The University of Michigan is adopting a new set of workplace values to be exemplified for faculty and staff across the Ann Arbor campus and Michigan Medicine.

President Santa J. Ono announced the values in his January video message, which was released Jan. 17. They are:

• Integrity: We act with honesty and take responsibility for our actions.
• Respect: We act in a way that acknowledges the humanity and contributions of each individual.
• Inclusion: We create an environment where all can participate, are invited to contribute, and have a sense of belonging.
• Equity: We create conditions that provide everyone an opportunity to thrive.
• Diversity: We welcome, acknowledge and appreciate our similarities and differences.
• Innovation: We promote creativity and curiosity to tackle challenges and inspire new ideas.

Underpinning all of these values is accountability, Ono said.

“Words are not enough — our behaviors matter. And as citizens of this university, we must be accountable to ourselves, and to one another,” Ono said.

The adoption of these values is the result of a long input process involving regular engagement with faculty and staff. Engagement methods have included information sessions, polls, focus groups and community assemblies to determine the workplace values and their definitions.

“There is more work to be done as a community to identify the behaviors and norms that demonstrate our values, and will guide our workplace interactions,” said Sonya Jacobs, special adviser to the president, chief organizational learning officer and senior director for faculty and leadership development at Michigan Medicine.

Demonstrating these values is also important as U-M carries out its mission to serve the people of Michigan and the world through preeminence in creating, communicating, preserving and applying knowledge, art and academic values, and in developing leaders and citizens who will challenge the present and enrich the future.

Faculty and staff on the Ann Arbor campus and in Michigan Medicine will soon have the opportunity to help identify behaviors and actions, including accountability, that exemplify these values through a poll and a series of community engagement events.

The Culture Journey team would like to learn more about and recognize those in the campus community already demonstrating these values in their daily work. Stories of individuals or teams who are living our values can be submitted using the form or on the Culture Journey website.

This article originally appeared in the University Record.