Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives
The college diversity plan focuses on taking tangible actions that support advancing goals from the university strategic plan.
Creativity and innovation are fostered in environments where diversity and inclusion exist. Incorporation of these values into our teaching and research programs is essential to ensure that the knowledge created and the students we graduate are connected to our global society.
We embrace Colorado State University’s Principles of Community of Inclusion, Integrity, Respect, Service, and Social Justice as our core values.
Implemented actions to date
Since Dean David McLean created the position of Assistant Dean for Diversity and Inclusion in 2018, we have developed a baseline to measure our success, identified areas for improvement, and created training opportunities and programs.
Our efforts continue to grow, and many of the actions listed below are ongoing.
Full-time college personnel focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion
Hired Melissa Burt as Assistant Dean for Diversity and Inclusion in 2018, providing consistent and centralized leadership to the whole college and connecting the college with university-level efforts.
Source News: Five questions with Melissa Burt
Hired Claudia Hernandez, Outreach and Equity Coordinator position within the Engineering Success Center.
Students
- Cultivated and built relationships with faculty at Minority Serving Institutions with atmospheric science and engineering programs to bolster recruitment and research collaborations.
- Recruited more students from underrepresented backgrounds in undergraduate engineering including students of color, first-generation students, and women.
- Hosted a series of professional development sessions for graduate students.
- Piloted a Women in Engineering Mentoring and Professional Development Program.
- Provided additional support for student diversity organizations.
Faculty and Staff
- Created college-wide professional development session for strategies to address sexual harassment and improve workplace climate.
- Created a three-part professional development workshop series – “Increasing Inclusivity in the WSCOE Classroom for Faculty/Staff” – in collaboration with Office of the Vice President for Diversity.
- Invested in faculty professional development by attending engineering diversity conferences.
College Structures
- Formed college-wide Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee and six departmental diversity and inclusion committees to share best practices and help inform college level efforts.
- Incorporated diversity, equity, and inclusion into components of the annual review process to document activities and hold faculty/staff accountable in performance reviews.
- Created faculty professional development workshops to help them gain skills, knowledge, and awareness around their biases and how this impacts and enhances teaching and student/peer interactions.
- Integrated diversity and inclusion into faculty hiring and recruitment. Currently reviewing hiring practices and recruitment strategies of departments to ensure alignment with College priorities around diversity, equity and inclusion. Developing standard practices for application materials (incl. diversity statements for faculty and staff), marketing and advertisement of positions, and implicit bias training of search committees, among other things.
- Collected data from in-person meetings with student organizations and climate surveys to identify target areas for . Findings were shared at college and department-level meetings to implement recommendations and set accountability measures.