The Advisory Group comprises IGB community members spanning the breadth of IGB, including theme leaders, faculty, staff and postdoctoral researchers. The DEI Task Force was formed to gather more individuals to take action on and iterate the Advisory Group’s ideas, generate active solutions towards connecting our communities, and bring new initiatives to light. Working alongside the DEI Advisory Group, the Task Force has accelerated programs meant to increase dialogue and move towards a more inclusive environment.

Although many efforts are underway, the IGB realizes that more measures need to be taken to diminish racism, other inequities, and where they intersect. The climate survey from 2021 and the subsequent Town Hall Meeting in 2023 provided clarity in regards to a number of areas in which improvements at the IGB could be made. Based on these interactions and valuable community feedback, IGB has made strides towards and will continue development of an environment supportive for all. 

2023 Activity and Accomplishments 

Community Presence

IGB volunteers brought lab equipment to over 20 locations introducing scientific techniques and genomic concepts with new audiences.

 

Embracing Community

At local schools, businesses, and organizations, IGB provided over 8100 hours of personal engagement with community members.

 

Extensive Impact

Reaching nearly 7500 individuals including students, faith groups, faculty, conservationists, staff, artists, postdocs, educators, and more.

 

Events

The Lunchbox Series
Established in 2021, the Lunchbox Series consists of three lectures each semester. Featuring campus speakers and industry partners, attendees learn of the interconnectivity between food, science, and culture. Each seminar is paired with a featured menu prepared by Bevier Café that has relevance and connection to the presentation topic. Supported by sponsorships, each seminar has reached full attendee capacity, and allows for campus and community members to discuss diverse perspectives and worldviews. 

DEI Seminar Series
Specifically focused on increasing awareness and dialogue, the DEI Seminar Series launched in 2020 and has addressed the importance of DEI and accessibility in strengthening STEM communities, the significance and efforts to preserving sacred sites, strategies for advancing health equity through community engagement and anti-racism, and how science institutions can increase accessibility for the disabled. DEIAG and TF members select new speakers and topics each semester as part of the IGB Tuesday seminar schedule. 

Edit-a-Thons
Women and other underrepresented groups have made significant contributions in STEM and yet their online visibility remains disproportionately low. To address this disparity, the IGB hosted our initial edit-a-thon over the 2023 Fall semester. Participants created or edited 83 articles, added 17.3K words to existing pages, added 233 new citations, and uploaded 22 new images.

Workshops

Training for IGB Members
Interactive training opportunities open to all members of the IGB community have been offered on topics including "Fostering a Culture of Inclusion: Everyday Strategies for Being an Effective Ally" to fostering a culture of inclusion through allyship and strategies for being an effective ally; "Enhancing Our Cross-Cultural Mentorship" to develop skills towards cross-cultural mentorship and support, focused on experiences of historically under-served and under-represented students; and “Promoting Inclusion and Fairness in the Lab” to facilitate strategies for creating an inclusive and supportive lab environments, identifying potential areas of inequity, and methods to promote fairness.

Training for Office Directors and Faculty
To establish inclusive principles and educate IGB members in positions of authority or management, separate programs have been developed for IGB Office Directors who oversee civil service and academic professional staff, and for IGB Theme Leaders and lead PIs associated with IGB projects.

The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion designed a training series for office directors to understand interpersonal and structural behaviors that might lead to less equitable research and learning spaces, build necessary skills for cross-cultural supervision and mentoring, identify strategies for creating equitable spaces, and to increase diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in their areas. 

The National Center for Principled Leadership & Research Ethics (NCPRE) created the Principled Academic Leadership program, a year-long commitment for faculty that identifies and produces individualized leadership development plans to enhance leadership, resolve conflict, develop listening skills, identify and prevent bullying, build inclusive spaces, and grow effective mentoring and feedback skills. To date, 75% of the IGB Theme Leaders have completed the program, with the remainder scheduled for coming semesters. 

Awards

DEI Award
Individuals affiliated with the IGB, and collaborative groups of faculty, staff, postdocs, graduate, and undergraduate students IGB staff, affiliates, and collaborators are invited to submit proposals on a yearly basis for the DEI Award. The projects awarded promote diversity in the institute and surrounding community, support members from underrepresented groups, produce a welcoming environment, and provide training to scientists to remind them of the inequities that academic institutions still have to contend with. Over $20,000 in funding has been awarded for mentorship programs, workshops for international graduate students, K-12 school educational visits, creating inclusive spaces for IGB students, and career education at community colleges for professionals from underserved backgrounds. 

Process

IGB Hiring Process
A revamp of the onboarding process for all new hires at the IGB is underway, with inclusionary practices and interactions throughout the experience. Establishing an entrance interview and entrance survey information as an IGB member begins their career with the institute will be bookended by exit interview and exit survey structures. 

All faculty and affiliate appointment letters contain a DEI statement expressing the IGB’s commitment to these values and the expectations that IGB members will embrace and adhere to our guidelines on maintaining a welcoming and accepting environment. 

Visibility

Physical Campaigns
To raise awareness of support systems and resources available to all IGB members, a poster campaign with concepts such as how to promote the work of those furthering diversity, ways to return to work after parental leave without feeling overwhelmed, and methods of connection for those experiencing isolation. These were distributed liberally throughout the IGB with QR code and email calls to action to contact the DEITF or join the conversation during the DEITF meetings. A printed help card with emergency information, contact details for support systems at IGB and on campus, and inclusive messaging will also be made available throughout the building. 

Online Resources
The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion portion of the IGB website was significantly upgraded at the beginning of 2024 with new content, a new design, and expanded offerings. The goals, DEI statement, and mission have been refocused with community input, the anonymous reporting system has been reviewed and updated with further consideration towards implementation of anb improved an in-house capture system, and the information for programs, initiatives, resources, awards, and DEITF has been expanded. 

The most recent IGB Climate Survey information was translated into easy-to-read infographics and posted for complete transparency and access in a dedicated section online. 

Community

Town Hall Meeting
The 2023 Town Hall on DEI, led by IGB Director Gene Robinson with guest moderator and Director of Campus Culture and Climate Kaamilyah Abdullah-Span, answered questions submitted anonymously online and led live discussion on topical matters in the DEI space. Proposed changes from the meeting led to direct policy changes in trainings, hiring procedures, appointment language, and reporting systems. 

Faculty Development
Combining professional development opportunities and orientation through open, welcoming practices, new faculty at the assistant and associate level are able to interact across disciplinary lines through several IGB programs. The New Investigator Coffees introduce early-career faculty to the IGB and each other through Director-led conversations. The Team Science Leadership Program is a series of workshops to bring mid-career faculty from all over campus to focus on leadership training and communication skills, with an ultimate goal of empowering faculty to develop new research ideas and collaborations between disciplines that otherwise may not interact. The inaugural 2023 cohort saw 15 participants. 

Roots of Genomics Wall 
With input from the DEITF, a public installation was conceived that would highlight milestones and notable discoveries in genomics with a special emphasis on identifying and promoting the work of women, minorities, and other groups that historically been less visible in these areas. In June of 2024 the installation was completed, physically modelled after ribosomal structures, organized via short informational blurbs against a backdrop chromosomal band pattern. Located in a high-traffic area within the IGB, the installation serves as both as a focal piece for the societal impact of the field of genomics, and a reminder of those critical individuals within the history of genomic discovery who are often overlooked.

Building Improvements

Building Facilities 
A dedicated lactation space was established and is maintained in the gatehouse building, available for use for all IGB members or visitors via a reservation system to ensure access, safety, and privacy. 

All gender restrooms are accessible in the gatehouse building and all IGB-hosted events contain information pertaining to their location and availability. 

Accessibility Updates
Multiple doors within the IGB have been upgraded for ease of opening and access based on previous feedback of weight/difficulty, including stairways, entryways, and restrooms. 

Updates have been made to the Array Café space to include accessible chairs and tables, and accessible chairs have been added to the 612 Conference Room.