Diversity Council

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

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.

What the Diversity Council is Reading

2022-2023 Diversity Council Membership
Representative Unit
Leonard Bohmann College of Engineering
Angela Keranen College of Engineering
Laura Bulleit Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students
Kyle Rubin University Relations and Enrollment
Sarah Dowd Athletics
Carsten Külheim College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science
Megan Goke Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President for Administration
Josh Olson Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President for Administration
Kathy Halvorsen Vice President for Research
Soonkwan Hong College of Business
Liz Fujita Advancement and Alumni Relations
Beth Lunde-Stockero Equal Opportunity Compliance and Title IX
Erin Matas Van Pelt and Opie Library
Adrienne Minerick ADVANCE
Darnishia Morris Pavlis Honors College
Linda Ott College of Computing
Gabriel Escobedo Center for Diversity and Inclusion
Jeff Toorongian Center for Teaching and Learning
Heather Simpson College of Sciences and Arts
Kevin Trewartha College of Sciences and Arts
Alan Turnquist Office of Sustainability and Resilience
Shari Stockero Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs
Jessica Stormoen University Senate
Ashli Wells Graduate School
Jennifer Daryl Slack Institute for Policy, Ethics, and Culture