Inclusion
The Department of Plant Biology at Michigan State University is a community of people from a variety of backgrounds and experiences. As reflected in our motto, “from molecules to ecosystems”, our strength lies in encouraging diverse perspectives and approaches to science. Our department is committed to being a leader on the path towards diversity and equality. We strive for positive institutional and cultural change, with the goal of ensuring that the department reflects and upholds our shared ideals as scientists, educators, scholars, students, and community members. We are committed to identifying ways to build a culturally diverse environment by listening to our community members and implementing practices to foster inclusivity. We pledge to improve campus climate pertaining to ableism, ageism, ethnocentrism, homophobia, racism, religious oppression, sexism, sexual misconduct, transphobia, and other forms of marginalization. We value diversity, reject judgments based on differences, and instead embrace those differences as assets. Our success depends on our diversity and together we will shape the future.
To put this pledge into practice, we have established a standing committee to promote and recognize Excellence — one made up of faculty, staff, students, and postdocs. This committee has worked both to improve opportunities inside the department as well as to lead outreach efforts outside of the department. In the last few years, we have improved our departmental mentoring policy, introduced an undergraduate researcher directory to connect students of all backgrounds to research experiences, and organized regular seminars to improve the department climate. We have also helped organize outreach events to communities not generally represented in the plant sciences.
If you have ideas for improving our inclusion-related efforts in the department of Plant Biology, please let us know by filling out this form, also linked below. For additional resources, please refer to the pages below. We have especially found the MSU WorkLife office to help with a variety of less-obvious, but related concerns, includinng: navigating being a new parent, connecting with communities around campus, or generally navigating your time working at MSU.
If you have any suggestions for improving our department, please give your thoughts in the form linked above and it will be sent to the chair of the Excellence committee. Responses will be anonymous.
Thank you for your feedback on how we can improve the culture of our department.