Part I:
Executive Report and Recommendations

C. Engagement with MIT Faculty,
Administrative Leadership and Advisory Board

In conjunction with these studies, the committee engaged with the minority faculty community through a series of open discussions with junior and senior minority faculty. Two junior and two senior minority faculty forums were held on campus to discuss problems and potential solutions specific to these groups at different career points and to identify issues that are thematic across these groups. Suggestions and themes from these discussions have been used to inform the recommendations of the Initiative.

The Initiative's efforts and progress were outlined at faculty meetings periodically during the course of its work, enabling input from the general faculty as well as an opportunity to inform the faculty of the effort's objectives. During the course of the effort, the Initiative Committee also met with the Faculty Policy Committee and the Committee on Race and Diversity. The committee also met with each of the academic deans and their staff to generate discussion about its findings and potential solutions. It is anticipated that all of these discussions will continue upon release of this report, as input from the community is used to inform the implementation and reach of the recommendations.

The Initiative Team determined the need for an External Advisory Board based on its Preliminary Report and recruited a board of 13 distinguished members with experience with race and diversity issues on university campuses, and in particular with the fields of science and engineering. The board also included two MIT Corporation members. The biographies of the Advisory Board members are included in Appendix B. During the course of the Initiative effort, the Advisory Board met formally four times on MIT's campus to discuss the progress of the research effort and to provide input and advice. This External Board strongly recommended in 2008 that the Initiative establish an Internal Technical Advisory Board consisting of MIT faculty who are not vested in the study, but who could provide sound technical advice on its execution. This Technical Advisory Board was appointed in spring 2008 and met periodically and extensively with the research team from that point during the course of the study.

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B. Brief Summary of Research Effort

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D. Major Findings and Conclusions