We are compiling JEDI-relevant metrics for the CEE community. This year (2022), the department plans to modify the bathrooms on the 2nd floor, including adding an ADA-compliant (i.e., wheelchair-accessible) option for women. With input from the department and the college, we added a gender-neutral bathroom on the 3rd floor. More Hall, which houses much of our department, is an old building that previously had too few women's restrooms and no dedicated options for people who are non-binary. This time is intended to share knowledge and highlight the importance of continuous improvement on JEDI issues. JEDI Moment at faculty meetingsĪs of January 2021, each CEE faculty meeting includes a JEDI Moment where we share a best practice or feature a JEDI initiative in the department. The CEE Grad Studies Committee is studying this issue, including options for permanently replacing the GRE. This shift is motivated in part by COVID-19 and in part by concerns regarding equity issues and the GRE’s utility in predicting academic success. For this year (Fall 2021), CEE will exclude GRE scores from the application. GRE scores were optional for fall 2020 due to COVID-19. GRE admission requirements for graduate student applications At present (Winter-Spring 2022), we are working to evaluate those data. Starting in spring 2021, teaching evaluations included questions regarding class climate. New teaching evaluation questions in the College of Engineering (CEE student petition item) Below are top currently-in-progress items.
We are committed to their vision for a diverse, equitable and inclusive CEE.Īctions need to be short- and long-term. We thank our students for organizing and petitioning the department for meaningful change. Below, we list JEDI currently-in-progress activities that have been initiated since spring 2020 recently completed activities (e.g., changes to tenure criteria) are below that. In 2018, our Department Chair established a faculty led Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Committee, whose work has accelerated in recent months. We are committed to holding ourselves accountable for making progress toward these goals we hope others will do the same. Our community is taking concrete actions toward a diverse and actively inclusive and equitable environment. We are committed to doing better, in the education and research that our department delivers. Environmental engineering has too often ignored environmental racism, with communities of color and economically disadvantaged communities bearing the brunt of pollution. Civil engineering infrastructure has been used to perpetuate and enforce racial segregation. Encouraging and supporting a diverse engineering community is important for building a vibrant UW CEE and society at large.ĬEE, like many engineering fields, has too often focused only on equations and the application of chemistry, math and physics to solve narrowly defined engineering problems, without acknowledging that engineering can reflect and impose inequality. Diversity brings new ideas and life experiences to the field diverse teams are more likely to design inclusive solutions for all of society.
Relevance to civil and environmental engineeringĭiverse teams are crucial for success in engineering projects and organizations. We are committed to a departmental culture that is supportive and welcoming for all people, including American Indian/Alaska Native students, staff and faculty. We value and acknowledge the Coast Salish peoples of this land, the land which touches the shared waters of all tribes and bands within the Suquamish, Tulalip and Muckleshoot nations. We are committed to anti-racism: to acknowledge, understand and directly confront the historical inequities in our field and the structures and barriers that have led to those inequities. We acknowledge that systemic racism exists in our society and our institutions, including academic institutions. As a community, it is essential that we use our actions and our voices to interrupt and eliminate injustice. The UW CEE department will not tolerate discrimination, assault or hate in our community. We celebrate and value differences among our students, faculty and staff this includes diversity with respect to race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, disability, age, socioeconomic background, academic experience and veteran status.
We are working collectively to create an inclusive and welcoming environment where people of all backgrounds, who bring a range of perspectives and life experiences, are welcomed, valued, heard and supported. Justice, equity, diversity and inclusion are fundamental to our culture and to our mission as a public educational institution.