The Office of the Vice Chancellor (OVC) has a deep commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, specifically to “build and maintain a community and culture that celebrates and values diverse backgrounds, identities, and perspectives.”
Local, national, and global events consistently challenge us to address issues of culture, race, class, gender, sexuality, nationality, ability, and belief through the lens of MIT’s values.
Charge
With that context in mind, the OVC Council on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion supports staff within member offices and beyond by:
- Offering tools and opportunities for engagement and understanding (e.g., Setting expectations with new employees during onboarding; providing training / refresh opportunities for new and existing managers, including train the trainer)
- Advocating for the ubiquity and importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion through leadership priorities and communication (e.g. ensuring diverse news items & mention of opportunities in OVC newsletter)
- Sharing best practices across the organization, which may include hiring practices, proactive office culture, and advancing professional development
- Creating shared equitable ownership and responsibility for diversity, equity, and inclusion, with the goal that every OVC employee understands how these concepts are important for their work; may include periodic check-ins with member offices that have specific diversity initiatives
- Integrating efforts with other MIT organizations (e.g. the Institute Community and Equity Office (ICEO), the Council of Staff Diversity and Inclusion, the Employee Resource Group (ERG), Council on Race and Diversity (CRD), the C-Board in the Division of Student Life, LGBTQ+ Services)