Tepper Together: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Strategic Plan (2022-2027)
Our vision is to create value for business and society by providing intellectual leadership, advancing the science and practice of management, and developing ethical leaders to be the agents of change in a world driven by technology and innovation.
CARE Core Themes
C
Climate, Culture, and Community
We will work toward strengthening our communities, both internally and externally. Behind the numbers are people. The climate, culture, and community impact how they perceive the safety and supportiveness of our environment.
The goal is to empower our community to speak up, to listen more intently, and respond to individual needs. Building and maintaining a diverse community requires ongoing support and advocacy for people at all stages. We believe our environment honors DEI&B, but we are not where we want to be. Our climate, culture, and community must therefore be a strategic priority.
A
Access and Equity
We will maintain an infrastructure for inclusion where talented people from every background and life experience can access, fully participate, and receive what they need to succeed at Tepper School.
An inclusive infrastructure means removing unnecessary barriers to entry, ensuring full participation in programs and activities, and creating an environment that is valuing, supportive, safe, and respectful. Resources (time, qualified staff, appropriate facilities, instructional hardware and software, and other supports) should be distributed to work for the success of every member of our community.
R
Recruitment and Retention
We will focus our efforts on recruiting, retaining, and developing people. The changes we intend to make around recruitment and retention are not simply about the process but the results. A shift in our mindset is needed. We will focus on how individuals can add to our culture and community vs. fit in and help us improve.
We want the results to show that the pools we pull from to select our students, faculty, and staff reflect the world’s diversity around us. Our definition of diversity reflects the shift to a broader approach; it is not just about race and gender but embracing the full spectrum of the diversity reflected in our nation.
E
Education and Scholarship
We will put in place a new context to ensure that we educate people in our classrooms with a DEI&B lens. This responsibility, to deeply embed DEI&B in our education and scholarship, is key to our success and must therefore be a strategic priority in the DEI&B strategic plan and creates a new paradigm for business education and research that is conspicuous for its relevance to the rapidly changing needs of business and society throughout the world. We aspire to be viewed as a vibrant hub of innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship.
Strategic Plan Goals
1. Create and promote an inclusive, welcoming, and equitable community and climate for all to thrive.
We will invest and commit to ensuring the Tepper School is a place where differences are welcome, and our environment creates a sense of belonging for all to thrive.
2. Recruit, retain, and develop an inclusive and diverse community of students, staff, and faculty.
We know that concerted efforts to engage in outreach to assure diversity in the Tepper School community and to reduce barriers can make a difference. Therefore, we are committed to recruiting a community that truly reflects the richness of our domestic and international diversity. We recognize that diversity is not enough. Once you are a member of our community, it is imperative that you feel safe and valued, and that the environment fosters your success.
3. Support innovative and inclusive teaching and scholarship.
We will continue to advance the environment of intellectual inquiry that expands knowledge, encourages inclusion, rewards innovation, and makes a societal impact by viewing education and academic scholarship, policies, and processes through the DEI&B lens.
4. Engage the broader community beyond the Tepper Quad.
A core part of our vision centers on developing ethical leaders to be the agents of change in the world. This vision means going beyond the Tepper Quad and becoming a catalyst for positive change through deeper engagement, starting in Pittsburgh and moving beyond, forging key collaborative partnerships. Currently, the Tepper Quad promotes high levels of interconnectedness, collaboration, and innovation to solve problems. We commit to furthering our role by extending this model to strengthen the relationship between the Tepper School and the communities in the Pittsburgh region.
High Priority Short-Term Action Items
Goal 1 | Core Care Themes: C, A
Create and promote an inclusive, welcoming, and equitable community and climate for all to thrive.
Strengthen Mentoring Program (Faculty)
Committed ▸ In Progress ▸ Implemented
Strengthen the Tepper mentoring program and expand it to include sponsorship for new faculty members.
Orientation Updates (Undergraduate Students)
Committed ▸ In Progress ▸ Implemented
Incorporate the Center for Diversity and Inclusion into first-year orientation for undergraduate students.
Improve Cultural Competency (Graduate Students)
Committed ▸ In Progress ▸ Implemented
Create new opportunities and spaces for graduate students to share their unique experiences and build empathy for one another across identities.
Establish New Programming (Graduate Students)
Committed ▸ In Progress ▸ Implemented
Establish programming to facilitate students’ engagement outside of their social identity group/s. E.g., cross-campus, collaboration with the Graduate Business Association (GBA), Affinity club partnerships with other affinity clubs.
Improve Intercultural Competency (Graduate Students)
Committed ▸ In Progress ▸ Implemented
Improve the intercultural competency of graduate students to promote their ability to thrive in culturally diverse situations. Cultural Intelligence (CQ) Assessment during orientation and throughout the year to assess their CQ engagement across differences and similarities.
Engage TALI (Graduate Students)
Committed ▸ In Progress ▸ Implemented
Engage the Advanced Leadership Initiative (TALI) participants and alumni to support our prospective and current graduate student experience.
Inclusion Survey (Graduate Students)
Committed ▸ In Progress ▸ Implemented
Administer a Masters’ student inclusion survey to assess our school’s climate and determine how we can create, affirm, and strengthen an inclusive community.
Admissions Bias Mitigation Training (Graduate/Ph.D. Students)
Committed ▸ In Progress ▸ Implemented
Implement Admissions Reviewer Bias Mitigation Training for both Masters’ and Ph.D. program staff members.
DEI&B Training (Ph.D. Students)
Committed ▸ In Progress ▸ Implemented
Create additional DEI&B-focused training to current requirements for all Ph.D. students and teaching assistants.
Reward DEI&B Commitment (Staff)
Committed ▸ In Progress ▸ Implemented
Track and reward individuals who uphold and demonstrate innovation with the DEI&B goals/best practices through staff awards programming.
DEI&B Council (School-wide)
Committed ▸ In Progress ▸ Implemented
Establish a DEI&B Council to monitor and report the implementation, accountability, and progress of the Tepper Together DEI&B Strategic Plan.
Update Website (School-wide)
Committed ▸ In Progress ▸ Implemented
Enhance the Tepper Together website to serve as a mechanism to communicate the status of the school’s DEI&B initiatives and as a central resource hub for all internal and external DEI&B programming and information.
Goal 2 | Core Care Theme: R
Recruit, retain, and develop an inclusive and diverse community of students, staff, and faculty.
Mitigate Biases (Faculty)
Committed ▸ In Progress ▸ Implemented
Mitigate biases - continue to use the guidelines for conducting effective searches, improving them as necessary.
Transparency in Representation (Faculty)
Committed ▸ In Progress ▸ Implemented
Be transparent about the representation of faculty within the school by tracking and making available data detailing the historical and current state of faculty diversity at the Tepper School, presenting annual updates, and discussing efforts to improve representation.
Expand Pipeline for Diverse Doctoral Students (Faculty)
Committed ▸ In Progress ▸ Implemented
Expand our pipeline for diverse doctoral students by strengthening relationships with professional organizations such as the Ph.D. Project and PreDoc.
Strategic Partnerships (Graduate/Ph.D. Students)
Committed ▸ In Progress ▸ Implemented
Establish strategic partnership and scholarship programs with targeted HBCU/HSI/Women's College - also engage alumni of these institutions.
Partners Scholarship Program (Graduate/Ph.D. Students)
Committed ▸ In Progress ▸ Implemented
Establish Tepper School Partners Scholarship Program with targeted professional organizations members.
Assist Applicants (Ph.D. Students)
Committed ▸ In Progress ▸ Implemented
Offer How to Be a Strong Tepper Ph.D. Program Applicant to targeted populations.
GRE Test Taker Engagement (Ph.D. Students)
Committed ▸ In Progress ▸ Implemented
Develop GRE test taker engagement strategy targeting low-yielding Ph.D. applicant populations.
Partnerships (Ph.D. Students)
Committed ▸ In Progress ▸ Implemented
Utilize existing membership with DocNet and PreDoc to promote the Tepper Ph.D. program to low-yielding prospective applicants.
Diverse Candidate Pools (Staff)
Committed ▸ In Progress ▸ Implemented
Ensure that candidate pools for open Tepper positions and suppliers are diverse. Implement consistent hiring and recruiting processes that increase the likelihood of diverse candidate pools.
Diversity Statements (Staff)
Committed ▸ In Progress ▸ Implemented
Require written diversity statements by candidates, particularly supervisors, during the hiring process determine how this will be assessed during the interview/selection process.
Commitment Statement (Staff)
Committed ▸ In Progress ▸ Implemented
Develop a clear DEI&B commitment statement from the Tepper School to be provided during the recruitment process.
Supervisor Training (Staff)
Committed ▸ In Progress ▸ Implemented
Strengthen Tepper supervisors' ability to lead diverse more effectively.
Training Toolkits (Staff)
Committed ▸ In Progress ▸ Implemented
Utilize Office of Human Resources to develop training/toolkits for supervisors.
Build Cultural Competence (Staff)
Committed ▸ In Progress ▸ Implemented
Utilize intercultural assessment/inventory tool to build cultural competence across the Tepper School for operating units and leadership:
- Learning circles
- Book clubs/video series
- Tepper Reads for staff
Goal 3 | Core Care Theme: E
Support innovative and inclusive teaching and scholarship.
Increase Resources (Faculty)
Committed ▸ In Progress ▸ Implemented
Substantially increase resources allocated for achieving DEI&B goals.
Activity Metrics (Undergraduate Students)
Committed ▸ In Progress ▸ Implemented
Develop metrics to assess DEI&B activities for faculty and include them in annual reports and evaluations. The first step is benchmarking other CMU units and peer business schools.
Inclusive Teaching Materials (Undergraduate Students)
Committed ▸ In Progress ▸ Implemented
Audits teaching materials to determine inclusive content.
Develop Diversity Topics (Graduate Students)
Committed ▸ In Progress ▸ Implemented
Integrate identity and diversity-related topics and/or content in core and elective classes through cases, discussions, exercises, language, and other relevant approaches.
DEI&B Training (Graduate/Ph.D. Students)
Committed ▸ In Progress ▸ Implemented
Require all teaching assistants to attend a DEI&B training to support their ability to facilitate an inclusive classroom.
Ph.D. Development (Ph.D. Students)
Committed ▸ In Progress ▸ Implemented
Assess Eberly Center micro-seminars in support of Ph.D. student development of inclusive teaching practices and classroom discussion.
Faculty Evaluation Metrics (Ph.D. Students)
Committed ▸ In Progress ▸ Implemented
Develop metrics to assess inclusive teaching practices in annual faculty evaluations.
Goal 4 | Core Care Theme: C
Engage the broader community beyond the Tepper Quad.
Expand Community Partnerships (School-wide)
Committed ▸ In Progress ▸ Implemented
Expand our partnerships with our community and collaboratively develop positive social innovations that expand access, opportunity, and economic empowerment in the Pittsburgh region and reverse the trends of injustice and inequality.