{"110391":{"#nid":"110391","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Institute Diversity Celebrates Year of Success","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe most pleasant surprise Archie Ervin has had during his first year at Georgia Tech is a simple one \u2014 people are eager to improve diversity at Tech.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI have been blown away by people\u2019s willingness to roll up their sleeves and work on diversity,\u201d Ervin said. \u201cSo many students, faculty and staff members have approached me about various projects. It\u2019s encouraging to know that people are as passionate about this subject as I am.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAs Tech\u2019s first vice president for Institute Diversity, Ervin felt it was important for Georgia Tech to develop an official Institute Statement on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to demonstrate the importance of diversity to Tech\u2019s vision for academic excellence and an inclusive community (see below for more information).\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cTech is doing things to improve diversity, but we haven\u2019t been promoting the fact that we are,\u201d Ervin said. \u201cSo, it was important to develop a statement that conveys to the campus community and beyond that these issues are priorities.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIt was also necessary to take an inventory of existing diversity initiatives at Tech. The Diversity Programs Committee was formed to take on this task, and subsequently came up with the idea to develop a Diversity Portal. This website will feature organized resources and information related to diversity at Tech in one location.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAt the moment, Tech does not have a central web repository where people can go to locate information about all of the Institute\u2019s diversity initiatives,\u201d Ervin said. \u201cOur hope is that the site will be up and running by fall.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EErvin also worked with the FOCUS program, which supports underrepresented students including racial\/ethnic minorities and women, to improve and enhance outreach and recruiting programs. (FOCUS aims to increase the number of advanced degrees awarded to minority students.) In one year, student participation in FOCUS has increased by 30 percent.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EErvin also partnered with the GT ADVANCE Professorship program, which seeks to increase the participation of women in the scientific and engineering workforce, to develop an action plan with goals to lead and influence Tech\u2019s gender equity agenda for the next three years. For example, the group will be developing an equity training model to lead bias\/diversity training initiatives and creating search committee protocols to advance gender and racial diversity among faculty and leadership at Tech.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to these other successes, Institute Diversity organized the first annual MLK Institute Lecture, which featured speaker Myrlie Evers-Williams, and spearheaded Tech\u2019s efforts to become a member of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education, which recently elected Ervin as second vice president.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAnother priority for Ervin during his first year has been to fill executive-level positions to address Institute Diversity\u2019s growing needs. For example, Professor Rosario Gerhardt of the School of Materials Science and Engineering was hired last fall as an executive director for research and institute collaborations.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cRosario is responsible for identifying collaborative opportunities for achieving inclusive excellence \u2014 a concept that suggests that our institution\u2019s overall excellence is enhanced by the diversity of the campus community,\u201d Ervin said \u201cShe is working with both internal and external stakeholders to pursue funding opportunities.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHe also created a Student Diversity and Inclusion division and appointed S. Gordon Moore as executive director. In this role, Moore provides leadership to enhance the academic, personal and professional career success for underrepresented minorities, first-generation students and women in science, technology, engineering and math majors.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the months to come, Institute Diversity will complete a climate assessment to learn how students and faculty and staff members experience the Tech community and what their perceptions are regarding how inclusive and supportive the climate feels.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cFor example, one question that might be included is \u2018Do you have regular opportunities to interact with and learn from peers whose backgrounds, gender, race, etc. are different from yours?\u2019\u201d Ervin said. \u201cThe information we gather will give us some baseline knowledge about the Tech community and climate that can be used to develop a strategic action plan, which will guide our efforts over the next several years.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EEventually, Ervin would also like to create an Institute Advisory Board on Inclusive Excellence, which would meet twice a year and would be comprised of faculty and staff members, students and external stakeholders.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe group would serve as a sounding board for new goals and initiatives and would help ensure that Institute Diversity stays on the right path as this unit and its programs continue to evolve,\u201d Ervin added. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EInstitute Statement on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EDiversity is one of Georgia Tech\u2019s greatest strengths and one of the major priorities identified in our 25-year strategic plan.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EAt Tech, we embrace and leverage diversity in all its manifestations. We are proud that we are one of the most diverse universities in the world with students who represent every state in the nation and more than 100 countries. In the years ahead, our goal is to continue to build a campus culture of collegiality, close collaboration, global perspective, intercultural sensitivity, respect and thoughtful interaction among a diverse community of students, employees and alumni.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EWe realize that, in order to achieve our vision for Georgia Tech as a leader in influencing the major technological, social and policy decisions in the 21st century, we must recruit and retain faculty, staff and students from a wide array of backgrounds, perspectives, interests and talents. In doing so, we will create a community that exemplifies the best in all of us \u2014 our intellectual pursuits, our diversity of thought and our personal integrity. Our mission to achieve inclusive excellence means unleashing the full potential of Tech\u2019s human capacity to create a better, sustainable future for us all.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EYou are invited to join us on the journey of creating and sustaining a future that builds upon the talents of all members of our community in addressing the major challenges of this and future generations.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe most pleasant surprise Archie Ervin has had during his first year at Georgia Tech is a simple one \u2014 people are eager to improve diversity at Tech.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The most pleasant surprise Archie Ervin has had during his first year at Georgia Tech is a simple one \u2014 people are eager to improve diversity at Tech."}],"uid":"27445","created_gmt":"2012-02-20 09:17:37","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:11:44","author":"Amelia Pavlik","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2012-02-20T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2012-02-20T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"110421":{"id":"110421","type":"image","title":"Institute Diversity","body":null,"created":"1449178201","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:30:01","changed":"1475894728","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:28","alt":"Institute Diversity","file":{"fid":"194077","name":"archie.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/archie_2.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/archie_2.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1407956,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/archie_2.jpg?itok=4nzoVeH_"}}},"media_ids":["110421"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.diversity.gatech.edu\/","title":"Office of Diversity Programs"}],"groups":[{"id":"1259","name":"Whistle"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:amelia.pavlik@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EAmelia Pavlik\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications \u0026amp; Marketing\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-385-4142\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}