Statement of Values
An ongoing goal of the Computer Science & Engineering department is to ensure that all members of our community, including faculty, staff, and students of all levels, feel safe, welcome, and valued.
 
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) in CSE
The DEI committee in the CSE department was created in 2020, and has run on volunteer participation since that time. The goals of this committee, as listed below, support the strategic goals set in the DEI plan of the RCEAS (https://engineering.lehigh.edu/about/dei/strategic-plan). The committee revisits these goals regularly to meet the needs of our increasingly diverse CSE community. 
  • Goal #1: Support a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment for all faculty, staff, and students that interact within the CSE community, including classrooms and research labs.
    Steps we’ve taken towards Goal #1 include incorporating a “DEI minute”  in department meetings and some regularly scheduled committee meetings as well as sharing best practices related to teaching, advising and/or mentoring.
     
  • Goal #2: Track the current state of diversity within the department, including key demographic information about course success and matriculation as well as attitudinal information related to the climate of classrooms and research labs.
    Steps we’ve taken towards Goal #2 include hiring a diverse population of undergraduate graders to support instruction and participation in a national survey program (Link to Data buddies). Additionally, we have developed and refined DEI-related questions to assess student attitudes and feelings towards the classroom environment created by the instructor to incorporate within the existing Course Evaluation structure.
     
  • Goal #3: Coordinate with the efforts of student groups as well as offices and committees at the college and university levels in order to study, propose, and manage the departmental response to diversity, equity, and inclusion concerns.
    Steps we’ve taken towards Goal #3 include faculty representation on the Rossin DEI Council, student participation in some committees (including this DEI committee), and being a leader amongst departments in the engineering college in our DEI efforts. Additionally, individual faculty members and students support established outreach efforts like CHOICES aimed to increase participation in and awareness of STEM fields
     
Members of the CSE DEI Committee

Current Members (AY24-25): 

  • Arielle Carr (Faculty)

  • Mark Erle (Faculty)

  • Todd George (Staff)

  • Ahmed Hassan (Faculty)

  • Lifang He (Faculty)

  • Stephen Lee-Urban (Faculty) 

  • Eric Obeysekare (Faculty)

  • Houria Oudghiri (Faculty)

  • Roberto Palmieri (Faculty)

  • Kallie Pearl (Faculty; Chair)

  • Elroy Sturdivant (Faculty)

Former Members:

  • Elyse Adamo (Student)

  • Eric Baumer (Faculty)

  • Brian Davison (Faculty)

  • Jeff Heflin (Faculty)