Composition

Each academic program will document its graduate admissions process and selection criteria; deans, department heads, and Institute leadership will collaborate to ensure the implementation of holistic processes for admissions decisions Institute-wide; they will also document, promote, and operationalize best practices to inform the use of standardized tests, letters of recommendation, and other admissions criteria.

Create a certification process focused on the relationships between diversity, community, and excellence for all faculty participating in graduate admissions decisions.

Develop an Institute-wide approach to supporting recruitment and yield activities for underrepresented students.

Assess, develop, and enhance coordinated bridge programs, such as the MIT Summer Research Program, that increase the number of underrepresented students who elect to attend graduate study at MIT and elsewhere.

Better coordinate departmental alliances and partnerships with minority-serving institutions and historically Black colleges and universities. Determine if there are opportunities to enhance existing partnerships and/or expand partnerships with other institutions.

Make explicit commitments to expand the number of MIT graduate fellowships (and coordinated fellowship programs) to support the recruitment and retention of students who enhance the diversity of their academic disciplines. 

Create a certification process focused on the relationships between diversity, community, and excellence for all MIT principal investigators who make postdoc and research staff hiring decisions.

Catalog each department, lab, and center's hiring practices for postdocs and establish Institute-wide best practices, processes, and standards.

Coordinate and expand existing programs that support postdoc recruitment and success.

Create a certification process focused on the relationships between diversity, community, and excellence for all hiring managers and staff who participate in staff hiring decisions.

Develop and share across the Institute guiding principles and best practices for staff searches to increase belonging, achievement, and composition—starting from position creation, through search, to the annual review process.

More effectively utilize current Equal Employment Opportunity information and goals in all staffing categories, including leadership and management.

Create a certification process focused on the relationships between diversity, community, and excellence for all faculty participating in faculty hiring decisions.

Develop and implement a mechanism for following the academic careers and postgraduate success of top underrepresented undergraduate and graduate students and postdocs, as well as students who have participated in other outreach programs, that will inform faculty search committees in future years.

Document and articulate faculty recruitment and pipeline development efforts and work to develop and implement programs that increase the number of underrepresented candidates in faculty searches.

More effectively utilize current Equal Employment Opportunity information and goals in all faculty categories, including leadership and management.

Assess, and expand as needed, our recruiting efforts for underrepresented undergraduates, including through work with established programs and partners. 

Assess STEM outreach/pipeline programs and evaluate coordination among them; develop and implement plans to address opportunities and shortcomings.