Worcester Polytechnic Institute
PA-4: Diversity and Equity Coordination

WPI hired a Vice President for Talent and Inclusion, Chief Diversity Officer in 2016. WPI’s mission includes maintaining a campus community where each person is welcomed, valued, and feels a sense of belonging. Diversity, inclusion, and equity are crucial to our success as a leading research and technology institution because they impact the experiences of each and every member of our campus community. WPI is currently in the third year of Project Inclusion which is a three-year initiative to help the university set standards and expectations for a campus environment that is accepting and welcoming to all. Under its guidelines, WPI establishes the definitions and sets goals around diversity, inclusion, and equity. WPI has a Director of Diversity and Inclusive Excellence who is responsible for guiding and leading institution-wide efforts to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). The Director of Multicultural Affairs oversees the Office of Multicultural Affairs working collaboratively with groups and offices across campus to celebrate the ways different cultures and beliefs are honored in all aspects of life in the WPI community.

"Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Educational Programs. Session Topic: Necessary Skills for a Welcoming Environment. Brief: This session address the four layers of diversity and inclusion that reflects personal, interpersonal, and organizational differences. The session builds a framework for understanding how behaviors exclude or include others. Additionally, participants identify skills of inclusive behavior to increase engagement and create a welcoming environment. Organizational Development also offers a WPI Learning Academy that offers an array of cultural competency trainings that address bias, microaggressions, power and privilege dynamics as well as bystander engagement. Both the Office of Diversity and Inclusion and Office of Multicultural Affairs offers a series of multimodal training opportunities for the campus community to build self-awareness, social identities, and cultural competency. WPI’s Diversity Advocate Program has a Diversity Advocate assigned to each search to create a pool of faculty that will work to improve our campus culture of inclusion and equity, and will guide the search processes to be most inclusive. Regular workshops are offered to help project advisors support inclusion on student project teams.. Bias and Stereotyping on Teams: Tools for more equitable and effective teamwork. the basics have been integrated into training for new MQP and IQP advisory as well As Global Project Programs retreats. Also, typically between 1-3 Food for Thought workshops each year are held and can be considered training for cultural competence. a few examples: Crafting Inclusion Spaces for Gender Diverse Students (March 2019); Culturally Responsive Teaching Practices for any Higher Ed Classroom, Project, or Research Group (Feb 2019); When the Other Girls Raise their Hands: Practicing Inclusion as a Teaching Mindset (March 2018); Promoting Perspective Taking in Cross-Cultural Teams (Nov. 2016). " "