Tips

• 30 Aug, 2021
• 5 comments

Michigan State University today released its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Steering Committee Plan, culminating 18 months of review, stakeholder input and development. The plan was designed as a framework of recommendations to improve the culture around DEI and collaborate with overall strategic planning efforts across the university.

The DEI Steering Committee was formed by MSU President Samuel L. Stanley Jr., M.D., in December 2019, and is co-chaired by Wanda D. Lipscomb, Ph.D., associate professor of Psychiatry and College of Human Medicine senior associate dean for diversity and inclusion and Luis Alonzo Garcia, director of Migrant Student Services. The Committee was charged with taking inventory of the university’s efforts related to DEI across campus; identifying potential synergies; pinpointing existing gaps, and establishing a framework for making MSU a national leader in DEI. The framework includes 27 recommendations, categorized by four major themes:

• Increase diversity
• Ensure equity
• Promote inclusion 
• Enhance outreach and engagement

“MSU’s commitment to the values of diversity, equity and inclusion must be embedded in the university’s culture and meaningfully expressed in every academic and administrative unit,” Stanley said. “Our success depends on the engagement of the entire campus community. Guided by this framework, that is the work that lies ahead.”

The DEI Steering Committee included 26 MSU experts. The committee conducted 53 listening sessions with more than 400 participants from stakeholder groups across the university. The committee also reviewed and benchmarked 16 DEI plans from the Association of the American Universities and Big 10 institutions.

The recommendations will be incorporated into the work of MSU’s Strategic Planning Steering Committee; the efforts of MSU’s new Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer, Jabbar R. Bennett, Ph.D.; and the strategic planning divisions of all MSU academic and administrative units.