Anti-Racism and DEI

INFORMS at UM Anti-Racism and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Newsletter

INFORMS at UM Anti-Racism and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee

Purpose

INFORMS at UM is creating a new committee as a part of our chapter that will be dedicated to Anti-Racism and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ARDEI) efforts in and around our operations research and management sciences community.

The INFORMS at UM ARDEI Committee will be a permanent committee in our chapter dedicated to education, advocacy, and community engagement initiatives that support our goal of an anti-racist and inclusive academic environment.

Goals

We have identified an initial list of goals for the committee to take on, but we are open to these continuing to evolve once the committee has formed and decides how to best proceed in this work.

• To educate ourselves and our members on the importance of diversity in higher education and how to work for an inclusive environment for students, faculty, and staff in our departments. This will be done through monthly reading discussion groups (beginning September 2020) where we highlight work in this field, including from UM's IOE department through Dr Joi Mondisa.

• To educate ourselves and our members on the contributions of BIPOC industrial engineers today and throughout history. This will be done via a monthly email digest.

• To amplify and advocate with existing voices discussing department climate and necessary changes to be made to make IOE a more inclusive space for BIPOC. This will be done via advocating for more resources to be devoted to existing efforts like BINDx, advocating for greater recruitment of Black graduate students and transparency in admissions, and advocating for changes in the department to support all graduate students.

• To engage in our community outside of the university. This committee will work with our existing Outreach Committee to seek out existing organizations and partnerships in our local community who need volunteers and pair our members with volunteer opportunities, looking in particular for STEM after-school programs in Ypsilanti Community Schools to combat racial inequality in Washtenaw County schools.

• To evaluate INFORMS at UM for its inclusiveness as an organization through its events, membership process, and constitution and recommend needed improvements. This includes collaborating with and highlighting existing organizations on campus focused on diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism including BINDx (Black Industrial Engineers), GSBES (Graduate Black Engineers and Scientists) and SHPE (Society of Hispanic Engineers).

Get involved

Interested in working with INFORMS at UM's ARDEI group? Please email Zaira Pagan Cajigas (zpagan@umich.edu).