Community and Engagement in the Joint Department

Our stance on community and engagement is grounded in three core values: innovation, collaboration and translation.

• Community 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 varying 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 collective environment 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 OUR COMMUNITY AND ENGAGEMENT INITIATIVES

If you would like to support our initiatives within the joint department, please consider contributing to our community-specific engagement fund. Support from this fund will go directly to promoting belonging within the department, including providing collaborative opportunities for students to integrate our engagement mission beyond the classroom.

Contribute to our engagement initiatives here.

SUBCOMMITTEES

Establishing a strong community in science and engineering will remove barriers that limit access to participation in biomedical sciences for potential innovators and those who could benefit from medical innovation. 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 Community and Engagement Committee with three distinct subcommittees:

• DEPARTMENTAL POLICIES
• PIPELINE
• EVALUATION

* Interested in becoming a member of a BME Community and Engagement Committee? Sign up here.

FUTURE LEGACY OF COMMUNITY AND ENGAGEMENT

Together, we will reach our benchmark of having a department that is reflective of the North Carolina population. 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 socioeconomic groups.

Engagement within our own community is not a single pathway to achieving our goals, but requires a complex strategy to build a strong department with an enduring legacy of fostering a positive work environment. 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 for individuals who understand what daily life is like for you based on your identity and our shared interest in biomedical engineering.

RESOURCES LINKS