InTrans / Oct 28, 2022

CMAT’s Shane earns diversity award

Construction Management and Technology (CMAT) program director Jennifer Shane has made advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) a part of her teaching, learning, and research activities, but it’s also something she lives every day.

Shane’s commitment to DEI earned her one of two Inclusive Excellence awards from Iowa State University’s College of Engineering. Shane is also the W.A. Klinger Teaching Professor at Iowa State.

The award recognizes faculty and staff members in the College of Engineering who have exhibited dedication and superior service toward enhancing diversity and inclusion. Diversity and inclusion enhancement activities include but are not limited to efforts to integrate and promote diversity-enriching experiences into teaching, research, service, and outreach activities. Jacqueline Shanks, a professor in chemical engineering, also earned the award alongside Shane.

Shane’s efforts include publishing and speaking on strategies for recruiting and retaining diverse engineers in construction and in the transportation industry. Around campus, she’s known for the many ways she creates inclusive, supportive environments—in her classrooms, through the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering (CCEE) women’s networking group she founded, and in professional service to the department’s and college’s DEI efforts.

Some of the institutional service activities Shane has been involved in include participation on the university’s Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching Academic Inclusion and Equity Advisory Board and the college’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee, and serving as chair of the CCEE department’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee.

Beyond campus, Shane led the CMAT program’s efforts to provide resources for disadvantaged business enterprises (DBEs) and which included research into DBE characteristics nationwide. She has also written several journal articles recently on inclusion in the construction industry.

To see the full list of Iowa State’s College of Engineering faculty recognized this fall, see the college’s summary of the award winners.

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