The University of Michigan has long understood that excellence is not possible without a truly and authentically diverse community, and that we can make our greatest contribution to the creation of new knowledge by building an environment in which all our members are able to flourish.
This new five-year campuswide plan serves as an umbrella for the plans created by all of our schools, colleges, student life, athletics, health system, and administrative units. As such, it reflects our shared aspirations as well as our understanding that, while talent may be present everywhere, opportunity is not.
Together, the 51 local plans and this campuswide plan are intended to:
- Affirm our shared values
- Build on past efforts
- Encourage individual and collective action
- Promote transparency and accountability at every level
- Acknowledge our shortcomings
Above all, DEI 2.0 plans reflect the determination of university leaders and the campus community to move our vision forward and create an increasingly diverse, equitable and inclusive academic environment.
The Transition: Two Years of Evaluation, Assessment and Planning
The 2021-22 academic year marked the conclusion of the U-M’s initial Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Five-Year Strategic Plan, known as DEI 1.0. It also marked the beginning of a year-long evaluation process during which central and unit-level content and initiatives from DEI 1.0 were thoroughly assessed. Findings from that evaluation—presented at the 2022 Annual DEI Summit—helped guide a yearlong planning phase for the university’s next strategic plan, DEI 2.0, which launched in October of 2023.
During the two-year transition period, the university continued its DEI-related efforts, providing regular progress updates to the campus community. This included the work of DEI implementation leads in all U-M schools, colleges and additional units.
The Evolution of DEI 2.0
The University of Michigan's DEI 2.0 Central Plan was shaped in part through campuswide conversations, town halls with students, faculty and staff, information sessions on the climate survey and DEI 1.0 evaluation report, and other community engagement events organized by ODEI.
In addition, each of the university’s 51 planning units conducted its own engagement activities, sharing unit-level climate survey data and evaluations of their unit’s previous DEI Strategic Plan, DEI 1.0. Feedback from students, faculty and staff collected during these events was analyzed and synthesized to identify key themes and priorities, and information was shared with the president, the provost, executive officers, and deans.
In collaboration with these leaders, ODEI then refined the list of priorities and developed central action items for the DEI 2.0 plan.
Overarching Goals of the DEI 2.0 Planning Process:
- Build on the achievements of DEI 1.0
- Deepen and broaden campuswide collaboration on DEI issues
- Create more focused and targeted initiatives
- Ensure stronger grassroots engagement
- Encourage a sense of ownership among all campus stakeholders in the university’s ongoing commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Insights for reading the DEI 2.0 Plan
The goals and major campuswide actions presented throughout this website have emerged from and reflect the common foci of the 51 plans. They are intended to support and enhance the plans by concentrating on areas where centrally coordinated and supported initiatives will be most effective. Those areas include:
- Providing necessary infrastructure for unit plans to succeed
- Consolidating common efforts identified across unit plans
- Undertaking initiatives that can be conducted only at a university-wide scale.
Ultimately, this plan is intended to advance our three-part goal of diversity, equity and inclusion. While distinct, the goals are both synergistic and overlapping, and thus strategies to support them also overlap. Likewise, many specific action steps outlined here, while listed under one strategy, may also serve other strategies. By way of example, a specific recruitment effort will likely improve climate and vice versa.
While each new campuswide action designates an accountable office, these are by no means the only entities that will be involved in the work. Each new campuswide undertaking will welcome contributions from all who feel called to participate and will depend on strong collaboration across many offices and individuals.
Along with the new programs and initiatives outlined, this plan also encompasses a wide range of existing diversity-, equity- and inclusion-related efforts in which the university will continue to invest.
As in the past, all strategies and actions presented in this plan will be implemented in accordance with the law and university policy.