Diversity Strategic Plan 2021-2024

Diversity Strategic Plan 2021-2024

August 23, 2021

Developed by the SLA Ad Hoc DEI Planning Committee:

Estela Ene (co-chair; Associate Professor of English), Jennifer Thorington Springer (co-chair; Professor of English, Associate Dean of Student Affairs), Holly Cusack-McVeigh (Associate Professor of Anthropology and Museum Studies), Sumedha Gupta (Associate Professor of Economics), Eric Hamilton (Grant Fiscal Specialist), Pamela Hinckle (Director of Spirit and Place), David Hoegberg (Associate Professor, Chair of the English Department), Samuel Kahn (Assistant Professor of Philosophy), Nichole Neuman (Assistant Professor of German), Lizeth Quinones Gamez (Assistant Director of Digital Media), Enric Mallorqui Ruscalleda (Assistant Professor of Spanish and Translation Studies), Angela Campbell (Anthropology Major), Elie Bucklin (Journalism Major), Marc Mcaleavey (SLA Alumni Board - At Large Member), Etta Ward (SLA Alumna, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research Development), Rachel Wheeler (Associate Professor of Religious Studies)   

The School of Liberal Arts has recently renewed its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion by approving, in Faculty Assembly, the creation of its first DEI Standing Committee in 2019. While DEI conversations in the school had occurred over time, the founding of the SLA DEI Standing Committee marks a more intentional and systematic focus on DEI across the school. The Committee is made up of 10 members – faculty, staff, and students -- organized into several sub-committees that focus (and have accomplished or partially accomplished) a number of deliverables. The subcommittees focus on: DEI Search & Hire, DEI Training & Professional Development, ASL Accommodations, DEI Problem Resolution, DEI Awards & Recognition, and DEI microsite.   

The SLA DEI Standing Committee formulated the school’s first Vision and Mission statement, which is aligned with IUPUI’s DEI vision and was approved by Faculty Assembly in Spring 2020.   

The 2018 IUPUI Climate Survey revealed some areas of DEI in which the SLA is performing better or significantly better than other campus entities. For example, 62% of the SLA student respondents indicated that their coursework emphasized diversity “quite a bit” or “very much.” The percentage of SLA students who felt this way was significantly higher than other IUPUI students. Also, 89% of SLA faculty and staff and 88% of Liberal Arts students indicated that they feel safe enough to likely report bias/harassment/discrimination if they witnessed it. The strategic plan laid out below seeks to continue strengthening our relative strengths (such as curriculum and climate) as well as addressing issues of concern identified in the 2014 and 2018 climate surveys – namely, overall diversity, staff affairs, speaking up, women, and LGBTQ+ individuals.   

The diversity strategic plan presented here was developed by the Ad Hoc DEI Strategic Planning Committee appointed by former Interim Dean Rebein in Fall 2020 with input from the DEI Standing Committee constituted a year earlier. The committee is co-led by Jennifer Thorington Springer (Associate Dean for Student Affairs, ex officio member of the DEI Standing Committee) and Estela Ene (chair of the DEI Standing Committee). The ad-hoc committee meets every other week. Prior to drafting goals and strategies, the committee engaged in a deep analysis and discussion of the 2014 and 2018 Climate Surveys, sample strategic plans, reflection tools and other materials provided by the office of the Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. To ensure alignment with campus priorities, the committee chairs also participate in the campus-level Diversity Strategic Planning Leads Group. The SLA Ad-Hoc Committee was divided into affinity groups based on the four diversity indicators which form the backbone of the strategic plan. The drafts they developed were peer reviewed by the other groups, and the chairs composed a polished version of the plan. This was shared with the leadership of the campus-level Diversity Strategic Planning Leads Group as well as other SLA constituencies such as the Student Executive Council, Staff Executive Council, SLA Alumni Council, Diversity and Inclusion Standing Committee, and Faculty Affairs.   Finally, the chairs of the SLA DEI Strategic Planning Committee produced a revised version of the strategic plan, to which Dean Tami Eitle responded. The plan below is the outcome of this collaborative process.

Diversity Indicator I: Institutional Viability and Vitality

Goal: Increase DEI in the school by providing training for all and by improving faculty and staff retention through revised search/hire processes, focusing on career advancement for women and other minoritized groups, and leadership positions

Strategy 1:

Track and monitor institutional viability, examine group differences revealed by climate surveys or other data collected by IRDS

Responsible parties:

  • Sub-committees of the DEI Standing Committee or other SLA committees
    • It should be emphasized that this work can now be counted toward the new integrative case DEI P&T pathway
  • IRDS
  • Dean’s office

Timeline:

  • Same as IRDS campus-wide IUPUI climate survey 

Metrics:

  • Decrease in group differences over time as reflected in survey results

Strategy 2:

Train all faculty and staff about DEI to ensure our School embodies DEI values

Responsible parties:  

  • Chairs
  • DEI Standing Committee – Training and Professional Development Subcommittee
  • the SLA Staff Executive Council
  • OEO
  • Associate Vice Chancellor for Faculty Diversity and Inclusion in OAA 

Timeline:

  • Faculty and staff will participate in at least one training session every year 

Metrics: 

  • Number of faculty and staff trained  

Strategy 3:

Incorporate DEI goals and values in job announcements and the entire search and hire process  

Responsible parties:

  • Search and Hire Committees
  • Chairs
  • DEI Standing Committee – Diverse Search and Hire Subcommittee 
    the SLA Staff Executive Council
  • OEO 
  • Associate Vice Chancellor for Faculty Diversity and Inclusion in OAA 

Timeline:

  • A year starting Fall 2022 for search and hire documents design when a search and hire committee is formed for committee training

Metrics:

  • Revised search and hire documents
  • Number of faculty/search and hire committee members trained   
    • Number of supervisors trained

Strategy 4:

Establish processes and mentorship structures to support the advancement of women and minoritized groups into higher academic and administrative/leadership ranks

Responsible parties:

  • Chairs 
  • Department level committees 
  • Appointed mentors in coordination with the Associate Dean for Faculty  

Timeline:  Yearly   

Metrics:

  • Increase in number of faculty and staff mentored   
  • Increase in number of faculty and staff advanced 
  • Number of DEI-mindful mentorship structures created across departments

Diversity Indicator II: Education and Scholarship

Goal #1: Create Inclusive Classrooms

Strategy:

Incorporate the IUPUI Land Acknowledgment and other acknowledgements – for example, of Ransom Place and the displacement of African American communities on the land that IUPUI sits on now, perspectives of international students -- into the syllabus template for SLA courses, Canvas course homepages, and at the beginning of all SLA courses and sponsored events. See  https://diversity.iupui.edu/land-acknowledgment/index.html and https://iu.mediaspace.kaltura.com/media/t/1_9e97l6v0  

Responsible party: Associate Deans of Student Affairs and Academic Programs    

Timeline: Fall 2021   

Metrics:

  • Enhanced/Revised syllabi

Strategy:

Encourage and inspire professional development around inclusive learning pedagogies by promoting the use of larger campus resources and creating a school-level module/series of modules and resource guide on DEI in the classroom that helps instructors engage deeply with DEI issues

Responsible party: Appointed Committee, Associate Dean of Student Affairs    

Timeline:  Spring 2023   

Metrics:

  • SLA module/series of modules on DEI in the classroom
  • % of faculty implementing inclusive learning pedagogies

Strategy:

Integrate opportunities in orientation and onboarding in Bridge and other experiences so that every student can learn about structural racism and inequity, with special focus on our own regional and institutional legacies

Responsible party:

  • Student Affairs 
  • SLA Bridge Program Leaders
  • First Year Experience Team

Timeline:  Spring 2023 

Metrics: Number of students who participated in an experience or completed a course on structural racism and inequity     

Goal #2: Recognize and promote DEI scholarship in the School of Liberal Arts   

Strategies:

  • Add a DEI category to department annual reports in DMAI and the Chairs’ annual review to the Dean    
  • Survey applied, public, digital scholarship centered in DEI  
  • Encourage and support DEI-centered scholarship done in the school via talks, brown-bags, workshops, website/social media, and other communication outlets   
  • Explore new opportunities/partnerships with the CTL, OVCR, IAHI and other funding to celebrate and further this effort by faculty and, where appropriate, students    
  • Encourage work with relevant School and campus programs and centers that have DEI within their missions (e.g., WGSS, NAIS, Latino, Africana, Urban Education)  

Responsible parties:

  • Departments and Programs
  • Chairs and Program Directors
  • Dean (for DMAI and annual report modifications)
    • Sub-Committee of the DEI Standing Committee for exploring funding and organizing talks, possibly with ad hoc committees     

Timeline: Fall 2023   

Metrics:

  • Self-report of DEI-centered scholarship in DMAI
  • Modified DMAI forms at department level    
  • Modified format of Dean’s annual review    
  • Faculty awarded funding for DEI scholarship (# awards, $ awarded)   
  • Number of DEI-centered talks, brown-bags, workshops 

Diversity Indicator III: Climate and Intergroup Relations

Goal: Create clear policies to address inequities in job expectations, compensation, and workload

Strategies:

  • Identify group differences in compensation, resources, and/or workload among faculty, staff and review for bias
    • Create a new faculty and staff mentoring program with an emphasis on support for incoming minoritized groups and women faculty/staff
    • Create/Raise awareness of campus-level staff/faculty resources to communicate grievances and notification of incidents

Responsible parties:

  • Dean’s Office
  • Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs (for faculty mentor program)

Timeline: Fall 2021 – Spring 2024

Metrics:

  • Reduction in salary and pay inequities
  • Creation of mentoring program and participation in the program by new or recently hired faculty and staff

    Strategies:
  • Create/revise policies around staff duties/responsibilities, cross-training and professional development, and onboarding-review-offboarding for all groups (student, staff, faculty)  
    • Clearly identify and create staff duties and responsibilities  
    • Ensure equitable access to professional development opportunities
    • Ensure supervisors are trained in DEI to ensure onboarding and retaining staff and faculty in SLA

Responsible parties:  HR in collaboration with Liberal Arts Staff Executive Council, all SLA supervisors, and faculty representatives

Timeline: Fall 2021 - Spring 2022 

Metrics:

  • Revised and clear job descriptions for staff
  • Creation of jobs and/or opportunities for experienced staff members to be promoted/grow into
    • Participation in professional development opportunities by group
  • Number of supervisors trained in DEI, including annual ongoing development
  • Retention rates by group reviewed each fiscal year (staff, and faculty) 
  • Ongoing assessment of job framework

Strategies:

  • Create an onboarding and offboarding review process with related documents to ensure an equitable experience for all 
  • Examine annual review policy and implementation across departments for faculty and staff 

Responsible party:   Onboarding/Exiting Committee (see above strategy); Dean’s Office

Timeline:  Fall 2021 - Fall 2022

Metrics:

  • Entry surveys; 3-month check-in; 6-month follow-up survey 
  • Exit surveys  
  • Annual Performance Evaluations
  • Professional development training attended/utilized

Diversity Indicator IV: Access and Success (Student Centered)

Goal: Improve the recruitment and retention of underrepresented/underserved/underresourced/nontraditional students

Strategies:

  • Create pipelines with K-12 and community organizations through programming
    • Identify and work with faculty groups who already engage K-12 and community organizations  
    • Use social media platforms to communicate more effectively with students 

Responsible parties: 

  • Student Affairs and Marketing
  • Admissions
  • Student Organization Clubs 

Timeline:  Fall 2021 – Spring 2024

Metrics: 

Number of pipelines created, partners contacted, admitted students and those re- enrolled  

Strategies:

  • Diversity training with attention to the specific needs of a diverse student body
    • Offer student-centered, culturally-targeted services and programs
    • Create and sustain services for students especially around discrimination and minority stress

Responsible parties:

  • DEI Standing Committee
  • Liberal Arts Student Council
  • Collaborations with the Campus Wide Student Experience Council (SEC)
  • Alumni (resource and potential collaborators)

Timeline: Fall 2021

Metrics:   

  • Student Surveys and Focus Groups

Strategies:

  • Scale up existing Peer Mentor Program and promote cluster mentorship
    • Apply for a grant to support a bigger and more robust peer mentoring program
    • Recruit and train seasoned students to become Student Ambassadors
    • Assign first year and transfer students a mentor immediately after admission
    • Connect students to their faculty mentors through mixers and social gatherings

Responsible parties:

  • Student Affairs in collaboration with Faculty Mentors and Admissions
  • Volunteer Faculty Champions
  • Alumni (resource and support system)

Timeline: Fall 2021 – Spring 2022

Metrics:

  • Student experience reports
  • Graduating survey and student focus groups 
  • Data from social media–scope and reach to students; how students engage; what students are communicating in their comments, etc. 
  • Indirect feedback from students (conversations with advising, staff, peers, etc.)