Employee Resource Groups

New ERG Creation Process:

For guidance on creating a new ERG, contact Reetta Gach, the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion's Director of Programs, at reetta.gach@umaryalnd.edu. 

The application must consist of the following:

• ERG Name
• Membership (please describe the target membership)
• Description (please provide a two to three-sentence description of your ERG to be posted on the OEDI website):
• Officers (please list the names, titles, school/unit, and email addresses of all proposed officers- *minimum three and must be from two or more schools/units)
• Chair
• Vice Chair
• Secretary
• Other(s)
• Roster: A membership roster with name, title, faculty or staff, and school/department/unit must be attached. In addition to officers, new ERGs must have at least five members. Please be sure to get consent from your members to list their names. 

Submit a request

Do not complete if your ERG has been a formally recognized group for less than 6 months.

Renewal: The yearly renewal process will be from July 15 to August 15 and will be initiated through an email to the group's leadership and an Elm announcement with the link to renew. The decision to renew will be communicated by September 1.

1. Please provide a narrative summary describing your events and activities for the past academic year. Please complete each section outlined below.

▪ What goals did your organization hope to accomplish this past year? In what ways were you successful? In what ways did you fall short?

▪ How did your organization and your activities serve your mission?

▪ Provide a list of activities held in the past year with dates and the number of attendees (if known) (include general body meetings, officer meetings, collaborative events, lectures, socials, check-ins, or other activities).

2. Include details of how funds were spent (item, amount, date).

Please highlight any specific changes to your by-laws here (describe changes such as the addition of an officer succession plan, changes to the officer structure, changes to the #, type, or frequency of meetings, changes to mission, goal, or objectives, etc.)

3. Please list all proposed officers' names, titles, schools/units, and email addresses for the upcoming academic year (a minimum of 3).

• Chair
• Vice Chair
• Secretary
• Other(s)

4. Please designate a representative(s) (name and email) to attend ERG council meetings.

SUBMIT to ERG Renewal Form. By submitting this application, you agree that the information presented is accurate. Thank you for your willingness to help advance UMB’s diversity, equity, and inclusion goals. You will receive information regarding the status and approval of your application by September 1.

Each ERG can apply for at least $500 annually towards activities open to the UMB community. Additional funding may be requested.

Funding Requests:

1. The request must be submitted through the ERG Funds Request Form.
2. The request must include:
   1. Name of group
   2. Contact person’s name, title, email address, and phone number
   3. Name and description of event or activity
   4. Date of event or activity
   5. Amount requested
   6. Purpose of funds (e.g., catering, speaker, venue, etc.)
   7. SOAPF for funds transfers

Purchases:

 Spending of State funds must adhere to Financial Affairs’ policies and procedures.

The Director of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Programs will serve as a resource to staff and faculty as they plan to create a group, apply to be a formally recognized group, and event program, and resource planning after group creation.

The Director of Programs will:

• Review and approve new groups and renewing groups.
• Guide UMB employees through the formation or renewal of an ERG.
• Provide guidance and resources for issues that may arise during the group's development or after it is established, such as biases, microaggressions, non-abiding by UMB’s Core Values, misconduct, etc.
• Act as a champion for the ERG by sharing information about the ERG’s activities and encouraging attendance at key events.
• Create and lead a network of ERG leaders who will challenge and inspire each other to create and implement new and innovative ideas for events, programs, and workshops.
• Offer visioning advice and a broader perspective to help align ERG activities with the University’s Strategic Plan and Core Values.
• Allow the ERG leadership team to act with full autonomy and be available for counsel when needed.
• Meet at least quarterly with leadership as a group (ERG Council Meetings) and one-on-one, as needed, with the leadership of each group.
• Review and approve funding requests.

Reach out to the executive board to express interest in joining the group.

Formal Groups: Formal groups have gone through the formation or renewal process, are recognized on OEDI’s website, are active (meetings or events), and have leadership that attends ERG Council meetings.

Informal Groups: Although informal groups may be similar to formal groups, they are not recognized on OEDI's ERG website, do not receive financial support from OEDI, ERG leadership do not meet regularly with OEDI leadership, and the informal groups have not gone through the "New Group Creation" process or the yearly "Renewal" Process.

To be approved as a formally recognized group, the group must be inclusive and require leadership and membership from at least two schools or units.

Spending of State funds must adhere to Financial Affairs’ policies and procedures.

OEDI's website will include contact information and a two to three-sentence description for officially recognized ERGs.

If an ERG does not submit a renewal application, it will become inactive and be removed from OEDI’s website. After one year of inactive status, it will no longer be recognized as a group. To restart the group, an “ERG New Group Request” must be submitted.

Other ways a group may go to inactive status are ERG not meeting as a group, leadership not meeting with OEDI, the group having no activity during the prior year, the group having no leadership, or the group having no group members.

A Teams site must be created for the group as the official repository of agendas, meeting minutes, and planning documents. The Director of Programs must be added to the Teams site as an administrator to support document turnover to new leadership.

Request a new team site at https://www.umaryland.edu/office365/teams/.

After Approval:

After approval and before recognition on OEDI’s website, the group must create a mission statement, goals and objectives, and bylaws. OEDI is available for consultation.

• Mission Statement (please indicate the mission of the ERG)
• Goals and Objectives (please indicate the goals and objectives of your ERG)
• Alignment (please provide examples of how your ERG’s goals and objectives align with the objectives of the OEDI)
• Bylaws [Sample ERG Bylaws]