Frequently Asked Questions
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- 09/14/2021 – Medford/Somerville, Mass. – From left: Kamilla E. Silva, 1G and Alexander Huff, 1G talking during the fall BBQ for Graduate Students in Arts and Sciences, and School of Engineering with Dean of the Graduate on Tuesday, September 14, 2021. (Jake Belcher for Tufts University)
ELEVATE FAQ
- A multi-year campaign to make significant coordinated institutional progress around shared goals of institutional inclusive excellence.
- ELEVATE captures our ambitious goal of not only honoring the incredible work that has been done over the years but also recognizing our responsibility to enhance, amplify, and support these efforts at the institutional level. It signifies a commitment to providing clear direction for the future and ensuring that our diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and accessibility (DEIJA) initiatives are effectively integrated and sustained.
- Rooted in institutional inclusive excellence, ELEVATE embodies our dedication to fostering an inclusive environment and propelling our community toward shared goals.
- Institutional Inclusive Excellence is a framework aimed at promoting and operationalizing diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and accessibility (DEIJA) within the institution. This framework challenges institutions to embed DEIJA values into their foundational principles, processes, practices, and operational standards to ensure change is possible and sustainable. By leaning into the key considerations from the institutional inclusive excellence framework and adopting them at Tufts, we have the ability to create an environment where all individuals feel valued, supported, and able to thrive.
- Inclusive excellence is inseparable from academic and institutional excellence; it must be embedded and prioritized across the institution and requires sustained action. Therefore, the Institutional Inclusive Excellence framework aims to advance strategic alignment of DEIJA efforts on both a local and institutional level which serves to maximize and amplify the impact of this work.
- This framework is rooted in academic scholarship developed through University of Maryland’s Center for Diversity and Inclusion in Higher Education (CDIHE) and is recognized nationally as a leading framework for creating inclusive campus environments.
- This framework underlies the mission of ELEVATE and as well the mission of the Office of the Vice Provost for Institutional Inclusive Excellence (IIE).
- The Office of the Vice Provost for Institutional Inclusive Excellence (IIE) recognizes that transformative and sustainable change requires an environment where every individual is valued and empowered to contribute towards a collective vision. This initiative aims to define and enhance our university’s strategic goals and objectives for a more inclusive and equitable institution through AY 2027-2028.
- Strategic visioning through ELEVATE is essential for setting clear priorities, aligning resources effectively, and fostering a unified approach to addressing systemic barriers and to further advancing institutional inclusive excellence. It helps us create shared university goals while defining our roadmap to move our mission forward.
- Setting measurable and achievable goals enables us to collectively progress toward achieving inclusive excellence by positively influencing our daily interactions, practices, policies, how we develop members of our community, our educational and learning environments, and our outputs.
- The strategic vision will provide guidance in the development of university priorities and decisions, academic programs, resource allocation, and community initiatives. The goal is to create a more inclusive and equitable environment that benefits all members of our university community.
- The Office of the Vice Provost for Institutional Inclusive Excellence (IIE) is comprised of a team of professionals and practitioners dedicated to sustained inclusive and equitable change. The office is informed by best practices, academic scholarship, and decades of experience leading this work including the Institutional Inclusive Excellence framework.
- In 2023, Tufts renamed the Office of the Vice Provost for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice (DEIJ) to the Office of the Vice Provost for Institutional Inclusive Excellence (IIE). This change emphasizes the integration and prioritization of diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and access (DEIJA) in every aspect of university life at Tufts, including teaching, learning, research, and scholarship.
- The IIE office prioritizes and aligns their efforts in advancing institutional inclusive excellence through the four key pillars for operationalizing DEIJA. These four pillars represent the distinct pathways through which meaningful change is articulated and implemented at Tufts and will inform the nature of the ELEVATE strategic vision process.
- Developing People and Leaders - cultivating talent and leadership to drive inclusive excellence
- Informing and Advancing Policies and Practices - shaping policies and operational processes to promote equity and inclusion
- Creating and Expanding Resources and Research - expanding resources and supporting research to advance shared goals
- Designing Community Targeted Educational Programs - crafting targeted programs to foster community and education
- Who makes up the Office of the Vice Provost for Institutional Excellence (IIE)?
- Learn more about the IIE team and their roles in advancing inclusive excellence at Tufts by visiting the IIE Staff webpage.
- Everyone in the Tufts community is seen as a critical contributor to the strategic vision for institutional inclusive excellence. You can visit the Get Involved webpage to learn how you can share your input and support the initiative.
- More formally, the Office of the Vice Provost for Institutional Inclusive Excellence (IIE) has convened a cross-University Core Team and Steering Committee of representatives composed of students, staff, and faculty while seeking larger community input during various community engagement sessions meant to align efforts and guide the initiative. Community engagement sessions will be announced soon.
- What is the Core Team?
- Key drivers of the initiative involved in shaping the direction of the initiative while ensuring the scope aligns with broader university systems. This group is directly responsible for the design and shaping of this initiative.
- What is the Steering Committee?
- Key advisors to this initiative serving as representatives of various stakeholder groups within the university. This group is critical to the success of this initiative by giving feedback on the direction and deliverables prior to engaging the broader university community.
- Who are the People involved?
- Tufts community members are invited to register for the IIE Fall 2024 Reception on Wednesday, October 23rd to learn more about ELEVATE including who is involved in the core team and steering committee.
- This initiative is dependent on community input and involvement. Fall 2024 involves a few key priorities:
- The building of both a Core Team and Steering Committee - both of which are widely represented by students, staff, and faculty - to officially launch this initiative. The strategic vision will be developed directly from community input and feedback. In collaboration with our steering committee and core team, a number of community engagement sessions (where your participation is critical!) will help craft shared goals for Tufts as an institution. These goals will be drafted by the end of the semester to be made available to the campus community prior to winter break.
- Spring 2025 will be spent hosting informational sessions and trainings for the campus community. There will be actionable and practical ways in which schools and central units will be asked to help align and integrate their efforts into the university wide goals.
- Based in design thinking, the approach to enable and bring about change across Tufts over five years is collaborative, iterative, and adaptable. The key phases to gather information, frame opportunity, develop vision and strategy, implement plans for change, evaluate effectiveness, and propose improvements over the next few years are as follows:
- Listen and Understand (Spring 2022 – Fall 2024) - ongoing research and community dialogue efforts, including the Campus Climate Survey, antiracism workstreams, listening sessions, and the C-Change report have contributed to a growing knowledge base of Tufts' strengths, challenges, and opportunities. ELEVATE's Community Engagement approach provides additional pathways to understand current conditions.
- Engage and Ideate (Fall 2024) - through a community engagement process to identify opportunities for collective action around shared goals. Ideas generated and gathered will be reviewed and tested by steering committee members for refinement and inclusion in the strategic recommendations delivered to project sponsors - in the form of university-wide actionable goals.
- Align and Integrate (Spring 2025) - Schools, departments, and units, in collaboration with the Inclusive Excellence Cabinet and unit leaders, will develop tailored, actionable goals that align with and integrate into the broader institutional goals and contribute to greater alignment–and most importantly the integration of a university-wide direction forward. The ELEVATE webpage will feature the overarching university goals, coinciding with an announcement to the entire university. IIE will conduct continuous training to support departments, schools, and units, in collaboration with the Inclusive Excellence Cabinet, unit leaders, and ELEVATORS (aka ELEVATE Ambassadors).
- Implement and Assess (Fall 2025 – Spring 2026) - The adoption of a unified approach to advancing institutional inclusive excellence through shared goals across the University and within schools, departments, and units is evidenced in existing and new efforts. Those involved will assess the changes and alignment with stated goals and share with IIE frequently documenting and reporting out progress.
- Iterate and Improve (Fall 2026 – Spring 2028) - Review and evaluate based on lessons learned through continuous feedback gathering, assessment of changes, and community engagement that inform the ideation and evolution of the approach to advancing institutional inclusive excellence. This process will lead to the next campus climate survey to inform the next cycle of this work moving forward.
- IIE has engaged and coordinated with groups and individuals who have been involved in and are leading related activities. Please visit the Past and Ongoing Work webpage to discover more.
- Please visit the Get Involved webpage for a full list of actions you can take to get more involved!
- Regular updates will be shared on this website.
- You can also subscribe to the IIE: Newsletter to stay informed of related updates, resources, and events.
- We value your inquiries and are here to assist.
- For questions about ELEVATE email elevate@tufts.edu
- For questions about the Office of the Vice Provost for Institutional Inclusive Excellence (IIE) email diversity@tufts.edu
