Opportunity, Access, Community Engagement, and Support
Welcome to the University of Maryland College of Information (INFO) OACES Resources. INFO is committed to creating an inclusive and equitable environment for all students, staff, and faculty. In addition to the below resources, the OACES unit is specifically devoted to supporting INFO in creating a more engaged community, and connecting us to wider university, local, state, national, and international partners.
Equal Employment Officer – Ensures that considerations of diversity and inclusion are central to hiring and personnel decisions at the INFO College. Dr. Renee Hill and Ron Padrón are the INFO College Equity Administrators.
Land and Enslavement Acknowledgements
Land Acknowledgement
Every community owes its existence and strength to the generations before them, around the world, who contributed their hopes, dreams, and energy into making the history that led to this moment.
Truth and acknowledgement are critical in building mutual respect and connections across all barriers of heritage and difference.
So, we acknowledge the truth that is often buried: We are on the ancestral lands of the Piscataway People, who are the ancestral stewards of this sacred land. It is their historical responsibility to advocate for the four-legged, the winged, those that crawl and those that swim. They remind us that clean air and pristine waterways are essential to all life.
This Land Acknowledgement is a vocal reminder for each of us as two-leggeds to ensure our physical environment is in better condition than what we inherited, for the health and prosperity of future generations.
Enslavement Acknowledgement
We, at the University of Maryland, recognize and honor the exploited labor of forcefully enslaved people upon which the foundations of the United States and our institution were built.
Enslaved people of African descent farmed, paved, maintained, and developed the land on which our university stands today. Through intergenerational resistance, leadership and a steadfast pursuit of freedom and justice, their descendants fought and continue to fight for a societal transformation in defiance of the profound injustices of the transatlantic trade, chattel slavery, convict leasing, Jim Crow laws, dehumanization and the caste system that permeates our existence. They desegregated and integrated our classrooms and now lead our university and Maryland Terps forward to achieving a better world.
We are forever indebted to the unwilling generational sacrifices and stolen labor of the enslaved Africans and their descendants. Together, we will strive to atone, heal and uplift the unbreakable spirit and beauty of Black Americans.
OACES Workshop/Consultation Request Form
The INFO College is committed to creating an inclusive and equitable environment for all students, staff, and faculty. The OACES team is available for consultation or custom workshops for your unit, classroom, or student organization. If our team is not the best equipped to meet your needs, we will facilitate a workshop or consultation with the appropriate campus office/resource.
Please complete the INFO OACES Workshop/Consultation Request Form to request a workshop or consultation.
Faculty and Staff Resources
Faculty and Staff Resources
Below you will find a growing list of resources compiled by the INFO OACES team to assist in creating a culture of belonging for all students, staff, and faculty. Dr. Renee Hill and Ron Padrón are the INFO College Equity Administrators.
Please note, we understand that this list is a work in progress and may not capture every resource. As we discover additional resources, they will be added. If you have a resource you would like us to consider adding, please email info-oaces@umd.edu.
GENERAL
UMD Office of Belonging and Community – Resource Library
UMD Office of Belonging and Community: Bias Incident Support Services
UMD Office of Civil Rights and Sexual Misconduct
UMD Division of Student Affairs – Campus Pantry
UMD Office of Belonging and Community – Enslavement Acknowledgement
UMD Office of Belonging and Community – Land Acknowledgement
Maryland Open Source Textbook Initiative
UMD Teaching and Learning Transformation Center – Compassion and Connection
UMD Teaching and Learning Transformation Center – Teaching and Learning in Times of Social Unrest
UMD Teaching and Learning Transformation Center – Teaching Academy
UMD Faculty Staff Assistance Program
UMD University Human Resources – Labor Relations
LGBTQ+
National LGBTQ Task Force Glossary of Terms
Gender Inclusive Resources – UMD LGBTQ+ Equity Center
Trans Policy Reform Blog – Transgender Research Informed Consent (TRICON) Disclosure Policy
Resources on Personal Pronouns – Pronouns.org
DISABILITY/ACCESSIBILITY
UMD Office of Belonging and Community – Accessibility
Division of Information Technology – Digital Accessibility
UMD Accessibility and Disability Services – Instructor and Staff Resources
UMD Teaching and Learning Transformation Center – Accessibility and Accommodations
UMD Teaching and Learning Transformation Center – Neurodiversity in the Classroom
IMMIGRANT AND UNDOCUMENTED RESOURCES
UMD Stamp Student Union – Immigrant and Undocumented Student Life
Immigrants Rising – Building Effective Support for UndocuEducators in Higher Education (PDF)
INCLUSIVE PEDAGOGY
UMD Office of Multi-Ethnic Student Education – Anti-Racism Resources
UMD Teaching and Learning Transformation Center – Classroom Climate
UMD Teaching and Learning Transformation Center – Equity and Inclusion
RELIGION AND FAITH
UMD Stamp Student Union – Chaplains
UMD Stamp Student Union – Multifaith Religious Calendar
UMD Office of Belonging and Community – Jewish Identities and Antisemitism Programming Series
UMD Office of Belonging and Community – Resources on antisemitism and Islamophobia
National Education Association – Countering Islamophobia
National Education Association – Resources to Counter Antisemitism and Holocaust Denial