In partnership with stakeholders across MIT, OVC is currently focusing its efforts on initiatives and programs in three key areas, or themes.
These themes are interwoven with, and informed by, broader Institute-wide priorities such as those outlined in Task Force 2021 and Beyond and the Strategic Action Plan for Belonging, Achievement, and Composition.
Students: Enhancing Academic & Student Life
- Enhancing Advising and Mentoring for Undergraduate and Graduate Students
- New Undergraduate Advising Center launched in January 2023
- Ad Hoc Committee on Graduate Advising and Mentoring: Released Draft Strategic Plan on Graduate Advising and Mentoring
- Ad Hoc Committee on Grad Student Professional and Personal Development
- Enabling MIT to Work with Graduate Students in New Ways
- Good faith negotiations with the Graduate Student Union
- We are also making broader progress to support our graduate students
- Innovating in Curricular, Co-curricular, and Experiential Learning
- Report of the Ad Hoc Committee on Leveraging Best Practices from Remote Teaching for On-Campus Education
- Standing Advisory Board on Strategic Planning of Classroom Spaces in development
- Experiential Learning Opportunities (ELOs) for social impact pilot
- New Edgerton Center maker space is up and running; Future “Maker Palace” in the new Morningside Academy for Design building
Culture: Fostering Community & Civility
- Nurturing MIT and OVC Values
- Integrating these values into our existing OVC and unit-level values
- Highlighting these values in our messaging and communications, from All Hands to onboarding
- Integrating these values into our staff recognition programs, such as the Infinite Mile Awards
- Actualizing Commitments to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Belonging
- We have mapped out the relevant broader Institute-level DEI priorities (link to DEI grad)
- Chancellor’s Office is responsible for, or involved in one-third of the priorities
- We have been making excellent local-level progress for the past few years
- Promoting Staff Well-being
- Biennial Quality of Life survey data suggest that managers are doing an excellent job leading their teams the post-Covid work world
- Staff meals, events, gatherings, and other engagement opportunities
- Search Inside Yourself workshop offered for staff this spring
How We Work: Managing Systems, Places, Spaces
- Enhancing Infrastructure and Systems
- Moving to Slate for admissions (UG and Graduate)
- Significant changes anticipated in policies, processes, and systems to support our relationships with graduate student workers
- Creating the Workplace/Workspace of the Future
- Flexwork is becoming normalized, and we are finding ways for it to empower staff and help improve work-life integration
- Flexwork/space survey
- Space planning in progress
