LOOKING FORWARD: URGE ACTION ITEMS UNDERWAY FROM THE KANSASGEO POD

In Spring of 2021, colleagues from the University of Kansas (KU) Department of Geology and the Kansas Geological Survey (KGS) came together to form the KansasGeo pod as a part of the URGE initiative. Members included faculty and graduate students from the KU Geology department and scientists and staff from the KGS. The goal of having both institutions in one pod was to facilitate communication and shared resources amongst similar entities who already collaborate on research activities each year. At the end of the program, each group had defined actionable goals to work on for the next academic year that built upon the deliverables developed by the pod. For the KGS and KU Geology department, some overlapping goals and objectives included: 1) establishing a formal diversity, equity, and inclusion committee that meets regularly; 2) approving a field safety plan; 3) developing a code of conduct that will be used by all faculty, students, staff and affiliated employees; and 4) identifying workplace climate training that can be shared between the two organizations. In addition, the KGS group will be focusing on collecting demographic data of the KGS workforce over time as well as developing a community resource map for all KGS staff and affiliated employees. For the KU Geology department, additional goals and objectives include improving transparency and dissemination for reporting and measuring diversity demographics in the invited speakers for their departmental colloquium series. This presentation will highlight the current progress for each institution.