About the Graduate School
Our Goals
We advance a culture of excellence, inclusion and equity by reexamining our policies and procedures, partnering with graduate programs to advance their own EID goals and activities, supporting BIPOC students and postdoctoral scholars, operationalizing our commitment, and creating additional funding opportunities to increase racial and ethnic diversity in graduate education.
We support and seed efforts that focus on the entirety of the educational and training lifecycle by supporting units in creating high-quality and relevant curriculum, offering students and postdocs extracurricular support, providing technical and administrative support to units and students, and offering workshops for faculty and staff on equity, inclusion, diversity and excellence.
We enact policies, programming and priorities that are data driven and responsive to input by participating in national forums on advancing graduate education, conducting focus groups to support constituents, and using data on students’ and postdoctoral scholars’ experiences to focus priorities.
We lead intellectually on pressing issues in graduate education by elevating issues of graduate and postdoctoral scholars within UW, sharing our knowledge with other Graduate Schools, and highlighting the value of graduate education for the public good.
We deploy resources — both human and fiscal — in a way that has a positive impact on graduate education and contributes to the Graduate School’s fiscal health and our individual job satisfaction by collaborating, engaging in professional development, sustaining our budget, and treating each other with grace and kindness as we learn.
Our Values
Integrity. Creating foundational, long-term relationships of trust and respect as we work toward a common goal of supporting graduate education and graduate students.
Diversity & Equity. Recognizing that graduate education can both perpetuate inequalities and be a catalyst for equity; taking on the work of making the university more diverse and equitable as a Graduate School and as a unit.
Excellence. Fostering a culture that celebrates excellence in our peers, our graduate students, our postdocs, our graduate programs and our programming.
Collaboration. Identifying overlapping goals and using our existing expertise to support them whether they be within our unit, between Graduate School units or with outside units.
Innovation & Efficiency. Innovating in big and small ways and sharing our resources in the most efficient way possible, without sacrificing interpersonal relationships.
Respect. Building respect based on relationships with others, recognizing the work of others, and being accountable, consistent and transparent, whether that’s inside or outside the Graduate School.
Our Commitments
Strengthen a work culture that promotes growth and collaboration across units and deepens our commitment to advancing equity, inclusion and diversity.
Identify, attract and retain a diverse staff.
Support staff in carrying out their responsibilities with regard to equity, inclusion and diversity.
Be open to risk taking, ask for help when we need it, and support each other as we move forward imperfectly.
Be humble, collaborative and trusting of each other since all work transactions are also human transactions.
Clarify and agree on areas of focus to inform unit priorities and the priorities of the Graduate School.