Provost’s Award for Promoting a Sense of Belonging

The Office of the Provost accepts nominations and applications for an award that recognizes community-building efforts by faculty and staff at the university: the Provost's Award for Promoting A Sense of Belonging. This award aligns with Florida Tech’s core values, specifically to "create accessible, inclusive, and immersive student-centric educational experiences."

Florida Tech provides a high-quality education to a culturally varied student body to prepare students for entering the global workforce. Thus, the university recognizes the importance of a spectrum of backgrounds and perspectives among students, staff, and faculty and strives to promote a collaborative environment . This philosophy fosters excellence, innovation in research, intellectual growth, and both personal and professional development.

Numerous studies from top management consultancy firms, scientific organizations, and the U.S. military recognize that diverse teams make better decisions and are more innovative. Diversity encompasses a limitless spectrum of identities and experiences, including but not limited to, differences in race and ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, cultural heritage, academic interests, economic background, veteran status, and physical and cognitive abilities. We believe that these varied perspectives enrich our community and enhance the educational experience for all.

Award Eligibility

The Belonging Award is given to an individual or team (such as a committee, workgroup, program or department) exemplifying a commitment to the cause of enhancing belonging and building community at Florida Tech over. The award highlights best practices and honors the individual(s) or team(s) responsible for creating or enhancing the educational environment at Florida Tech.

Recognized efforts include but are not limited to:

• Activities that have promoted and advocated for a campus environment that welcomes belonging
• Activities that have contributed to raising awareness about belonging within the context of the university’s mission and for the greater good of the Florida Tech community
• Efforts to recruit, retain, and/or provide professional development for individuals from diverse backgrounds
• Efforts to attract, recruit, and/or help to ensure the success of students from diverse backgrounds
• Providing mentoring/advising for students, faculty, or staff from underrepresented groups
• Collaboration with other units on campus that promotes belonging
• Collaborations with external groups or organizations to ensure a campus community that embraces differences and/or supports the advancement of diversity
• Activities that had, or will have, a significant impact on the university community in terms of belonging and further strengthening the community

Nomination/Application Packet

A complete nomination or application packet includes:

1. Name, office/department, and contact information for the individual or team being nominated for the award (one page limit)
2. A summary of initiatives that the nominee/applicant made significant contributions to within the past five years (five page limit)
3. Supplemental letters of support or evidence in support of nominee (no page limit)

The above should be compiled into a single document, saved as a PDF, and sent via email to academicaffairs@fit.edu by Dec. 1 annually.

Awardee Selection

A subcommittee of the University Diversity Council will review nominee/applicant packets and make a recommendation to the Provost for a winner of this award. Current members of the subcommittee are not eligible to receive the award.