The Task Force will work in five subcommittee that will address the following questions.
Academic Resources
- What intellectual resources do we currently devote across the University to understanding and advancing issues of diversity, inclusion, and social and organizational transformation?
- How do these issues fit within our teaching and research agendas and in our curricula?
- What more can and should we do to create and disseminate knowledge that can advance our common goals?
Fabric of the Institution
- What are the defining characteristics of Harvard’s common culture? That is, what is the lived experience of diversity, inclusion, empowerment, and belonging among students, staff, and faculty?
- How can we transform that culture to achieve not just inclusion but full belonging and empowerment for all members of our community?
- What are the social, academic, or other structural barriers that may inhibit full membership and participation?
- Can we identify the critical junctures where opportunities to leverage diversity as a positive benefit for all go untapped?
- How do we effectively teach and create a dynamic learning environment in an increasingly diverse community?
- How do we help the entire community understand that the work ahead is a collective opportunity and responsibility?
Outreach
The Outreach subcommittee will be the primary ambassadors to the Harvard community. It will develop various channels through which members of the community can share their experience, thoughts, and suggestions. This subcommittee is critical to ensuring that the work of the other subcommittees is well informed by the community.
Organizational Structures
- How can we ensure that the plethora of diversity officers, programs, and initiatives work together well and are known to the community?
- How do we best measure and improve their effectiveness?
- Have we defined their roles appropriately?
- How does our approach compare to established best practices?
Demographic Realities
- What are the current realities across the University?
- Where are we doing better; where worse?
- How do we increase the diversity of faculty, staff and students?
- How do we enhance the attractiveness of the campus to faculty, students and staff who would increase its diversity?
- What initiatives, incentives, processes and resources would bring positive change?