Success, Empowerment, and Advocacy - Biomedical Engineering

We aim for an environment of academic excellence where our students, faculty, and staff are supported both inside and outside of the lab.

Biomedical Engineering Success, Empowerment, and Advocacy (SEA) Committee:

BME SEA Committee is created to develop, guide, and advance initiatives that build and strengthen the educational, organizational, and institutional climate in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Utah. The committee is composed of department-wide representation from faculty, students, and staff, reflecting a myriad of perspectives. This committee’s values and goals involve a commitment to:

– Recruit people from various backgrounds from the student to faculty to staff levels
– Retention of people from varied backgrounds and support their success
– Education and improved awareness of related issues
– Represent people of all backgrounds in department decision-making and governance
– Accountability through feedback loops
– Community building, engagement, and interconnectedness

Some of our objectives include:

– Recruit undergraduate and graduate students from schools rich in various populations
– Seek funding for and develop fellowship programs that support the education and research training of students
– Provide an expert-led sensitivity training for department faculty and staff
– Create and administer an annual survey of department students, staff, and faculty to identify issues and areas to improve
– Collect historical data and prepare statistics on department trends to identify areas and populations most in need and to assess improvement

The committee is seeking feedback and new initiatives related to growth efforts in the BME department. Please email the committee with any suggestions.

Resources

For a full list of SEA-recommended resources, click here.

For a list of SEA-recommended community groups and communal activities, click here.

2022 Climate Survey

Purpose: A climate survey was conducted to gather information about Department strengths and weaknesses in terms of the experiences of students, faculty, and staff. The survey will serve as a baseline for future surveys from which to assess whether implemented initiatives are effective.

Methods: Survey questions were designed to demographics, environment and experiences, bias and discrimination, and policy and practices. The survey was emailed to approximately 800 department members including undergraduate and graduate students, postdocs, faculty, and staff, of which 104 responses were received. Considering the sensitive and potentially identifiable nature of responses, access to raw data was limited and, in some cases, data were aggregated.

Key Results:

Demographic breakdown of department respondents was not significantly different from University census data.

Environment evaluation indicated overall positive experiences, particularly in terms of respect and support, but revealed areas where targeted improvements could be made upon first meeting and workload perceptions.

The Departmental Equity Pledge indicated efforts are viewed positively by department members, warranting continued and growing efforts in this area.

*The full survey report is available by request to Ty Jones

Areas of continued focus and effort: Survey respondents provided valuable information about department successes and areas we could better support our members.

– Training efforts have been highly positive, and we will continue offering opportunities integrated into many aspects of our program.

– We aim to improve support of and awareness for our students with disabilities through faculty and student education and improved accommodations.

– New students entering our education programs and students in their final program year encounter unique challenges in developing community, preparing thesis/dissertation research, and considering their next steps. We will increase outreach and support to students through peer support and increased faculty and academic advisor mentoring.

– Increasing equal opportunity in our faculty and our leaders is desired and valued by the department. We will take actions in advertising and recruiting new faculty to generate a broad and talented applicant pool.

– Opportunities for department members to provide feedback and share experiences is highly valued. The department will continue to conduct climate surveys and will increase opportunities for feedback through student entrance and exit surveys.