Community

Aeronautics & Astronautics Strategic Plan

Build our culture to create a community that inspires and empowers us.

Foster a caring department community where we support each member and all feel a sense of belonging
Establish a just departmental process that honors our contributors with a holistic strategy of diversity, equity and inclusion
Celebrate and affirm our department legacy, advances, and shared accomplishments
Encourage a culture of openness where we protect free speech and affirm working collaboratively
Develop a disciplined department where we accept our obligations to the group and governance norms to guide behavior for the common good

Model chosen to assess current state of our faculty and staff community and establish a future direction: Ernest Boyer's principles for community.
Surveyed department employees (Faculty, Staff, PhD students) with an AUDiT on community culture
Developing a multi-cultural change matrix (MCIM) focused on the principles.

JUMP TO:

Peer mentoring program for all levels
Improve the current onboarding process for all groups (students, staff, faculty)
Expand mentorship and ideas exchange in our community in formal and informal ways
Develop a communications plan for timely response to community, campus, and national issues
A clear approach to welcoming all new members to the department so that they feel supported and our values are understood and internalized
Enhance the well-being and professional development of all members of our community (specifics will be needed)

All community members engaged with annual DEI discussions
25-50% increase in all diversity metrics of faculty, staff, students
Building connections between faculty and broader community (industry and community groups connected with impact)
Grow the breadth of communities that are positively impacted by and interact with our community by supporting and rewarding efforts in this area
Acknowledge great examples of governance and the stewardship of department improvements
Equity in publicity/acknowledgement (break down into faculty, staff, and student considerations)
Broader acknowledgement of diverse backgrounds and accomplishments of our community members
Continue to increase transparency of department processes to promote fairness and understanding of resource allocation (break down into faculty, staff, and student issues)

Grow inspirational programs: Stronger partners and ties of research to applications broader community can recognize
Feature department history/heritage/legacy on our website and department displays
Develop a slate of light-hearted events that celebrate our department, our work, our values and each other
Public celebration of successes at all levels of the department

Internalize a process of committee/meeting guidelines for interaction - the atmosphere we want with each other, how we ensure we thrive, and how we have difficult conversations
Set up or clarify processes by which issues that affect sections of our population can be raised and addressed, especially for those that may not feel the agency to speak up
Use transparent, understandable and data-driven analytics to assess and improve the College’s performance and align incentives with our priorities. Align incentives with our strategic priorities and community building (COE goal)

All members of our department remember and internalize our values in everything we do
Improve the interfaces between departmental groups to build understanding of everyone's role and expectations and foster empathy
Elevate the role of RSOs within the department for both social and career development
Elevate the experiences and sense of belonging of students in the research lab community