DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION PLAN
DIVERSITY
EQUITY
INCLUSION
We believe that every person should feel as though they belong here. We are learning how to involve more unique perspectives and actively invite participation from historically underrepresented groups to make our community a better place for all.
We are intentional about eliminating barriers that have prevented full participation and are working to increase access to resources and networks for underrepresented groups across our student, faculty and staff populations.
We understand and value that every individual is unique. We see this uniqueness shaped by race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, genderr identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, age, physical abilities, religious beliefs, political beliefs and other life experiences and ideologies.
CURRENT COLLEGE-WIDE EFFORTS This plan is not the beginning of our DEI efforts — it is indicative of our ongoing work at Dietrich College. We have implemented many concrete changes over the last few years. For example, our director of diversity and inclusion has implemented training that all of our undergraduate students and faculty receive at their orientations. Faculty search committee chairs are now receiving training, and in the next round of hiring, we will require all committees to have a diversity advocate and to demonstrate good faith efforts toward a candidate pool that is diverse at every stage. Another concrete practice we have changed was a recommendation from the Task Force on Campus Climate and members of our own faculty: improve the process by which we appoint leadership positions in the college. For example, we now fill part-time faculty associate dean positions by soliciting nominations widely and selecting finalists with a committee representing a wide array of stakeholders. We will review, revise and document the processes by which we appoint department heads, award chairs, ask for service on important committees and appoint a wide array of other positions. Our community has been critically thinking about ways to provide access to immersive learning experiences involving different perspectives. Initiatives such as our Askwith Kenner Global Languages and Cultures Room bring the world to campus. The room offers students and the community an interactive language classroom and learning space. We also are transforming minds of our undergraduate students through a required idea-driven Grand Challenge Seminar in their first year. Faculty from a wide range of disciplines across CMU co-teach the seminars, which focus on issues affecting students’ lives in the 21st century. The courses encourage students to recognize how multiple perspectives are essential to address complicated problems, and they build concrete skills — like collaboration, communication and data analysis — that can be used in other courses as the students successfully navigate their university experience and beyond. Not only do we invest in our students, faculty and staff, but Dietrich College also seeks out meaningful ways to engage the broader community. Since 1999, high school and college students from across western Pennsylvania have addressed topics of difference and diversity during Carnegie Mellon’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Writing Awards. Winners have touched on topics ranging from racial and sexual identity to the current political climate and more. In 2018, Dietrich College launched the Pittsburgh Summer Internship Program to connect our undergraduates students with internship opportunities at nonprofits, government organizations and startups throughout the region. We provide support to the students as they give back and learn from staff at a variety of organizations, including the Women’s Law Project, FISA Foundation and 412 Food Rescue. This is only a snapshot of our efforts. We seek to strengthen our efforts by embedding diversity, equity and inclusion in every part of our college’s social and academic fabric.
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DIETRICH COLLEGE DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION PLAN
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