Rochester Institute of Technology
Implementation of Inclusive Excellence (IE) and RIT-RISE Programs
Before the implementation of Inclusive Excellence (IE) and RIT-RISE programs, students with marginalized identities at the Rochester Institute of Technology faced significant challenges to persistence, degree completion, and accessing research opportunities. Rochester aimed to address these issues using a combination of faculty/staff training, community engagement, policy changes, and student support in the institution’s respective spaces. Both programs showed positive outcomes, including increased awareness, improved diversity, and the creation of new positions and policies, though the cultural impact was challenging to measure.
Inclusive Excellence aimed to create long-lasting cultural change in the College of Science to create a space that is inclusive and supportive of all students and scholars by:
- Educating faculty on inclusive practices for teaching and mentoring.
- Educating staff on allyship.
- Creating and hosting community events that celebrate diversity and encourage conversation around questions of equity and inclusion.
- Providing students with marginalized identities material support to enter research labs.
- Working with college and university leadership to create and update programs and policies to reward DEIA efforts and remove common barriers to equity.
- Institutionalizing two new positions focused on DEIA initiatives.
RIT-RISE has sought to address barriers to research faced by Deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) students in the biomedical sciences by:
- Training faculty in cultural competency and best practices for mentoring DHH students. Creating and institutionalizing two new courses to train sign language interpreters in strategies and vocabulary designed explicitly for research lab environments.
- Creating and institutionalizing four new courses to expose students to biomedical career paths and train students in scientific career skills.
- Providing intensive mentoring, research skill training, and enhanced communication access services to selected trainees.
- Discerning and disseminating best practices for supporting DHH research students.
Before the implementation of Inclusive Excellence (IE) and RIT-RISE programs, students with marginalized identities at the Rochester Institute of Technology faced significant challenges to persistence, degree completion, and accessing research opportunities. Rochester aimed to address these issues using a combination of faculty/staff training, community engagement, policy changes, and student support in the institution’s respective spaces. Both programs showed positive outcomes, including increased awareness, improved diversity, and the creation of new positions and policies, though the cultural impact was challenging to measure.
Inclusive Excellence aimed to create long-lasting cultural change in the College of Science to create a space that is inclusive and supportive of all students and scholars by:
- Educating faculty on inclusive practices for teaching and mentoring.
- Educating staff on allyship.
- Creating and hosting community events that celebrate diversity and encourage conversation around questions of equity and inclusion.
- Providing students with marginalized identities material support to enter research labs.
- Working with college and university leadership to create and update programs and policies to reward DEIA efforts and remove common barriers to equity.
- Institutionalizing two new positions focused on DEIA initiatives.
RIT-RISE has sought to address barriers to research faced by Deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) students in the biomedical sciences by:
- Training faculty in cultural competency and best practices for mentoring DHH students. Creating and institutionalizing two new courses to train sign language interpreters in strategies and vocabulary designed explicitly for research lab environments.
- Creating and institutionalizing four new courses to expose students to biomedical career paths and train students in scientific career skills.
- Providing intensive mentoring, research skill training, and enhanced communication access services to selected trainees.
- Discerning and disseminating best practices for supporting DHH research students.
