2019-2020 Campuswide Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Initiatives

Create a “film school” in conjunction with the CMU Film Festival. The vision is to invite high school and community college students to come to campus and participate in the event which has CAM faculty present several hour-long sessions to educate students about production techniques, aesthetics, acting, music/scoring, etc. A portion of the film school will be devoted to a diverse and inclusive group of students to see CMU and our college. Finding a way to bring groups of students with little to no cost to them would be ideal. That might be able to be funded through external and/or internal grants.

Create an “Expanding Diversity in Curriculum Workshop”. This workshop will help faculty reassess their curriculum and teaching materials with a goal of making them more inclusive in terms of content and accessibility. Perhaps this can be planned with CIS or the Office of Diversity Education.

Encouraging departments to credit work on diversity, equity, and inclusion within their bylaws to help with RTP decisions. There has been a movement to do this across campus with varying results. CAM endorsement and support of this concept would yield changes in departmental by-laws.

With an endowment from Stephen L. Barstow the Department of Art and Design is able to bring in a visiting artist every fall semester. Every third year we would search for an artist whose background and/or creative research increases the diversity within our department. If implemented as policy the department will need to vote on this, but we expect support.

A new faculty orientation run by the college. One of the core goals of this orientation, which would take place throughout the first year, would be to systematically introduce new faculty to resources and knowledge required to successfully acclimate to the university. Hosting orientation at the college level would allow new faculty to form relationships with colleagues at the same stage as them, and to offer a broader institutional perspective than that of the individual departments (although some knowledge would be tailored to individual departments). Part of this orientation could include pedagogy on diversity in the curriculum and classroom, as well as other topics related to diversity.

The CBA already brings alumni on-campus for many events, including Dialogue Days where we have them speak in classes. We will work with our alumni and development office to bring more diverse individuals to campus to speak to our student groups. These individuals are already in our alumni network but there have not been prior efforts to engage them specifically in a coordinated fashion. Many of these individuals could also serve as judges or coaches for the New Venture Competition.

We have a new comfort room in Grawn hall that could be used for religious prayer, meditation/reflection, and breastfeeding. We do not have a policy in place yet and have not advertised the space to those groups who could use it. We will develop a policy for use as well as a mechanism to reserve the room and will communicate to staff and students through listserv news announcements, displays on our visual screens, announcements at the fall faculty meeting, encouraging faculty to announce to students, and signage.

At our fall 2019 faculty meeting we will open faculty interest communities for the first time around personal interests or hobbies such as music, sports (e.g., a bowling group, a golf group), theatre, and art. These were proposed by junior faculty two years ago at a retreat but had not been adopted. We will have signup sheets this fall at the college meeting with the hope that interest groups will bring together people from different departments and with diverse backgrounds to build a collegial and inclusive environment across the CBA.

We would like to bring in a speaker from the Office for Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for our spring faculty meeting to discuss how to build an inclusive workplace.

Increasing diversity in judges, team coaches/mentors, and student teams. The NVC has in the past, not had many female judges and has lacked gender diversity amongst the student eams as well. We will host a speaker from the Office for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion for the faculty, staff, and coaches about implicit bias and the value of diversity and will work with our own executive roundtable and alumni and development office to secure more female and minority judges and coaches/mentors for the 2020 NVC. We will also send NVC staff to diverse student group meetings, such as NABA and WIB, to recruit students to participate in the event.

We have open, interdepartmental communities formed around our CBA student learning goals. These groups focus on student success for all. They were newly created last year and for the next year we will ask the student learning communities to consider ways to add inclusive best practices to our outreach efforts and communications to students. This will include adding student members to the groups, which were formerly only made of faculty.

The Dean’s Advisory Council will work in collaboration with the Dean’s office and appropriate university groups to identify diversity metrics that can be tracked, which will include not only percentage of underrepresented groups by department and faculty rank, but also research initiatives that enhance or study diversity. This will also include outreach efforts to obtain percentages and underutilized goals and training when initiating searches for faculty and staff positions in the CBA. As part of the strategic plan initiative, we will address pay equity and include metrics around equity in our strategic plan.

This project is headed by Luis Perez-Batres and focuses on retaining students who are first generation, Pell Grant eligible, or would otherwise contribute to the diversity of our student body, A group of faculty mentors will work with Pathways to train student mentors who could mentor freshmen in a peer mentoring relationship. Oftentimes, first generation, Pell grant eligible, and multicultural students are not as aware about the steps needed to enhance their success odds. Through mentoring and informing them of fitting opportunities available to them, we will be expanding “fair access” to all that CMU has to offer in every rank and program, within the CBA.

The National Association of Black Accountants Student Chapter - NABA’s mission is: Equipping students for cultural, academic, and professional responsibility & success. All ethnicity & majors welcomed! “Lifting as We Climb” They focus on reaching a diverse population that is underrepresented in accounting and business and host a variety of events, including offering professional head shots for students on LinkedIn, hosting study tables, bringing in guest speakers and companies like Ernst & Young, Deloitte, PwC, and Dow to recruit students. We would like to encourage them to send some of their members to the national NABA conference as well as other regional meetings. 

This is a new RSO started by a CBA student and is open to all majors with a focus on helping develop young women for careers in business. Last year they put on networking and dinner etiquette/professionalism events. We would like to connect them with alumni for a formal Women in Business mentoring program, which is a program the CBA has run in the past but not recently. We would work with our own alumni and development office to pair successful female alumni with our students to provide mentorship. This group is open to all and represents a variety of majors in the CBA.

Develop a college wide recruitment and retention plan with implementation steps for expanding diversity of faculty, staff, and students enrolled in CEHS programs and employed in the college.

Establish a common understanding of the evolving area of gender identification and the implications for faculty and staff interactions with students.

Establish at least one universally designed restroom (including gender neutral and accessible) in each of the CEHS buildings (Wightman, Finch, and EHS Building). This will be a multi-year project because it includes multiple units across campus and has financial implication for the college.

Develop a plan for greater inclusion of off-campus learners in on-campus activities and vice-versa (on-campus students interacting from off-campus health professionals) to improve learning, professional networking and collaboration. Complete plan and implement at least 2-3 events during AY12/20.

Provide draft strategies/language in support of programmatic accreditation requirements that demonstrates institutional diversity/equity/inclusion commitment to students, faculty and staff (i.e., program goals, recruitment, retention, etc.). 1. The DEIC will finalize strategies/language by end of Spring 2020 semester and disseminate to departments/divisions/programs for use in program materials including accreditation reports.

Provide support to lactating faculty/staff/student parents. Identify and communicate private space available for use by lactating parents as well as changing tables in select restrooms.

Expand CLASS commitment to decreasing distance between our students and Detroit/Grand Rapids institutions, particularly diversity-related sites (i.e./ Charles Wright Museum). College-sponsored bus trips and lectures? Teaming with the alumni office for more diversity-related “CMU Nights” beyond Detroit’s sports teams? (i.e., “CMU Day at the Motown Museum”) through college connections to cultural institutions around the state.

Create a Faculty Learning Community for faculty who teach IVA/IVB/IVC or related courses addressing various forms of discrimination. This would be a place for sharing pedagogical strategies,w especially around issues of white privilege/fragility, creating more inclusive learning environments, dealing with hot moments in the classroom, etc. In this, we would also develop a platform for CLASS that would outline the colleges commitment to teaching IVA/IVB/IVC courses (uses for marketing CMU and CLASS courses). We would also encourage faculty to collaborate across courses, so students are not studying racism/discrimination/minorities in a silo (professor swap like Honors faculty?). There could also possibly be a IVA/IVB/IVC symposium that would allow faculty or students to present research or discuss current events with possible required attendance from students in those classes.

Develop a plan to broaden commitment to intergroup dialogue within college (faculty intergroup dialogue, resources to support, etc.).

Foster Registered Student Organizations exploring Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion issues with intentional interactions and partnerships.

Develop an intentional plan with the Saginaw Chippewa for expanded collaborative work, marketing, and other initiatives (work on a plan for support of Ojibwe language instruction in local schools; possible residential community partnership on reservation; GAship with Ziibiwing and CRM/Museum studies)

Train faculty and staff on use of diacritical marks in college/department/unit correspondence, signage, etc.

Inclusion of the new, complete antidiscrimation statement in the Medical Faculty Employment Handbook and Medical Student Handbook.

Updating materials for CMU Health Care Services to better represent the patient base that we currently serve and wish to serve.

Launching an Environmental Engineering Program in Fall 2019. This initiative is expected to address a significant lack of gender diversity within the School of Engineering. Nationally, women participate in environmental engineering at a much higher rate than in the areas of mechanical, and electrical engineering.

Seek funding from A0 National Science Foundation (NSF) - ADVANCE Program, and B) the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI).The purpose of the NSF ADVANCE Program is to address issues of inclusion and equity for women faculty and administrators within STEM disciplines. A working group has been identified and will begin working on a proposal this spring. The NSF provides the following description of the program and its goals: “The goal of the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) ADVANCE Program is to increase the representation and advancement of women in academic science and engineering careers, thereby contributing to the development of a more diverse science and engineering workforce.” (https://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/advance/)

CMU Alumni Relations aims to increase the number of events and initiatives targeting minoritized populations, increasing the engagement from these communities post-graduation.

Internal training initiatives to increase awareness of engaging in dialogue across differences as it relates to communicating with members of these minoritized populations.

The Athletic Department will increase advertising of positions to include Leaders in Women’s Sports and MOAA for every staff and coaching position. The Athletic Department will identify a campus or regional program to train hiring managers.

Student Athlete Advisory Council is partnering with CMU Diversity Education and Sapphire Cureg for small group “chats” led by Diversity Education.

The Athletic Department will increase advertising of positions to include Leaders in Women’s Sports and MOAA for every staff and coaching position. The Athletic department will identify a campus or regional program to train hiring managers.

SAAC will have a Diversity & Inclusion Committee to work on yearly SAAC/Athletic Department initiatives as well as MAC Diversity & Inclusion Week/programming.

Develop a plan for handicap access to observation rooms. Collaborate with the university community to ensure students with ASD are supported academically and socially.

Establish preferred name operations/procedures for clinic consistent with University policy.

Leverage alumni, clinical instructors (preceptors) for high school visits, education fairs and mentoring programs that target underrepresented populations in the professions.

Evaluate feasibility of a CSD Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion RSO or subcommittee of current RSOs.

Recruit, accept and retain diverse undergraduate and graduate cohorts and faculty/staff that reflect the demographic characteristics of the CMU community and target the under-represented populations in the profession.

When students hear from peers about academic and support programming this helps to normalize the experience and facilitate engagement. This initiative calls for the development of engaging video vignettes that illustrates inclusion and access to CMU academic and student support programming. The content could be deployed via the WEB, through personalized email and on CMU social media channels. Three to five programs would be highlighted the first Year considering areas such as MAC Scholars, Pathways Scholars, Native American Programs, McNair Scholars, IMPACT Programming, Inclusion Assistants, and Intergroup Dialogue.

First generation students don’t know what they don’t know about a college. They also feel that everyone else knows how to complete or participate in a process. This initiative will provide a new method to introduce students to things that they might not know and would really benefit from. This directly addresses equity by providing messaging to students designed to engage them in academic and student support resources in support of their success.

This initiative will support extending current transportation opportunities for current CMU International Students. Currently, ESS supports charter bus services for CMU students to/from to Detroit Metro Airport, and to Chicago Union Station. These services are offered in August prior to the start of school, Thanksgiving break, Fall Semester break, Spring Semester start, Spring Break, and the end of school.

Members of the FAS team will participate in Reachbeyondbias.com - CMU’s bias awareness assessment. This will be a first step to raise individual awareness to the importance of and need for diversity training.

Each department will undertake an initiative to improve inclusion. Examples include: 

1. Inclusion-based training such as SafeZone training, unconscious bias, or possibly training to help understand other personalities/perspectives such as Myers/Briggs or similar training. Such training could be brought to departments or individuals could attend training.

2. “Inclusion” luncheons - taking team members who don’t frequently interact with one another to lunch to get to know one another as individuals and colleagues.

3. Encourage members of the department to attend one of the cultural activities on campus - soup and substance, dialogue across differences, shared governance gathering, etc. as examples.

Members of the FAS team will participate in a CMU diversity training program.

Implement revised Diversity competencies as part of the staff performance review system.

Explore potential of recognition as a veteran-friendly employer through the Michigan Veteran Affairs Agency.

Host a brown bag luncheon twice a semester, which will focus on increasing awareness and understanding the broader impacts of research and its impact on equity. Possible topics/presenters include: successfully externally-funded faculty who increases access to participation in research with diversity supplements, faculty who ensure broader access to thor research through various methods, the impact that programs such as McNair have had on students and faculty, etc. This will highlight current methods of broadening access to research and inspire more individuals to look for ways to do so themselves.

Restructure funding given to colleges to ensure that there is additional funding specifically dedicated to increasing diversity by recruiting and supporting underrepresented students. With this initiative we hope to increase the presence of underrepresented students in areas of study.

Coordinate with Student Disability Services to update the website so that it includes information regarding making laboratory settings safe and accessible to all. How this addresses inclusion: With this initiative we hope to provide support for safe participation in laboratory settings for anyone with a particular need that is not currently being met.

Provide on-line anti-harassment and discrimination training to search committee members that will help them to better recognize intimidation, harassment, macroaggressions, microaggressions, and sexual misconduct and its impact on potential inequities in employment.

Provide training to search committee members and to participants of the Leadership Excellence HR professional development series. The initiative will include workshops and hands-on sessions, and will provide opportunities for CMU employees to learn how implicit bias can impact the pool of qualified diverse applicants, interviewing practices and that ultimately can hinder or enhance the overall recruitment process.

Develop and implement a Spring Summit that will provide an opportunity for all CMU members to share experiences, value differences and learn from each other and grow to make the University a more inclusive place where everyone can fully feel valued and respected. Designed to be highly interactive and participatory, the Summit will tackle issues relevant to CMU campus and inclusive facilitations to foster continuous social change.

P&A Council will actively promote diverse P&A workgroup members to attend monthly meetings and diversity events and baseline attendance over the 2019-2020 academic year.

P&A Council will develop a diversity track to present to planning committee of the annual Leadership Conference.

P&A Council will work to publish at least one listing for on-campus and off-campus resources for diverse groups on campus (i.e., restaurants, barbershops, salons, etc.).

Initiative is directly related to supporting international student success, which should result in greater recruitment and retention. Supports international student onboarding and initial integration to campus, including introductions to important campus resources. By making customized videos, we can ensure that international students receive the information in a way that is most useful to them and creates a welcoming atmosphere that encourages them to use the resources.

Staff Training for Engaging with the International Student Population. This is tangentially related in the sense that training staff/faculty to engage with the international student population, with the goal of creating a more welcoming and inclusive environment.

Initiative will broaden the diversity of attendance at the event(s). Creating easier access to opportunity to attend events for population that may otherwise not be able to attend.

By updating out bylaws and making the Diversity Chair required to have 2 programs a year (1 per semester) that foster diversity education and discussion on issues, SGA will be able to reach the voices of multiple students.

By working with different programs on campus, such as the CCLO and admissions, the SGA will work to help create promotional materials/website listing resources to everyone that may need them (fair access to resources).

By updating membership acceptance policies with the Office of Student Activities and Involvements, SGA has required that all RSOs when renewing their registration agree that they will not discriminate against membership in regards toindentifiers including: age, color, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, height, marital status, national origin, political persuasion, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, race, religion, sex, sex-based stereotypes, sexual orientation, transgender status, veteran status, or weight.

We will create a University Communications diversity, equity, and inclusion committee composed of staff from each of our function areas (marketing, graphic design and public relations/communications). This committee will meet regularly to identify training opportunities, review progress on initiatives and suggest opportunities for our team’s development.

Receive training from the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Intentional recruitment of diverse interns with an eye on preparing future employees.

We will create a University Communications diversity, equity, and inclusion committee composed of staff from each of our function areas (marketing, graphic design and public relations/communications). This committee will meet regularly to identify training opportunities, review progress on initiatives and suggest opportunities for our team’s development.

Utilize social media channels to highlight the events and programs of interest to diverse audiences.

CMU Libraries will develop a needs assessment to better understand the library experiences of patrons who identify with underrepresented groups or other special populations within the university (e.g. international students, students of color, transfer students, students with disabilities, etc.).

Host a human library event during spring semester 2020. A human library event fosters positive conversations and a safe place to ask and answer difficult questions. We would like to provide a forum to educate people and expose them to issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. The event will feature a group of diverse speakers who are willing to have one on one conversations with participants. We will provide a safe environment that fosters one-on-one conversations.

Install automatic door openers on entries to bathrooms located on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th floors of Park Library, in the Clarke Historical Library, and in Java City. Currently, only two first floor bathroom doors have automatic door openers. However, there are 12 bathrooms in the Park Library. Guests who need assistance opening doors should not have to travel to a different floor or part of the library to use the bathroom.