Strategy-Status Update

The EDI Rubric Tool Executive Summary

Through the new EDI Rubric tool, we have overlaid compliance and the practice of diversity and inclusion. The Federal government is expected to serve as a model employer, and the NIH is to serve as a Model EEO organization for our employees and managers, as well as our external applicants and stakeholders. Furthermore, research has shown evidence of heightened organizational benefits and performance progress by assessing diversity and inclusion. “What gets measured, gets done.”

The EDI Rubric is a numeric evaluation tool that incorporates current research and best practices in diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA), as well as addresses compliance under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the Rehabilitation Act/Americans with Disabilities Act. Our goal is to provide a practical tool for the ICs to individually and collectively enhance their DEIA strategic plans, which will ultimately serve to elevate NIH as the model employer within the federal government, one where diverse people come to work and thrive.

In EDI, we are always looking to treat the ICs as our customer and support them with excellent services. To this end, we’ve enhanced the EDI rubric, a measurement tool that benchmarks real life and promising practice initiatives in diversity and inclusion that the ICs develop and implement. Here are some highlights of our progress to date.

  • During calendar year 2018, the SDI team developed an internal diversity and inclusion assessment tool, called the EDI Rubric 1.0. The EDI Rubric was comprised of NIH real life diversity and inclusion promising practices and an overlay of an OPM standard in workforce diversity, workplace inclusion and diversity and inclusion mission work.
  • In 2019, the team began a soft roll-out using the EDI Rubric by conducting organizational performance assessments.
  • In 2020, the SDI team created a numeric point system aligned with standard assessments to discern a final rating of Bronze, Silver and Gold for the EDI Rubric 2.0. Additionally, a communication plan on the EDI Rubric was established provides to provide a plan for communication to the NIH stakeholder community.
  • Currently, we are working on future ideas for taking the EDI Rubric to an even higher effectiveness and efficiency level, i.e., EDI Rubric 3.0.