How to Start an Affinity Group
How is an Affinity Group formed?
- A group of faculty and staff with a common interest can be an affinity group. At least one person is the designated "lead" in the group for at least 2 years. Leading means to manage the affinity group membership, gathering affinity group members, and sending out communication. The designated lead(s) can delegate some of this work like gathering the group through "no host" events.
The Office of International Education, Diversity, and Inclusion (OIEDI) can support affinity groups in the following ways:
- Working with affinity groups to schedule events
- Providing support with room reservations and catering ideas
- Consulting regarding budget needs
- Informing HR about your affinity group so that new employees can opt-into groups during their onboarding process
How does an Affinity Group get started?
- Clarify the purpose of the group: why does the group exist?
- Gather at least 3 people interested in being part of the group
- HR will not provide protected-class status employee data. Some examples include faculty: race, religion, sexual orientation, etc
- Getting folks to join will require other methods of outreach. Word-of-mouth and referring friends are the biggest ways of reaching people.
- OIEDI recommends posting onto UPBeat and letting people self-identify into the group, with posts three times a year (at the beginning of the group formation, at the beginning of the school, and at the end of the school year.)
UPBeat Sample:
"All University employees who self-identify as _____ (adjunct, faculty, staff, administration, etc.) are invited to contact (name) at (email@up.edu). This group has an email list serve so all members can stay connected, organize events, and share resources. Overall the mission is to (state mission). For any questions or ADA accommodations please contact (name at email@up.edu)."
For any additional questions please contact oiedi@up.edu
