Culture Charter
Our culture charter is a set of co-created cultural and behavioral aspirations for leadership and the broader community that can guide and inform all of our interactions.
Leadership
Leadership at the College of Sciences has a high bar. We ask college leaders to embody accountabilities over and above those expected of the broader community so you can support the development of a positive and effective organizational culture and can have a powerful impact on science and the communities we serve.
Here, leadership is about leading to our values: curiosity, collaboration, innovation, integrity and respect. By leading to these values, you will help forge a positive working environment. Our leaders will find ways to engage with, recognize and invest in the people in the college community and contribute to thoughtful decisions that will lead us toward the achievement of our stated cultural and strategic goals.
Below are specific behaviors our leaders are expected to uphold.
- Lead with our values in your work with the college community. They are: curiosity, collaboration, innovation, integrity and respect.
- Lead the tough conversations. Be proactive with problem solving. Take swift and effective steps to address interpersonal, cultural and strategic challenges in your area of work and within the college more broadly.
- Lead collaboratively and carve out space and time for collaboration. Your leadership models to our community how to collaborate effectively across roles, hierarchies, disciplines and perspectives.
- Prevent and address bullying. Take personal accountability for preventing, addressing and resolving all forms of bullying and disrespectful behavior to ensure a civil, safe and respectful workplace.
- Foster a healthy workplace. Model healthy and supportive behaviors that empower colleagues to maintain healthy work-life integration, mental wellness and reasonable workloads and professional expectations.
- Invest in learning so you can be effective at identifying, meeting and addressing challenges within the college to expand equal opportunities.
- Take the necessary actions to expand opportunities within our communities. Take steps to overcome challenges that build bridges to aid in decision-making, and to make an organization where all voices are heard.
- Celebrate and reward the full spectrum of positive contributions to the college and your work. Endeavor to celebrate and reward achievements and significant contributions across roles, hierarchies, identities and disciplines for staff, faculty and students alike.
- Invest in your own leadership skills. Develop and enhance your leadership competencies so you can uphold and model these characteristics of leadership.
- Drive integrity and transparency in decision-making. Enhance the college’s effectiveness and impact by making decisions that empower its strategic and cultural priorities, and by communicating the rationale for decisions openly in alignment with the college’s formally-stated goals.
- Lead change with positivity, accountability and a growth mindset to ensure change initiatives are effective and impactful in alignment with the college’s mission and vision.
- Seek out and embrace challenging and varied perspectives.
Community
Being a college community member in any role, discipline or position comes with important expectations for contributing to a positive environment in which to live, work and learn. Here, being a member of the college community is about demonstrating our values: curiosity, collaboration, innovation, integrity and respect.
All of us share responsibility for creating the collaborative, supportive and respectful environment we wish to be a part of. By embodying our values in our work and interpersonal interactions, we all have an opportunity to build a collaborative and supportive community, one that facilitates our mutual success as a college, to the betterment of science and our society.
Below are specific behaviors our community members are expected to uphold.
- Practice our values in your work and with our college community. They are: curiosity, collaboration, innovation, integrity and respect.
- Voice concerns, engage in problem solving, or ideate solutions. When challenges get in the way of the college achieving its cultural and strategic goals, be part of a collaborative effort to overcome them.
- Be collaborative. Take steps to enhance collaboration among colleagues and students across roles, hierarchies, disciplines and perspectives.
- Demonstrate respect, civility and support for colleagues and community members. It is never acceptable to treat colleagues or students with disrespect. Treat all members of the college community with dignity and offer your support whenever you are able to.
- Be supportive and encourage your colleagues to prioritize healthy work-life integration, mental wellness, and to limit burnout.
- Invest in learning so you can be effective at identifying, meeting, and addressing challenges within the college to expand equal opportunities.
- Stand together to find ways to listen and express your support to all our communities. Learn how you can support positive action. Demonstrate your commitment to integrity, curiosity, collaboration, innovation and respect.
- Demonstrate gratitude and appreciation for the contributions of your colleagues regardless of their role, rank, identity or discipline.
- Invest in your personal growth. Take responsibility for identifying opportunities for learning and growth within your work and decision-making, and pursue those proactively.
- Contribute to effective decision-making by sharing constructive perspectives with decision-makers, as a variety of voices and perspectives are key to building a healthy and effective college.
- Embrace positive change so you can contribute to the college’s momentum toward acting on its mission and vision, fueling collective impact.
- Seek out and embrace challenging and varied perspectives.