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Actions & Accountability

DEI & Accessibility IDEAS, COMPLIMENTS & CONCERNS

Please use this anonymous form to send us your ideas, compliments or to report any accessibility concerns or bias related incidents to the ChemE DEI Committee. Access the form

The department strives to communicate its goals, define metrics of success, and document progress in its DEI activities. Internally, we are increasingly incorporating status reports and avenues for feedback into regular department communications. Here, we will post our metrics and update the status of our DEI initiatives as they advance.

Goals and Accomplishments

The goals and accomplishments listed here are updated at least once per year by the co-chairs of the DEI Committee. Use the link in the box at the right to send feedback or questions regarding this page. 

 

*Indicates a goal or accomplishment that was initially suggested through the DEI feedback form. 

 

2017 and earlier accomplishments

 

  • Begin annual community celebrations for Veteran's Day, PRIDE celebrations, and International Women's Day
  • Formation of initial DEI committee
  • Organization of annual Women's Networking Session and DEI Posters at PhD visit weekend
  • Prof. Nance and students found the first Women in Chemical Engineering chapter in the world
  • Organize first annual sexual harassment training for graduate students and faculty

2018-2020 accomplishments

 

  • Facilitated SafeZone Trainings
  • Developed faculty hiring rubric and prioritize proposed contribution to diversity
  • Implemented equal bathroom representation in ChemE spaces
  • Developed and utilized assessment rubrics and provide training for all involved in recruitment and selection of students, staff, employees, and for funding
  • Removed GRE from admissions requirements (Access the slide deck used in ChemE faculty discussions around this decision here (ppt) and reach out to professor Elizabeth Nance with questions.)
  • Held town halls on DEI and anti-racism work to engage entire community in identifying and setting priorities
  • Developed onboarding materials for new faculty to engrain culture of DEI
  • IDEA Fund established

2021-2023 accomplishments

 

  • IDEA Project: K-12 STEM outreach course: DNA Origami for Drug Delivery Systems (Spring 2021)
  • College of Engineering establishes Office of Inclusive Excellence (completed 2021)
  • IDEA Project Seminar Series: Improving Graduate School accessibility (AUT 2021)
  • Renovate Benson Hall lobby to be welcoming to all (completed 2021)*
  • Restructure DEI committee leadership to support more rapid innovation department-wide (completed 2021)
  • IDEA Project Course: Ethics and DEI for Chemical Engineers (Winter 2022)
  • Deliver initial Universal Design for Learning training (scheduled May 2022)
  • DEI Website Overhaul, with additional resources, toolkit, and information about accountability.
  • Complete an audit of DEI processes related to staff using the UW DEI Rubric (completed December 2021), identify next steps for making improvements (completed January 2022)

2021-2023 goals

 

  • Work with responsible staff to implement department wide changes in response to UW DEI Rubric internal audit. (in-progress)
  • Establish formal mentoring programs for community members (in-progress, SPR 2022 SEED grant award for undergraduate mentoring program)
  • Improve Benson Hall physical accessibility (in-progress)*
  • Begin publishing a dashboard for climate survey results, equity outcomes, and diversity statistics (coming soon)*
  • Began participation in the UW Community College Research Institute STEM Transfer Partnerships program, in collaboration with Green River Community College

 

DEI Feedback Form Entries

The DEI Feedback form provides one avenue for community members to make suggestions, report concerns, and shape the direction of work for the DEI Committee. 

  Category Description  Reports Action Taken
 
Climate Compliments, Concerns & Incidents
These reports either described a specific climate-related incident or a more general compliment or concern about climate at the UW or ChemE.

3

Each report was reviewed and discussed by the DEI committee. These reports are used together with quarterly climate surveys, to inform ongoing work to increase our community's welcoming and inclusive environment. 
 
Suggestions & Requests
These reports requested specific action be taken in response to a concern or idea.

6

Each report was reviewed and discussed by the DEI committee. 4 of these included suggestions that have been incorporated into near-term goals listed above (*) of which 1 has been fully implemented. The two remaining include ideas that are very ambitious and while not currently possible, are recorded as future aspirations. 

 

College of Engineering Progress

Visit myCoE to learn more about the College's DEI report and strategies

learn more