Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer's January Letter

January 10, 2023 - Jabbar R. Bennett, Ph.D.

DEI Strategic Theme Subcommittee update

Greetings,

The Office for Institutional Diversity and Inclusion has been working to align DEI Steering Committee Report and Plan recommendations with the MSU 2030: Empowering Excellence, Advancing Equity and Expanding Impact university strategic plan. In early November, I convened the DEI strategic theme subcommittee of the university strategic planning implementation steering committee to discuss progress made and next steps.

Members of this subcommittee oversee units where more than a dozen action planning teams are charged with planning and implementing relevant prioritized recommendations. In addition, these teams are considering proposed metrics and accountability measures.   

Proposed institutional-level metrics that will track progress toward DEI strategic plan goals may include:

  • Establishment of a fully operational Teaching and Learning Center
  • Increasing the percentage of faculty who cite DEI contributions in the Reappointment, Promotion and Tenure Process
  • Increasing graduation rates for underrepresented students
  • Increasing the percentage of staff hired from diverse and historically underrepresented backgrounds
  • Increasing the percentage of DEI-specific course offerings

On Nov. 28, I joined colleagues for the first MSU 2030 Strategic Planning Summit to discuss broad efforts to advance implementation across all six strategic themes, which includes DEI. I look forward to continued engagement with this critical group, along with members of the DEI strategic theme subcommittee and associated actional planning teams.  

The strategic plan website has been launched, strategicplan.msu.edu/progress, and reports on progress in the DEI strategic theme and others. In addition, we plan to develop a DEI dashboard to highlight achievements and efforts in progress.

I thank the IDI team, executive leadership and numerous campus partners for their dedication to advancing these and other efforts that contribute to fostering inclusive excellence at MSU. I encourage all to visit inclusion.msu.edu/news to learn more about implemented actions, including inclusive resources, policy revisions and efforts that strengthen our inclusive culture.

Sincerely, 

 

Jabbar R. Bennett, Ph.D. (he/him)

Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer