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Office of Graduate Students Diversity Initiatives
The Office of Graduate Students Diversity Initiative seeks to promote a diverse and inclusive graduate community by acting as an enabler - assisting virtually every graduate program on campus to recruit, retain, and graduate a diverse student body.
We follow the model of Inclusive Excellence* as a way to improve the diversity of our student body, the success of all students at VT's Graduate School, and improve the climate for all students, faculty and students involved in graduate education. We want to make Virginia Tech's Graduate School the number one choice for people of diverse backgrounds.
- Focus on student intellectual and social development, complementing the available courses of study offered at Virginia Tech.
- Purposeful development and utilization of the Graduate School to enhance student learning. Establish an environment that challenges each student to achieve academically at high levels and each member of the campus to contribute to learning and knowledge development.
- Attention to the cultural differences learners bring to the educational experience and that enhance discovery and dissemination of new knowledge.
- A welcoming community that engages all of its diversity in the service of graduate students.
Explore the four dimensions of Inclusive Excellence that our office strives to support. Contact us if you have any ideas about how we can make VT's Graduate School more inclusive.
Education and Scholarship. Provide students with motivations, rationale, and tools to embrace diversity in their research, day-to-day life, and future professional career.
- Expand Transformative Graduate Education initiative by creating a new 2 credit course on Inclusive Excellence in Research.
- Create Diversity Scholars.
Access and Success. Provide access to and support success of historically underrepresented students in Graduate Education.
- Support, organize, and evaluate recruitment and retention activities.
- Develop a mentoring program for graduate students.
- Foster partnerships with Minority Serving Institutions (MSI).
- Financial support for conference travel.
Graduate School Community. Create a Graduate School community that is welcoming for all graduate students, faculty, and staff - one that fosters a climate of inclusivity reflecting the Principles of Community.
- Co-sponsor activities with Women's Center, various caucuses on campus, participation in month-celebrations, partnering with graduate student associations, etc.
- Increase the online presence of our office.
Infrastructure. GSDI will serve as an enabler of diversity initiatives by departments and students.
- Organize Connect lunches.
- Support for recruitment activities (e.g., Preview weekend).
- Organize seminars/workshops led by students.
- Serve as a clearing house for targeted fellowships (e.g. Clare Booth Luce, SREB doctoral fellowhsips).
- Provide campus-wide mentoring program (e.g. Affinity program).
* Adapted from AACU's Making Diversity Work on Campus: A Research-Based Perspective, by J.F. Milem, M.J. Chang, and A. L. Antonio
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