The American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) has honored Dartmouth's Thayer School of Engineering with a Bronze Award in the organization’s Diversity Recognition Program. In addition, Dartmouth has been recognized as “exemplar," indicating exceptionalism in exclusive excellence and that “the institution can serve as a role model to others,” according to ASEE.

“Our goal is to continue to build a community that reflects the rich diversity of the global workforce, and creates a culture in which our individual identities and contributions are valued and treated with respect," said Alexis Abramson, Dean of Thayer School. "It's critical that all students, faculty, and staff feel welcome and included in our community to ensure they can teach and learn and discover to their full potential."

In addition to creating a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Plan, which will adhere to an implementation timeline and be measured by outcomes, other requirements for the Bronze Award designation include the Dean signing the ASEE Deans Diversity Pledge and the review of appropriate metrics and goals regarding demographics. Dartmouth has identified specific ongoing efforts and recent initiatives to support achieving its goals, such as creating positions, holding training sessions, and examining best practices, as well as much more.

Dartmouth’s Bronze Award status is valid through 2022, and Thayer School would have been recognized at this year’s Collaborative Network for Engineering and Computing Diversity (CoNECD) Conference, which was planned in Washington, DC in April before its cancellation due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

According to ASEE, the Diversity Recognition Program was created to publicly recognize those engineering and engineering technology colleges that make significant, measurable progress in increasing diversity, inclusion, and degree attainment outcomes of their programs. Bronze Level status is currently the highest level of recognition in the program.