Georgia Institute of Technology’s New Approach to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
During the regular meeting of the Whole Faculty on Tuesday, President Ángel Cabrera announced a new approach aimed at delivering on the Institute’s diversity and inclusion goals. Under the new model, existing programs will be embedded across the Institute’s academic and administrative units rather than being run out of a separate, central office.
“By weaving these programs into the fabric of the Institute, we will be more effective at increasing representation and building a more inclusive culture,” Cabrera said. “Rather than having programs concentrated in one separate office, we will empower the units closest to the work that can have a more direct impact in the life of the Institute.”
The new approach will involve several organizational changes. Programs and staff will shift from the office of the Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion into the Office of the Provost, Student Engagement and Well-Being, Institute Communications, and Administration and Finance. The office of the VP will be discontinued upon the retirement of Archie Ervin at the end of December.
“I am grateful to Archie Ervin for 13 years of dedicated service to Georgia Tech,” Cabrera said. “Thanks in part to his work, we are a more diverse and inclusive place than we were a decade ago and are now in a position to share the responsibility across the Institute to push the work forward.”
To coordinate the work and monitor the Institute’s progress, a new Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Leadership Team will be formed, with representation from various administrative and academic units and co-chaired by Shantay N. Bolton, executive vice president for Administration and Finance and chief business officer, and Steven W. McLaughlin, provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs.
The new model shifts resources to where they can have the most immediate and effective impact, enables solutions that are better tailored to the unique challenges and opportunities within each area, integrates programs within core academic and administrative processes, and empowers all units to take ownership.
Details of the organizational changes will be finalized this month and rolled out between now and the end of the Fall semester. The new Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Leadership Team will be established this month in order to oversee and coordinate the transition.