Belonging in KU research
To support this commitment, we're working to coordinate and promote positive workplace climate efforts throughout the research organization — ensuring that best practices and promising initiatives are shared across all our units, including the 11 University Research Centers.
Learn about KU's commitment to an open and inclusive research environment.
Belonging in KU Research Working Group
The Office of Research launched the Belonging in KU Research Working Group in September 2021. Members are faculty and staff who represent KU's University Research Centers, core labs, and the Kansas NSF EPSCoR. The committee's charge includes:
Sharing promising initiatives and best practices across KU’s research organization.
Identifying barriers to belonging in KU’s research environment (both research administration and research conduct).
Devising solutions and collaborating on and/or recommending initiatives that start to address identified barriers, including how the Office of Research can broker/assist/support.
Helping coordinate campus-wide belonging efforts throughout the research community, such as strategies that arise through Jayhawks Rising, KU’s evolving strategic plan.
KU Research Staff Belonging Committee
The Office of Research launched the KU Research Staff Belonging Committee in June 2020. The committee's charge includes:
- Developing a solid understanding of current infrastructure, efforts and goals at KU to determine how the Office of Research and broader research community can align itself and plug into existing initiatives and identify gaps where further work might benefit the Office of Research and other units.
- Creating safe opportunities for employees to provide feedback to leadership about organizational climate and culture, and proposing strategies for how to improve conditions and assess progress.
- Crafting a mission, vision, values and goals for the Office of Research to help create and sustain a culture where considerations of belonging permeate every aspect of our work.
- Creating and/or promoting educational or professional development opportunities to facilitate employee engagement and understanding of ways to build and sustain a positive workplace climate.