Diversity Committee

Mission

"The Diversity Committee has three primary aims: (1) to enhance diversity of the membership of the Research Society on Alcohol (RSA) and foster a welcoming and inclusive climate at RSA; (2) to increase the breadth of research presented at the Annual Meeting of relevance to population diversity; (3) to foster the careers of under-represented members. The term diversity includes but is not limited to: sex, age, ethnicity, race, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, social class, and ability.

To achieve the first aim, increasing membership diversity, the Committee may conduct ongoing assessments of salient characteristics of attendees and presenters at the annual meeting, promote diversity in RSA leadership, increase the commitment of the organization to seek out opportunities to support underrepresented groups, identify and recruit promising researchers from under-represented groups, and coordinate RSA activities to address important issues involving the inclusiveness and diversity-related climate of the society. The Committee also may develop resources for public education and outreach beyond RSA.

The second aim of the Diversity Committee, to enhance the breadth of population diversity research presented at RSA, focuses on aligns with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Policy and Guidelines on the inclusion of women and minorities as subjects in clinical research and the NIH policy on the consideration of sex as a biological variable in NIH-funded research, extends beyond NIH policies to encompass a wider range of diverse populations. To achieve the aim of stimulating and improving the science related to diverse population characteristics, both human and animal, the Committee may assess the diversity representation of research topics, encourage and support submission of presentations for the Annual Meeting on diverse topics, and disseminate resources of relevance to diversity research.

To accomplish the third aim, the Diversity Committee may foster the careers of underrepresented members through events during the RSA annual meeting, recognize research excellence among underrepresented groups, and facilitate networking opportunities for individual researchers conducting research to decrease health disparities and increase health equity. The Committee also will provide mentorship and professional enrichment opportunities to RSA members from underrepresented groups through workshops, networking, and informal mentoring.

Members of the Committee are expected to attend the annual RSA conference, attend the Diversity Committee meeting at the conference, and assist with activities that assess and promote diversity at the annual meeting, including collaboration with other RSA Committees as appropriate to facilitate events in support of the Diversity Committee’s mission."

Meet the Committee

ROTATION OF MEMBERS

1. The Chair of the Committee will be nominated by the current Committee. The RSA Membership Committee will work with the Chair of the Diversity Committee to help ensure a diverse committee makeup with respect to seniority level, gender, under-represented minorities, ethnicity, and age, among other characteristics. Student membership is encouraged, and shall include at least one pre- and one post-doctoral trainee.
2. Members are selected and appointed by the Chair for a 4-year term, with the option of one consecutive re-appointment for a second 4-year term. Committee size will be 16 members, including the Chair (17 members in the case of Co-chairs). Graduate student members may rotate on and off the committee in less than four years, depending on when they transition out of their status as graduate students.
3. To preserve the diversity and continuity of the Committee, rotations will be staggered so that no more than 25% of the Committee changes each year. The Chair of the Committee may serve an additional 4-year term. Members will rotate off the Committee at the end of their terms, unless they submit a written request to serve another 4-year term and this request is supported by the Chair, or unless they respond positively to a request by the Chair to continue for another term. Requests for re-appointment will be most favorable when the Committee member commits to an active role in providing leadership to an initiative within the Committee.
4. As needed to perform its purpose, the committee may form sub-committees, chaired by an official committee member. The sub-committee members may be official committee members or volunteers, without term-limits, but must be an RSA member.