Dear WPI Community,
As we conclude the FY 24 academic year, we are pleased to recognize the significant contributions of the following 20 departments, units, schools, and/or divisions to our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) initiatives:
• School of Arts & Sciences
• Undergraduate Studies
• Office Vice Provost for Research
• Division of Enrollment Management and Student Affairs
• Graduate Studies
• Facilities and Campus Planning
• Information Technology
• The Global School
• Center for Project-Based Learning
• George C. Gordon Library
• Morgan Teaching and Learning Center
• Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Multicultural Education
• LSAMP/Biomedical Engineering
• Office of General Council
• The Provost’s Office
• Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center
• Marketing Communications
• School of Engineering
• University Advancement
• Division of Talent and Inclusion
The collective work were organized around one of three main themes, each leading to impactful projects:
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Learning and Professional Development: Our community dedicated itself to enhancing knowledge, skills, and practices related to DEIB principles among faculty, staff, and students. Initiatives included workshops, training sessions, and research opportunities aimed at promoting understanding and implementation of DEIB principles. For instance, the Morgan Teaching and Learning Center led workshops on inclusive teaching methods, the Division of Talent and Inclusion spearheaded recruitment and retention strategies, and the Office of the Vice Provost for Research supported research outcomes through DEIB seed grants.
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Creating Inclusive Campus Experiences: Projects focused on cultivating a welcoming and supportive environment for all members of the campus community. Efforts included improving accessibility, enhancing support services, and fostering a sense of belonging among students, faculty, and staff. For example, the School of Arts & Sciences conducted workshops to enhance syllabi and pedagogical inclusivity, Undergraduate Studies piloted a mini-summer bridge program to support student transition, and Information Technology launched a name pronunciation feature in Workday.
- Innovation Practices and Fundraising: This theme concentrated on innovative approaches and fundraising efforts aimed at advancing DEIB within academic and professional contexts. Initiatives ranged from DEIB-focused research to scholarship opportunities for underrepresented groups and innovative project-based learning experiences. For instance, the Center for Project-Based Learning increased diversity on its advisory board, the Division of Enrollment Management and Student Affairs provided scholarship opportunities for underrepresented students, and University Advancement engaged underrepresented WPI alumni.
These projects demonstrate our commitment to fostering a welcoming and inclusive environment for all members of the WPI community. We take great pride in this work and eagerly anticipate how our colleagues will continue to build upon these efforts in the future.
For the FY 25 academic school year, DEIB goals will be integrated into all departments, units, schools, and divisions’ goals rather than being separate. For details on all the DEIB projects during the FY 24 year, please reach out to Tony Laing, Assistant Vice President for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging within the Division of Talent and Inclusion at tlaing@wpi.edu.
On April 4, the following 18 departments, units, schools, and divisions participated in a DEIB poster presentation. To review their work, please click on the dropdown arrow below:
School of Arts & Sciences
Empowering Diversity Through Dynamic Pedagogy, Curricular Development & Mentorship
Staff Involvement: Francesca Bernardi, Farley Chery, Natalie Farny, Robert Krueger, Carissa Olsen, Lindsay Davis, Oren Mangoubi, Fabricio Murai, Raisa Trubko, and others across various departments.
DEIB Goals Completed
Pedagogy and Mentorship: Conducted syllabus inclusivity teaching workshops across various departments, focusing on pronoun usage, inclusive strategies, and conscientious citation practices.
Curricular Development: Diversified curricular offerings by expanding course offerings in Gender, Sexuality & Women’s Studies, Latin American & Caribbean Studies, and Africana Studies.
Peer Mentoring Programs: Implemented and continued peer mentoring programs in Mathematics and Biology & Biotechnology departments, emphasizing student experience and success.
Challenges Faced
Uneven DEIB Labor Distribution: Female-identified faculty, faculty of color, and junior faculty disproportionately shoulder DEIB labor.
Resource Allocation: Limited resources and competing priorities hinder sustainable change.
New or Uncompleted Goals
Measuring Participation: Ongoing efforts to measure faculty participation in DEIB professional development workshops across departments.
Fostering Connections: Plans to foster closer ties with DEIB unit and recognize DEIB efforts of faculty not involved in official committees.
Alignment with WPI's Strategy Priorities
Prioritizing inclusion and belonging through pedagogical inclusivity, curricular development, and peer mentoring. Focused on fostering diversity across the university in alignment with WPI’s commitment to equity and belonging.
Office of Undergraduate Studies
Unifying, Supporting, and Leveraging Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Initiatives
Staff Involvement: Debra Boucher, Paul Reilly, Rachael Heard, Colleen Shaver, Anne Ludes, Noemi Robertson, Kathy Chen, and other staff (Jessica Rosewitz, Jeannine Coburn, Rodica Neamtu, Crystal Brown, Sujatha Koduvayur) outside of Undergraduate Studies.
DEIB Goals Completed
Centralization of Initiatives: Unified DEIB initiatives across multiple offices to foster collaborations and maximize resource utilization effectively.
Support for Marginalized Students: Facilitated grant-funded programs to eliminate financial barriers and provide opportunities for marginalized student groups.
Research Opportunities: Coordinated undergraduate research opportunities with a DEIB lens, promoting diversity in research and scholarship.
Challenges Faced
Resource Scarcity: Limited time and resources posed challenges in contributing to DEIB initiatives.
Resistance to Change: Overcoming resistance to institutional change due to time constraints and reluctance to alter the status quo.
New or Uncompleted Goals
Development of Tools and Integration of Data Sets: Continuing the development of tools and integration of data sets to support DEIB programs and assist in the development of grants.
Alignment with WPI’s Strategy Priorities
UGS's DEIB goals advance inclusion and belonging by utilizing NSF S-STEM scholarships to support marginalized students. Embracing equity, inclusion, and anti-racism principles, UGS listens to student needs to ensure a sense of belonging.
Graduate Studies
Inclusivity from Inquiry to Graduation
Staff Involvement: Agata Lajoie, Melissa Terrio, Allyson Bernard, Lori Kendall-Taylor, Rory Flinn, Jane Lesniewski
DEIB Goals Completed: Enhanced Recruitment and Enrollment
National Conferences: Successfully targeted underrepresented groups through national conferences and recruiting fairs, offering application fee waivers, and joining name exchanges.
Fostered Sense of Belonging: Implemented support programs including academic life coaching and community-building initiatives.
Cultivated DEIB Culture: Conducted staff development initiatives focusing on DEIB training and engagement.
Challenges Faced
Reallocating resources due to a priority shift towards international recruitment in India impacted the implementation of initial strategies.
New or Uncompleted Goals
Plan to conduct team-level SIE planning to foster greater ownership and alignment with team priorities.
Alignment with WPI’s Strategy Priorities
Enhancing the recruitment and enrollment of underrepresented graduate students builds an inclusive campus culture. Fostering a sense of belonging for graduate students through support and mentorship builds an inclusive campus culture. Cultivating a culture of DEIB in Graduate Studies through staff development initiatives fosters inclusion and belonging.
Facilities and Campus Planning
Improving Physical and Mental Space on Campus
Staff Involvement: Bill Battelle, Hannah Poirier, Suzette Santiago, Amy L’Heureux, Dawn Marttila
DEIB Goals Completed
Developed a comprehensive professional development and cross-training program tailored to enhance team collaboration and skills within the Facilities and Campus Planning department.
Implemented internal growth and wellness initiatives aimed at supporting employee well-being, fostering a positive work environment.
Challenges Faced
Limited Bandwidth: Facing challenges in forming committees and implementing strategies due to the diverse operational nature of the department and resource constraints.
New or Uncompleted Goals
Evergreen Goals: Continued focus on team well-being and development to ensure a healthy and thriving workforce.
Alignment with WPI’s Strategy Priorities
Enhancing team well-being directly contributes to fostering inclusion and connection across campus, aligning with WPI's strategic goal of nurturing a supportive and inclusive campus.
Information Technology
Your Name is Important at WPI
Staff Involvement: Kim Bromann, Meredith Clancy, Jonathan Eck, Austin Hancock, Vijay Menta, Reema Sharma
DEIB Goals Completed
Implemented phonetic name spelling and pronunciation recording in Workday to ensure respectful name usage.
Partnered with Student Affairs and the DEIB unit within the Division of Talent and Inclusion for successful rollout of name pronunciation feature.
Challenges Faced
Limited Documentation and Integration: As early adopters of this Workday enhancement, the team encountered challenges due to limited documentation, reporting, and integration capabilities for the feature. In response, requests were promptly made to Workday to improve the available resources. Internally, collaborative efforts were undertaken to develop supplementary documentation, integration solutions, and workarounds for reporting.
New or Uncompleted Goals
Integration with Other Applications: Plan to integrate phonetic name spelling and pronunciation recording with various applications for broader campus usage.
Alignment with WPI’s Strategy Priorities
Fostering inclusion and belonging through respectful name usage and visibility of preferred name and pronouns supports WPI's strategic goal of creating an inclusive community.
The Global School
Justice, Equity, and Transformation in the Global School
Staff Involvement: Faculty and staff, including Lisa Stoddard, Anne Ogilvie, Laureen Elgert, Kathleen Head, Deb Fusaro, Tony Laing, Kent Rissmiller, and others, led or co-led projects related to DEIB initiatives within the Global School.
DEIB Goals Completed
The Global School launched the Global School JET Grants, supporting justice, equity, and transformation (JET) initiatives. Two projects received funding in 2023, focusing on menstrual hygiene awareness and student reflection during off-campus projects. Additionally, the Global Experience Office (GEO) collaborated to enhance equity in the IQP application process and integrated JET criteria into the Global Lab Fellowship selection.
Challenges Faced
Integrating a JET award into the Presidential IQP Awards proved challenging due to established traditions.
New or Uncompleted Goals
Future goals include integrating a JET Presidential IQP Award, continuing to address bias in the global opportunities allocation tool, maintaining JET criteria in the Global Lab Fellowships, and assessing and revising the JET grant program.
Alignment with WPI’s Strategy Priorities
The initiatives align with fostering inclusion and belonging through supporting JET initiatives, addressing bias in program tools, and incorporating DEIB principles into fellowship programs.
Center for Project-Based Learning
Centering DEIB in the National Project-Based Learning Agenda
Staff Involvement: Kris Wobbe, Director, Kimberly LeChasseur, Sara Ringer
DEIB Goals Completed
In response to an equity audit revealing a high percentage of minority-serving institutions (MSIs) as clients, the Center for Project-Based Learning integrated content on culturally responsive pedagogy and MSI-specific topics into its programming.
Challenges Faced
Limited staffing impacted the scope of activities, necessitating a delicate balance between pursuing new goals and maintaining existing commitments. With only 2.5 FTE, progress on new initiatives was slowed.
New or Uncompleted Goals
Planned goals include securing funding for Center for Project-Based Learning research on culturally responsive pedagogy and increasing diversity in the advisory board.
Alignment with WPI's Strategy Priorities
These initiatives align with fostering inclusion and belonging by increasing representation in Center for Project-Based Learning and fostering asset-based framing, contributing to WPI's commitment to foster inclusion, and belonging.
George C. Gordon Library
Deepening and Sustaining Inclusive and Affordable Learning
Staff Involvement: Paige Wilkins, Elizabeth Dufresne, Lori Ostapowicz-Critz, Anna Gold
DEIB Goals Completed
Although none of our goals for this academic year have been fully completed, we are on track to achieve them by the end of this fiscal year, or before the next academic year.
Develop online research guides on various topics including Black Studies, Asian-American Studies, Indigenous Studies, Islamic-American Studies, and Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies.
Complete an accessibility and inclusion audit of the library’s Drupal web presence.
Increase activity levels in production and use of WPI-created Open Educational Resources. Projects and support began in January and will continue through the summer.
Challenges Faced
Staffing was the primary challenge, with the team operating at reduced capacity. We anticipate being fully staffed by May 2024, aiming to complete Goal 1 by summer 2024 for use in AY2024-2025. This project is on track, with a deferred start due to other commitments in the fall. Technical issues prevent access to measures of OER use/viewing in Digital WPI.
Alignment with WPI's Strategy Priorities
Our goals extend previous efforts, enhancing research and learning resource accessibility. They address affordability and representation (Goal 3), physical and cultural access in services (Goal 2), and affordable access to information, integrating diverse voices and experiences into the curriculum (Goal 1).
Morgan Teaching and Learning Center
Institutionalizing Faculty Development for Inclusive Pedagogy
Staff Involvement: Chrys Demetry, Caitlin Keller, Valerie Smedile-Rifkin, Kris Sullivan
DEIB Goals Completed
Implemented the Morgan Pedagogy Champions initiative, fostering faculty engagement in inclusive pedagogy through a "train-the-trainer" model, enhancing scalability.
Enhanced basic pedagogical training for new faculty, ensuring explicit attention to DEIB principles through the FORT micro-course, facilitated in collaboration with the Provost’s Office.
Challenges Faced and Strategies to Address
Challenges: Faculty overwhelmed by increased student support demands, limited time for professional development.
Strategies: Prioritized impactful small changes, utilized existing structures like departmental meetings, emphasized sustained departmental conversations on inclusive pedagogy.
New or Uncompleted Goals
Currently, no new goals remain uncompleted. However, continuous refinement and adaptation of existing initiatives are ongoing to meet evolving needs.
Alignment with WPI's Strategy Priorities
The initiatives align with WPI's commitment to equitable learning experiences for all students. The FORT initiative normalizes inclusive pedagogy training for all faculty, while the Morgan Pedagogy Champions program ensures ongoing improvement in inclusive pedagogy within departments.
Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Multicultural Education & LSAMP/Biomedical Engineering
Reinvigorate the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) Program at WPI
Staff Involvement: Lauren Feldman, Kalvin Cummings, Nikita McKay
DEIB Goals Completed
Aligned LSAMP with WPI's Scope of Work to ensure congruence with institutional objectives.
Successfully increased LSAMP enrollment and retention rates.
Exceeded the target number of LSAMP Scholars, welcoming 55 new participants.
Conducted professional development sessions focusing on graduate school preparation and research engagement.
Encouraged LSAMP Scholars to apply for external research experiences, resulting in increased applications.
Challenges Faced
Limited availability of academic research labs posed challenges for scholars seeking research opportunities during the academic year.
New or Uncompleted Goals
Improve communication channels for informing LSAMP scholars about available research opportunities.
Establish platforms for scholars to showcase their research findings through campus based and Northeast LSAMP alliance opportunities.
Alignment with WPI's Strategy Priorities
The LSAMP program directly contributes to WPI's strategic priority of fostering inclusion and belonging by providing resources and support for academic and career success, thereby enhancing diversity in STEM education.
The Provost’s Office
Diversity Advocates Program
Staff Involvement: Provost, Deans, Department Heads, and faculty participating in search committees.
DEIB Goals Completed
Implemented diversity advocate program for faculty hiring, assigning advocates to search committees to ensure diverse candidate pools and fair hiring practices. Results are documented and considered during the hiring process.
Challenges Faced
Data reporting for the initiative needs strengthening to provide comprehensive insights.
New or Uncompleted Goals
Enhance data reporting capabilities to better evaluate the effectiveness of the diversity advocate program.
Alignment with WPI's Strategy Priorities
The Diversity Advocates Program aligns with WPI's Strategy Priority #4 by fostering inclusion and belonging through efforts to diversify the faculty.
Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center
Inspire, Build, and Elevate Inclusive
Staff Involvement: Curtis Abel, Kristie DeJesus, Lusine Baghsarian, Janet Zafiris, Adam Sears, Mitra Anand
DEIB Goals Completed
Under the "Inspire" pillar, we collaborated with diverse student clubs to host panels on I&E topics, funded student teams for innovative projects through Makerbucks and Tinkerbox programs and offered hands-on workshops during Winter Session.
Through the "Build" pillar, we facilitated open forums to refine value propositions, resulting in notable successes like Dream. Ai’s pre-seed funding offer.
In the "Elevate" pillar, we secured funding to bring STEM education to underprivileged schools in Tanzania and co-advised projects aimed at combating stereotypes in video games.
Challenges Faced
While Goal #1 encountered no challenges in AY24-25, Goal #2 faced funding constraints, leading to its incompleteness. Despite resubmitting a capital request for AY24-25, securing funding remains a challenge.
New or Uncompleted Goals
Continued efforts to secure funding for Goal #2 in AY24-25 are ongoing, emphasizing the importance of enhancing Makerspace & Prototyping Lab accessibility for everyone.
Alignment with WPI's Strategy Priorities
Goal #1 aligns with WPI's strategy by fostering diversity, inclusion, and belongingness within I&E programs, thus creating a supportive environment for all students. Goal #2 contributes to enhancing accessibility and inclusivity within Makerspace & Prototyping Lab, in line with WPI's commitment to fostering inclusion and belonging.
Marketing Communications
Cultivating Inclusion through Marketing Communications
Staff Involvement: Leadership in DEIB initiatives is diffused across the Marketing Communications team, reflecting our integrated approach to threading DEIB throughout our work.
DEIB Goals Completed
Amplified diverse voices through Student Voices stories and WPI Journal features, fostering a sense of belonging.
Ensured digital accessibility by meeting WCAG standards, facilitating name pronunciation, and implementing an audio function for news stories.
Promoted DEI learning via training sessions, event attendance, and tracking engagement with diversity-related content.
Enhanced social responsibility messaging through targeted ads and strategic communications during the MHWB crisis.
Challenges Faced
Overcoming invisibility of diversity and language barriers posed challenges. Strategies included pronoun usage, encouraging sharing of lived experiences, and providing communication training.
New or Uncompleted Goals
The online Editorial Guide to Inclusive Language remains incomplete and will be finalized in the upcoming academic year, alongside continued language discussions in training sessions.
Alignment with WPI's Strategy Priorities
Our DEIB goals directly align with Strategy Priority #4 by fostering inclusion and belonging through purposeful language, diverse representation, and accessible communication channels.
University Advancement
Advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in University Advancement
Staff Involvement: Donna Stock, Monica Ellis, Maria Torres-Reyes, Lisa Maizite, Dave Ortendahl, Erin Harper, Liz Chirico, Aubrey Valley, Jenn Daigle, Sira Frongillo, Judy Jaeger, Stephanie Pasha
DEIB Goals Completed
Strategic Fundraising: Highlighted DEIB funding opportunities during Fall 2023 Giving Day. Collaborated with the Office of General Counsel to update scholarship agreements. Secured funding for DEIB initiatives like Engineering Ambassadors.
Alumni Engagement: Provided diverse perspectives in speaking engagements and panel presentations. Utilized the Alumni Association's "Event in a Box" series for inclusive gatherings. Collaborated with HCDC and ODIME for career talks and events.
Showcasing Diverse Achievements: Expanded the pipeline of diverse stories in donor profiles and alumni features. Developed digital stories for heritage months. Increased WPI's visibility in the Worcester community through DEIB-related sponsorships.
Challenges Faced
Balancing competing priorities and resource constraints.
Ensuring alignment with institutional goals amidst evolving DEIB landscape.
New or Uncompleted Goals
Further diversify volunteer leadership.
Enhance storytelling efforts to include more diverse narratives.
Alignment with WPI's Strategy Priorities
University Advancement's efforts align with WPI's strategic priorities by fostering an inclusive campus culture, supporting student success, and amplifying diverse voices within the community.
Division of Talent and Inclusion
Fostering Community, Belonging, Learning and Engagement
Staff Involvement: Joellen Andrews, Hilary Clark, Kat Keyes, Kelly Draper, Sarah Sweet, Tracy West, Christopher Benoit, Kalvin Cummings, James DeLeon, Ryan Duval, Lauren Feldman, Roxanne Gardner, Gina Ferraro, Bwann Gwann, Stan Horton, Tony Laing, Arnold Lane, Alesia LeSane, Nikita McKay
DEIB Goals Completed
The Division of Talent and Inclusion (T&I) achieved three key goals in FY24:
Enhanced employee and student engagement through tailored professional development programs and training sessions.
Improved recruitment and retention strategies through initiatives like the Workplace Climate Survey and inclusive search training sessions.
Strengthened the campus experience for historically underrepresented students by expanding multicultural affinity spaces and launching new student identity centers.
Challenges Faced
Overall, T&I evaluates how we prioritize the use of our resources to ensure the best effectiveness and efficiency. T&I has seen benefits from spaces on campus that have been allocated and designed, in collaboration with students, and how we need to keep the importance of these spaces, and more, in mind to integrate them into plans for renovations of existing facilities and potential space expansion within the university’s strategic campus master planning framework to provide an inclusive student and employee experience.
New or Uncompleted Goals
Uncompleted goals include finalizing the Editorial Guide to Inclusive Language and implementing additional certificate programs. Efforts to identify prayer spaces, establish a Queer Resource Center, and enhance student diversity initiatives.
Alignment with WPI's Strategy Priorities
T&I has invested in the development of innovative programs aimed at enriching the living, learning, and working environment for staff, faculty, and students in the past year. These efforts are ongoing and are aligned with our strategic priority of nurturing inclusion and fostering a sense of belonging. Throughout this endeavor, T&I has remained steadfast in prioritizing engagement, recruitment, retention, and enhancing the overall employee and student experience.
Office Vice Provost for Research
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Goals
Staff Involvement: All members of the OVPR team support research and the teams’ related DEIB initiatives. Sujatha Koduvayur and Priscilla Vazquez are the key staff members leading these efforts.
DEIB Goals Completed
Promote and Support Research Opportunities with a DEIB Focus:
NIH Diversity Supplements: Identified eligible grants and PIs, conducted kick-off meetings, and submitted two applications with another in progress.
Dissemination of Funding Opportunities: Identified NSF opportunities and assisted faculty in applying to the BPE program.
Showcase DEI Research and Scholarship Opportunities:
DEIJ PGP: Successfully completed two rounds of awards, funding a total of 13 projects. Next round planned for Fall 2024.
Website/WPI Today Articles: Featured DEIJ PGP research on the WPI Research website with updates.
Challenges Faced
Resource Constraints: Limited team bandwidth and competing commitments hindered engagement with funding agencies and internal learning initiatives.
New or Uncompleted Goals
Internal Learning and Understanding of DEIB: Exploring training options with T&I experts for OVPR team to enhance DEIB understanding.
PoPP In Design Internship Program: Placed three graphic design interns from underrepresented groups in paid internships.
NSF Granted: Planned submission for end of summer to support training of underrepresented trainees.
NIH T34 Grant: Awarded to support underrepresented undergraduates.
NSF S-STEM Planning Grant: Submitted for community college transfer students at WPI.
Alignment with WPI's Strategy Priorities
The OVPR DEIB goals directly foster inclusion and belonging by supporting Purpose-Driven Education & Research through targeted funding and showcasing DEI research opportunities.
Division of Enrollment Management
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Goals
Staff Involvement: Financial Aid team; Undergraduate Admissions team; Enrollment and Systems Operations team and Pre-Collegiate Outreach team
DEIB Goals Completed: Enhancing Financial Aid Communication
Simplified language in educational materials related to financial aid.
Created a FAFSA simplification page on the website.
Committed to the College Cost Transparency Initiative for aiding first-year, domestic students.
Challenges Faced
Delay in receiving information from the Department of Education impacted timely educational outreach.
New or Uncompleted Goals
Continuously reviewing website and aid offers for readability, accessibility, and understanding while building an inclusive campus culture through equitable practices and policies.
DEIB Goals Completed: Strengthening Pre-Collegiate Outreach Relationships
Established partnerships with Community-Based Organizations such as Boston Bridges Initiatives to increase diversity in pre-College Summer programs.
New or Uncompleted Goals
Continuation of partnership development for future outreach efforts.
DEIB Goals Completed: Fostering Inclusivity in Enrollment Management
Conducted college workshops and events to attract and support students of color.
Diversified visit options for prospective students, including tailored events for first-generation and underrepresented students.
Challenges Faced
Interpretation of the Supreme Court ruling on Race-Based Admissions impacted planning.
New or Uncompleted Goals
Continued efforts to foster inclusivity in enrollment management.
DEIB Goals Completed: Improving Systems and Operations
Streamlined name usage within systems and databases to accommodate lived names and pronouns.
Challenges Faced
Mapping data to various campus systems such as Workday posed initial challenges.
New or Uncompleted Goals
Continued monitoring and upgrades to ensure data accuracy.
Alignment with WPI’s Strategic Priorities
Build an inclusive campus culture through the implementation of our divisional Inclusive Excellence plans, equitable practices, and inclusive policies.
Student Affairs Division
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Goals
Staff Involvement: Amy Curran, Charlie Morse, members of the Accessibility Council, Matt Foster, and Philip Clay, Kim Wykes, Christine Sharry, Emily Perlow, Philip Clay, Sabrina Rebecchi, Colleen Callahan-Panday, Matt Foster, Mitchell Dumke, Riky Hanlan, Amanda Laungani, and the Heebner Career Development Center team.
DEIB Goals Completed
The Accessibility Advisory Council has been established.
Identified accessibility barriers and developed an implementation plan.
Conducted an accessibility assessment of the physical campus.
Challenges Faced
Adjustments due to staffing vacancies.
Progress on Accessibility Audit dependent on Capital Project funding.
New or Uncompleted Goals: Ongoing nature of the goal.
DEIB Goals Completed
Established Lotus Lounge for Asian student population.
Developed initiatives to support transfer students.
Created support groups and services in SDCC.
Analyzed Enrolled Student Survey data for underrepresented populations.
Renovated International Student and Scholars Office.
Offered affinity housing options.
New or Uncompleted Goals
Ongoing nature of goals related to transfer student experience, SDCC support, and Enrolled Student Survey.
DEIB Goals Completed
Utilized data from first destination survey to track success rates.
Developed resources and initiatives for career preparation.
Involved alumni from underrepresented populations in Heebner CDC’s programs.
New or Uncompleted Goals
Ongoing nature of goals.
Alignment with WPI’s Strategic Priorities
These goals build on an inclusive campus culture.