Framework

Our shared commitment to inclusion and belonging is a cornerstone of the Columbia Mailman School community. We have identified five key dimensions of inclusive excellence: 

Access and Success 

We strive to increase and sustain compositional diversity among faculty, staff, and students. However, we recognize that access alone is not sufficient, and we work continuously to encourage all students to thrive and to ensure research by diverse faculty is encouraged and supported. We also help ensure professional growth opportunities for staff and faculty, including those in non-tenure roles.

Climate and Intergroup Relations

We create a climate that is supportive and respectful, as well as one that values differing perspectives and experiences. We conduct periodic assessments to monitor the experience on our campus. 

Education and Scholarship

We partner across the School to provide educational opportunities for faculty, students, and staff to learn varied perspectives of domestic and international social justice and humanitarian issues impacting public health. We provide students with opportunities to enhance their knowledge of health equity, systems of oppression, community needs, and cultural humility. We encourage support for scholarship and research at the intersection of public health, social justice, and humanitarian issues. 

Institutional Infrastructure

We use and encourage the use of metrics and other evidence to drive our School’s intentional decision-making around inclusion, belonging, thriving, and health equity. 

Community Engagement

We help students, faculty, and staff forge targeted partnerships to improve thriving and health equity outcomes for historically disenfranchised populations in the communities that surround Columbia University. We work to deepen our School’s engagement with alumni from historically disenfranchised groups.