Executive Summary

Embedding Equity, Access and Inclusion is the College of Science’s 2021 Strategic Diversity Action Plan (DAP). Authored by the Diversity, Equity, Justice and Inclusion (DEJI) Working Group, it is a community plan, reflecting the many priorities and values of College of Science (COS) community members deliberated in dialogue and conversation over the 2020-2021 academic year.

The DAP recognizes and centers the relationship between advancing our college’s strategic mission and valuing, nurturing and engaging all members of the College of Science community, particularly and especially community members holding minoritized social identities.

Inclusive excellence describes an organization’s capacity to thrive as a function of its ability to value and engage the rich diversity of its community members. Embedding Equity, Access and Inclusion provides a framework for all College of Science community members – students, faculty, staff, alumni and stakeholders – and units within the college to enhance access and diversity, create welcoming environments and a sense of belonging and strive towards inclusive excellence by embedding equity in everything we do.

Based on the Adaptive Strategic Planning for Inclusive Excellence framework created by Oregon State University’s (OSU’s) Office of Institutional Diversity (OID) and in alignment with OSU's 2019-2023 Strategic Plan SP4.0 and OSU’s diversity strategic plan, Innovate and Integrate: Plan for Inclusive Excellence, the DAP outlines a set of five key strategic goals. Each goal contains specific actions and accountability structures to be implemented at different levels of the organization – individual, unit, college.

The DAP’s five key strategic goals are

Goal 1

Embed, integrate and advance inclusive excellence within all aspects of the College of Science.

Graduate students working together in lab.

Goal 2

Establish holistic, inclusive and equitable hiring, recruitment, and retention practices.

Elisar Barbar analyzing lab results with graduate students in her lab.

Goal 3

Create a welcoming college climate to support a sense of belonging, and equitable learning and training experiences.

Peer advisors talking with students at College of Science booth in Memorial Union quad.

Goal 4

Provide innovative, inclusive, accessible and equitable access to learning and research experiences that incorporate global experiences.

Two students walking on OSU Corvallis campus.

Goal 5

Communicate accomplishments reflecting our commitments to inclusion and mutual respect of all members while enhancing visibility of minoritized communities.

The action plan to achieve these goals is ambitious and is outlined in the report. The first, and one of the most important, actions is to hire a full time Program Director for Equity, Access and Inclusion (EAI). Concurrent with that action is to establish a COS EAI Leadership Council and one in each unit.