Diversity and Equity in the Joint Department

Our stance on diversity, equity, and inclusion is grounded in three core values: innovation, collaboration, and translation.

• Diversity drives innovation. Each person brings their unique talents and abilities, cultivated by their lived experience, to the process of solving engineering challenges.  Because our particular field of engineering innovation focuses on medicine, representation is especially critical to support the health needs of North Carolinians and worldwide populations.

• Finding health solutions for all communities requires that diverse viewpoints join in the collaboration. We strive to promote an environment where each person feels valued for being their authentic self. Accordingly, we expect each person in our department to take personal responsibility for fostering an inclusive climate that generates connectedness and nurtures a sense of belonging.

• It is only through this foundation that translation of ideas and discoveries from the department into the community can occur, and that knowledge of medical needs and concerns can flow from the community to inform research within the department.

SUPPORT DIVERSITY INITIATIVES

If you would like to support our diversity program within the joint department, please consider contributing to our Biomedical Engineering Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Fund. Support from this fund will go directly to promoting inclusiveness within the department, including providing collaborative opportunities for students to integrate our diversity mission beyond the classroom.

Contribute to the Diversity Fund Here

DIVERSITY SUBCOMMITTEES

We acknowledge that systematic barriers have limited access to participation in biomedical sciences for potential innovators and for those who could benefit from medical innovation. Dismantling these intangible systems and establishing equity in science and engineering will be a great feat. We will rise to this challenge. Undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral trainees, faculty and staff, are committed to translating our words into action through education, research and outreach. Our efforts are organized through our diversity committee with three distinct subcommittees:

• DEPARTMENTAL POLICIES
• PIPELINE
• EVALUATION

* Interested in becoming a member of a BME Diversity Committee? Sign up here.

FUTURE LEGACY OF DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

Together, we will reach our benchmark of having a department that is reflective of the North Carolina population of 27-33% underrepresented groups. We will accomplish this goal by harnessing the rich resources of both universities, seeking active partnerships with neighboring institutions and industries and constructing new programs to meet the needs of underrepresented groups.

We recognize the magnitude and urgency of this moment and accept our responsibility to initiate and implement change. Diversity is not a single pathway but requires a complex strategy to build a strong department with an enduring legacy of diversity and inclusion. Together, we will secure that legacy and exceed the high expectations we set for ourselves.

We encourage you to find a BME Community that aligns with your identity here. The BME Communities are designed for our department to grow strong connections across campuses (UNC/NCSU) and across roles (student/faculty/staff) through our shared identities. These affinity groups are a support system of other individuals who understand what daily life is like for you based on your identity and our shared interest in biomedical engineering.

RESOURCES LINKS