3:15 p.m. Session 3
3:30 p.m. - Wrap-Up Conversation With Dr. Underwood
MSC MSC 7611
100 E. Grace Street
Room 100 East Grace Street
Harrisonburg, Virginia 22807
