Awards, Education, Faculty and Staff

DOCS Program Selected for Inspiring Affinity Group Award 

The UNC Adams School of Dentistry’s Dental and Oral health Community Scholars (DOC Scholars) Program has been named one of INSIGHT Into Diversity’s 2020 Inspiring Affinity Groups. The award is given to programs that inspire and encourage higher education professionals as a result of the opportunities the program offers, including mentoring, collaboration, social networking and more.  

“This designation and recognition is a feather in the cap of the entire Adams School of Dentistry family and not just the DOC Scholars Program,” said Assistant Dean for Inclusive Excellence and Equity Initiatives, Sylvia Frazier-Bowers, DDS, PhD 

“Especially in this COVID climate, where equity and access issues are on the rise, we greatly benefit from this award. It signifies our commitment to remaining equitable and inclusive to the more than 250,000 readership in higher education. It has already attracted other interested partners who join us in making this available to a much broader audience.” 

Sylvia Frazier-Bowers, DDS, PhD

Spearheaded by Frazier-Bowers, the DOC Scholars Program began with a focus on the enrichment of Adams School of Dentistry dental students and faculty, and to explore and investigate the meaning of cultural competence and humility in the delivery of oral health care.  

Today, the DOC Scholars Program has expanded to include all health professionalsProgram partners include the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and UNC School of Nursing, with the UNC School of Medicine joining as a new collaborator. The program has evolved into the DOCSpeaks Initiative. 

DOCSpeaks, a professional learning community iteration of the DOC Scholars Program, was established to bring in content experts to invigorate learning and improve communication on cultural issues. DOCSpeaks is a series of TED talk-style sessions featuring topics that intersect cultural competence and health care.  

The series has been shared in three to five-minute clips on Yammer, a University-wide social media platform, to promote a conversation surrounding inclusive excellence within the Adams School of Dentistry and across the UNC-Chapel Hill campus.  

“It is an incredible honor that the DOC Scholars Program received this distinction from INSIGHT Into Diversity,” said Scott S. De Rossi, DMD, MBA, dean and professor of the Adams School of Dentistry. “It is a remarkable program and one that our community has whole-heartedly embraced from its onset. We are proud of this recognition, and I congratulate all involved in the program’s success.” 

The 38 national award winners will be profiled in INSIGHT Into Diversity’s July/August magazine. 

INSIGHT into Diversity is the oldest and largest diversity and inclusion publication in higher education, and the premiere resource for diversity and inclusion news and information. For more than 45 years, INSIGHT has connected potential employees with institutions and businesses choosing to embrace a workforce more reflective of our local and national communities. INSIGHT is the creator of the annual Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award, and the Viewfinder Campus Climate Surveys.  

Click here to learn more about DOCS Program. The DOCSpeaks Program is generously funded by the Chancellor’s Carolina Seminars Program.