InclusiveVT publishes its first annual report
Virginia Tech's InclusiveVT has published its annual report, which highlights inclusion and diversity efforts during the initiative's first year.
“We’ve made good progress over the past year,” President Timothy D. Sands wrote in the report's introduction. “This status report reflects a great deal of work by many individuals across our university community.”
The report includes information from a range of contributors, including students, caucuses, administrators, faculty, and inclusion coordinators. Data from the Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness also is featured in the report, which was compiled by Vice President and Dean for Graduate Education Karen P. DePauw.
InclusiveVT is a university-wide effort to advance inclusion and diversity initiatives on all campuses. It was adopted by Sands in July 2014 following unanimous recommendations by the Task Force on Inclusive Excellence.
Sands has called the initiative a framework for students, administrators, faculty, and staff to “advance a bold and reinvigorated inclusion agenda” that affirms the university’s Principles of Community and 2013-2018 Diversity Strategic Plan.
InclusiveVT is led by the President’s Inclusion and Diversity Executive Council, the inclusion coordinators, the advisory community, and the senior advisor to the president and vice provost for inclusion and diversity.
The annual report is presented in three main sections: the current status of inclusion and diversity; facts and figures about diversity; and an analysis of InclusiveVT initiatives and recommendations for 2015-2016. Links to more details and pertinent information are provided throughout the report. A summary of progress on the 86 original initiatives proposed by the university's colleges and units during the first year, also is included in the report.
An interactive graphic, InclusiveVT Explorer, is available on the InclusiveVT website. The student-developed graphic shows the web of connections between constituent groups, programs, colleges and departments, and inclusion initiatives. DePauw said feedback about the graphic is welcome.
The report ends with a look forward at action planned for the program’s second year, dubbed InclusiveVT 2.0, stating Virginia Tech will “move very intentionally toward inclusion and university transformation." Next steps identified in the report include continuing progress on the first year’s initiatives, which have been updated; encouraging new efforts or initiatives; establishing university-wide efforts and collaborations; and establishing processes for securing financial support for initiatives.
“And we will do what we do best – innovate, by trying new things and taking some risks,” said Sands.
To find out more about InclusiveVT and how to get involved in new and ongoing inclusion and diversity efforts across the university campuses, visit this page.
Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 240 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.
