Diversity Council Charge
The Diversity Council serves as an information exchange among colleges, major administrative units, and the Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion (VPDI) to coordinate policies and address issues that impact goals related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and a sense of belonging (DEIS) at Michigan Technological University. Along with the VPDI, the council will comprise one or two MTU faculty, staff, or administrators from each unit, who will be appointed by their dean/unit leader in consultation with the VPDI. The VPDI will chair the Diversity Council and lead its meetings. Diversity Council members will also have a formal communication line to their respective dean/unit head. Meetings will be held monthly throughout the academic year and once in the summer.
Characteristic activities include:
- communicating across budgetary units to optimize consistency of unit approaches to DEIS endeavors, including advice pertaining to external constituencies;
- developing cross-unit strategies for leveraging DEIS values throughout MTU units;
- making informal recommendations to the VPDI;
- and performing other actions consistent with its charge as needed.
Reporting Structure
The Diversity Council serves as information exchange between the leaders of colleges/major administrative units and the Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion.
Chair
Wayne Gersie
- Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion
- Pronouns: he, him, his
- vpdi@mtu.edu
- 906-487-1599
- Administration Building 502
Member Representation
Each member reports to the leader of their college or major administrative unit (dean or vice president/director).
Meeting Information
2022-2023
Third Thursdays
1–2 p.m.
Location
Meetings via Zoom
For more information, please contact the Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion Office at vpdi@mtu.edu.
Diversity Council is an integral part of Michigan Tech's mission to promote and support a sense of belonging for all employees at the University.
The Importance of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Message from the Diversity Council—June 4, 2020
During this global pandemic, we must continue to value diversity, equity and an inclusive community. We've all seen the disparate effects of the disease itself and the stay-at-home policy response in our lives and our communities. The disease has disproportionately taken the lives of people of color, the elderly, and those with pre-existing health conditions. The work-from-home period eliminated child and elder care, placing additional care burdens on faculty and staff with care responsibilities, reducing their professional productivity. The disease has emboldened discriminatory actions targeting immigrants and foreign workers, as well as their descendants. Many students have struggled to finish their schoolwork without the on-campus support systems on which they depend. Many in our Michigan Tech community, and their families, have faced economic hardship from job losses. This disease has caused a devastating effect on our economy on every level: our students, employees, the community and the world as a whole.
Now is not the time to push diversity, equity and inclusion work aside. Doing so will place us even further behind in our community-building efforts when the pandemic comes to an end (however and whenever that happens). Now is the time to exercise our compassion, realizing that we don't always see the burdens that our colleagues, students and friends carry with them. It is also our time to place the safety and well-being of others at the forefront of our minds as we go forward.