Inclusive Excellence

Mission Statement

The Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation (FREC) is committed to inclusive excellence that  strengthens the Department in all aspects of education, research, and public engagement.

We seek an environment in the Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation that encourages and supports all members of our community (students, staff, and faculty) in pursuing their academic, professional, and personal goals, and we are committed to uphold and promote the Virginia Tech Principles of Community.

We believe that we are better collaborators when our students, staff, and faculty mirror our world. Everyone is a welcome and valued member of the FREC community. FREC will not tolerate prejudice or bigotry. We are committed to supporting InclusiveVT and the Virginia Tech Princples of Community.

Inclusive Excellence Activities in FREC

• FREC Graduate Seminar: The FREC Graduate Seminar provides an opportunity to learn from and network with a diverse array of forestry and environmental professionals.
• CNRE Environmental Justice Journal Club: The Forestry Graduate Student Association hosts monthly informal conversations that all CNRE graduate students are invited to join. Our goal is to provide a platform to come together to speak, share, listen, and learn about a variety of topics. If you are interested in joining or learning more, please reach out to Poulomi Dey.
• Inclusive Excellence at Virginia Tech: FREC has had two cohorts of faculty members participate in a university-wide effort to foster inclusion for students.  Initiatives resulting from this collaboration include:
• A new one-hour course, Professional Skills in Natural Resources (FREC/NR 4004), that aims to improve the professional skills of seniors in the fall semester of their final year as they begin the move from student to professional. The course focuses on soft skills.
• Field equipment check-out.
• VSU Partnerships
• Next Generation Scholars Program: spearheaded by FREC faculty, including Associate Professor Carolyn Copenheaver, Professor John Seiler, and Assistant Professor Adam Coates.
• Future Faculty Diversity Program: FREC actively seeks applicants for this university-wide effort to increase faculty representation across Virginia Tech.

Inclusive Excellence for Faculty, Staff, and Students 

Recommended Courses and Workshops from the Virginia Tech Office for Inclusive Strategy and Excellence and other universitywide organizations:

• Inclusive pedagogy courses: series of courses addressing the creation of inclusive learning environments and related topics
• Virtual SafeZone training: a professional development opportunity offered to the Virginia Tech community.

Additional Resources

These are a few resources that members of our Inclusive Excellence Committee have found useful. This is not a comprehensive list, but rather a small sampling of some of the articles, webinars, and websites that may provide helpful insights.

• Hogan, K., & Sathy, V. (2018, March 14). Why we’re “speaking up” about inclusive teaching strategies. The Association for College and University Educators Community. https://community.acue.org/blog/why-were-speaking-up-about-inclusive-teaching-strategies/
• CNRE: A Conversation on Inclusion (recording from March 9, 2021)
• Land and Ladies: a resource for female forest owners and land managers
• Women Owning Woodlands: has events listed, some are close by
• 2021 Diversity Scholars Showcase (recording from May 7, 2021) Virginia Tech Graduate School’s 2020-21 Diversity Scholars shared their projects in a virtual Spotlight showcase.  The event features a short video from each of the 10 scholars discussing their work, including Poulomi Dey, FREC graduate student, who created a community-engaged art project from the Virginia Tech Community (timestamp 1:17:30 in the video).

Committee Members:

FREC formed an Inclusive Excellence Committee in fall 2020.  Read about the committee’s mission, guiding principles, and responsibilities.  Current committee members include:

• Carol Franco (faculty)
• J.P. Gannon (faculty)
• Stella Schons (faculty)
• Val Thomas (faculty)
• John Peterson (staff volunteer)
• Poulomi Dey (grad student volunteer)

FREC’s representative to the College of Natural Resources and Environment's InclusiveVT Committee is Amy Brunner.