DEI 1.0 Unit Summaries

Implementation Leads

James DeVaney, Ana Dora, Cait Hayward

Unit Strategic Plan

To learn more, contact: [email protected], [email protected] or, [email protected].

Visit here for more information about diversity, equity and inclusion programs and resources.

 

Unit Summary

As the Center for Academic Innovation (CAI) begins to plan for its next strategic plan, DEI 2.0, we remain committed to better integrating diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice principles across all of our objective areas within the larger university strategies focused on People, Process, and Products. As we close out DEI 1.0 and reflect on our unit progress to date, we are focused on opportunities for our community to be a greater resource across all of the communities we serve as we shape the future of learning.

We also want to recognize the thoughtful planning of our DEI leads throughout DEI 1.0 – Cy Abdelnour, Kathleen Bauer, Onawa Gardiner, Ryan Henyard, Amy Homkes-Hayes, Keesa Johnson Muhammad, Erin McCann, Rachel Niemer, Reggie Plahta, and Camille Ulrich – as well as everyone in the center that contributed to these efforts during the first five years. CAI’s Annual Strategic Plan summary reports for DEI 1.0 are below:

• Year 1 (2016-2017)
• Year 2 (2017-2018)
• Year 3 (2018-2019)
• Year 4 (2019-2020)
• Year 5 (2020-2021)

 

Unit Reflections

People

There have been many lessons learned in regards to the recruitment, retention, and development of our diverse community. As we work as a unit to operationalize and standardize our hiring processes, while still allowing flexibility for teams to customize elements that make sense, we are beginning to learn which elements of the process should be required (training, specific language in general sections) and which can be customized in development with the Talent Lead. We have learned that while we want all teams to have flexibility and autonomy, there are some things we need to reinforce as ‘required’ norms. We would like to focus on what we could potentially require of our team as it relates to training and implementation of tools in our recruiting and hiring process to position hiring managers and interview teams to apply DEI lenses to the hiring, recruiting and onboarding experience. We began with a more flexible approach, which is important when you are bringing change into an organization, but we would like to increase accountability in these important practices as we work to build a broadly diverse community of innovative staff.   

There have also been a few best practices that have begun to support our work in this space. Making our DEI Unconscious Bias training an official and required step in our recruiting and hiring process, and creating a best practices guiding document supporting that new step in our process, all while consistently communicating about these new steps with our team during the interview process have been good starting points. On the recruiting effort front, adding the EmployDiversity job board to our paid recruiting efforts for every position that we post, working with hiring managers to get their input on job boards that they think would be helpful to the success of their search, as well as communicating our open postings and boards to our team in written form has been a good practice. 

We also recognize certain elements in our work to avoid as we move forward. There needs to be additional focus on what we could potentially require of our team as it relates to training and implementation of tools in our recruiting and hiring processes to position hiring managers and interview teams to apply DEI lenses to the hiring, recruiting and onboarding experience. We began with a more flexible approach, which is important when bringing change into an organization, but we would like to increase accountability in these important practices while giving the team time to adjust to these new practices and norms.  

Based on what we were able to accomplish in DEI 1.0 and where we currently are as an organization, we would like to consider the following as priorities for DEI 2.0. We would also like to connect these goals to our organizational and Operations domain goals once we have team discussions:  

• Increase capacity in our Operations team with the Talent Lead’s oversight by having additional allocated personnel to support more specialized efforts related to recruiting, hiring and onboarding to ensure DEI principles are optimally infused into these processes that are critical for the success of our Center’s overall success. 
• Continue to partner closely with UM Recruiting to lead the utilization of the available platforms that will help us become more visible as a Center, particularly to underrepresented communities, when we are recruiting for new openings and vacancies
• Implement resources in our recruiting and hiring checklist for hiring managers and hiring teams that ensure inclusive language in our job postings and interview experience in addition to the mandatory Unconscious Bias in recruiting and hiring training   

Over the last five years the unit has worked to engage in a number of different recruiting and hiring efforts with limited success. As a unit we have seen the effects of centralized and distributed leadership as it relates to our DEI efforts, and as we plan for the next five years of our work we will reassess our model in order to determine how to fully operationalize many of the efforts we worked on.

 

Process

Many lessons were learned as we worked as a unit to contribute to an inclusive and equitable campus climate. We recognize that all staff members have responsibility within the inclusion and accessibility spaces at CAI, no matter the size of the contribution. Identifying accessibility-related practices that are relevant to individual teams will benefit our ability to incorporate accessibility into daily workflows, helping to increase internal and external accessibility considerations overall. Proactively designing with accessibility in mind also reduces barriers, enabling a wide range of people to access our spaces and environments. CAI’s community partners also value accessibility work and look to CAI’s guidance to understand where to get started with removing bias from course design. Accessible and inclusive design consideration should be included in all aspects of a student journey in U-M’s online and hybrid programs from student services to course design, and we know that student support extends beyond course delivery in an online environment. 

A few best practices we have also learned along the way include introducing the concept of accessible design early, clearly, and frequently in conversations with partners in order to highlight CAI’s commitment to proactive accessible design processes. University SPG 601.20, focused on Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility, has shown us we have already been making steady progress toward accessible practices in the electronic and information technology space, even before the guidance was put into place. We have also learned that engaging with external communities to build collective accessibility knowledge ultimately benefits our learners in the end (e.g., LXD for accessibility discussions and training materials with School of Public Health graphic designers, Course Design Assistants – students creating slides, conversations with Services for Students with Disabilities, ITS, ECRT). Our practice of openly consulting with accessibility specialists as resources has helped to work through accessibility-related design issues in order to create a CAI support system of shared knowledge. Building up the capacity of individual staff members around accessibility practices to contribute to group knowledge has also been key. 

As we work to avoid certain pitfalls in our work, we know we need to treat each person as an individual with particular needs, as opposed to generalizing disabilities.

Heading into the planning year for our DEI 2.0 strategic plan, we intend to consider the following elements:

• Increased accessibility and inclusivity in our hiring practices and external/public-facing events 
• Enhanced accessible and inclusive practices internally in support of our own workplace culture
• Modifications in CAI’s ability/bandwidth to produce thoroughly reviewed courses for known accessibility design considerations (e.g., reviewing all video transcripts for accuracy, assuring all PDFs/files are accessible and screen-reader compliant) 
• Creation of an internal multi-year plan to continue work toward full compliance with SPG 601.20 in the next DEI cycle 

 

Products

As we as a unit regularly support innovative and inclusive scholarship, teaching, and research, we have learned many things along the way. There is a lot of interest on both the side of U-M faculty, staff, and students and the broader community for more engagement and collaboration. When bringing in community members to act as contributors to our initiatives, we need to consider and wherever relevant and possible ensure appropriate compensation for the investment of their time and effort. The scope of the community we’re engaging with also matters in terms of being able to provide reasonable and adequate preparation and opportunity for engaging in a call to action. We have also realized that great care must be taken to ensure that we’re offering as broad and global a perspective as we can on societal change, and not just engaging in conversations around large-scale issues from a myopic perspective that overlooks the different realities communities face. 

During our time developing work products we have seen a few best practices emerge. We recognize that length of engagement matters and that community members have many demands on their time and seem to prefer online learning experiences that are flexible, modular, and shorter. We have also worked with faculty on how to think about a broad range of learner audiences and curate their language appropriately so as to be accessible to folks from different educational, cultural, or linguistic backgrounds, as well as to folks with various cognitive, auditory, or visual challenges. 

As we take time to consider elements we have been reflecting on, it’s very easy to assume that we as the University of Michigan know what’s best. Designing learning experiences that effectively engage the public around social impacts means that we also need to know when we’re not the experts, and when to center other kinds of experts, and how to stack different but complementary perspectives to create a more comprehensive and accurate overview of an issue. Community engagement in the open online space around controversial topics can create unique challenges and stressors for female and BIPOC faculty and staff in particular. Additional strategies and support models are needed to prepare and support faculty and staff, and particularly BIPOC and/or female faculty and staff. 

Initial thoughts about DEI 2.0 priorities include the following:

• More outreach to faculty about the potential opportunities to engage with a broad public via a model like Teach-Outs
• Additional support for faculty engaging in those models 
• Increased diversity in topics and shared perspectives, particularly international perspectives 
• Better understanding and support around the sustainability of community engagement initiatives
• Engagement opportunities for learners and community members in the design and development of learning experiences
• Inclusive discussion spaces given the affordances but also challenges of online, at-scale education

Implementation Leads

Shawn Beard, Stephanie Shaulskiy

Unit Strategic Plan

Digital Poster

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Visit here for more information about diversity, equity and inclusion programs and resources.

 

Unit Summary

The ADVANCE Program uses evidence-based approaches to focus on four areas relevant to the success of a diverse and excellent faculty: recruitment, retention, climate, and leadership. Together, these encompass not only multiple stages of faculty careers but also multiple mechanisms by which faculty DEI and excellence at U-M are enhanced. The four strategies we use to address our goals can be broadly categorized as: research and evaluation; knowledge and skill development; community building; and resources and support. ADVANCE’s work on diversity, equity, and inclusion began in 2001. Here we highlight some of our work and its impact on faculty during the University’s DEI 1.0 initiative, which started in 2016, including work with departments, schools and colleges, and the Provost’s Office to support DEI. Further, the ADVANCE Program itself is a unit of staff and faculty that has benefited from our internally-focused DEI efforts, and we describe that work as well.

ADVANCE’s DEI 1.0 work on behalf of U-M faculty:

• • Faculty recruiting:  the Committee on Strategies and Tactics for Recruiting to Improve Diversity and Excellence (STRIDE). With attention to new and emerging challenges around equity and inclusiveness, STRIDE continues to facilitate a series of faculty recruitment workshops with one main goal: to provide faculty search committees with the best evidence-based practices that lead to more robust applicant pools and more equitable selection processes. STRIDE’s materials are revised annually to incorporate new scholarship and respond to emerging concerns. During DEI 1.0, the workshop was updated to include additional context and new research related to anti-racism and racial equity. Participants increased their understanding of structural-level biases, e.g., related to disciplinary norms and institutional practices that may lead to racial inequities, and learned better strategies to counteract those biases. During the five years of DEI 1.0, over 1,500 faculty and staff attended a STRIDE workshop, and the diversity of our faculty increased. Per the Provost’s directive in early 2020, all schools and colleges are asked to engage with STRIDE in their faculty searches. A pivot to primarily virtual workshops due to the pandemic was very successful, and STRIDE continues to offer most workshops in this format to increase accessibility.
  • Faculty pipeline development. The President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program (PPFP), a collaboration with the Provost’s Office, has been very successful in recruiting faculty to U-M following a mentored postdoctoral experience here. Seventeen new faculty, all of whom happen to come from underrepresented groups, have been hired via this program since it began in 2011, with 12 hired during DEI 1.0. ADVANCE also collaborated with LSA on the NextProf: Science workshop.  NextProf: Scienceprovides an opportunity for faculty to meet, inspire, and adviseindividuals from across the country, many from backgrounds underrepresented in academia, who are interested in pursuing careers in academia andmay ultimately pursue those careers at U-M. This LSA workshop, patterned after a similar one in Engineering, brought over 190 potential faculty to campus (in person or remotely) during DEI 1.0. 
  • Campus-wide climate assessment. In 2017, ADVANCE conducted our fourth study of campus climate for faculty at U-M since 2001. In important dimensions, comparing 2017 with 2012, campus climate did not improve and in some cases declined, a discouraging finding that led to our increased efforts to improve climate and support individual faculty (see below). We also found that diverse departments have more positive climates for faculty. Given that underrepresented faculty hired into departments without a critical mass of women or URM faculty may experience their department’s climate more negatively, we must strengthen our efforts to support and retain them.  
  • Faculty exit interviews. Why Do Tenure Track Faculty Leave U-M? describes our exit interviews with faculty who chose to leave the university between 2011-2019. Faculty point to poor departmental climates, wanting to improve resources for research, a lack of mentoring or opportunities for leadership, and family needs as top reasons for departing the university. 
  • Faculty climate. The RISE (Respect in Striving for Excellence) Committee, a committee of senior faculty and staff, was created in 2018 to focus on workplace climate, an area of concern repeatedly identified in our departmental climate studies, campus-wide climate surveys, and exit interviews as well as national data. The committee developed an interactive workshop on climate, describing the research on workplace climates for (dis)respect, the climate at U-M, and what leaders can do to foster a more respectful and equitable work environment. To date, over 400 faculty and staff have attended the highly rated workshop, including invited presentations for particular schools and colleges. RISE has developed additional resources available to the community, including the popular Climate Case Studies, which provide specific advice for common challenges.  
  • Individual faculty mentoring, coaching, and skill development. Launch Committees provide support and guidance to new junior faculty as they begin their careers at Michigan. During DEI 1.0, the reach of this program on campus expanded. ADVANCE now forms and oversees committees for Engineering, Information, and all divisions of LSA: 341 new faculty (262 during DEI 1.0) have been “launched” since the program began as a pilot in 2012. The program has spread to SMTD and several of the health sciences schools and colleges, with whom ADVANCE collaborates. While aimed at faculty retention, the program also contributes positively to faculty recruitment, climate, and the development of mentoring skills. ADVANCE also offers a coaching program for senior faculty, in collaboration with LSA, Engineering, and Information. This program was built on the observations that new full professors constitute an outstanding resource for continued cultivation of future faculty leadership generally and with respect to the climate. Faculty who participate in this program engage in a one-year process of coaching by experienced academic leadership coaches, with particular sensitivity and experience related to issues of race/ethnicity, gender, and underrepresentation. ADVANCE leadership additionally offers consultation with individual faculty on a range of topics related to DEI, and numerous workshops (e.g., LSA-ADVANCE Workshops for Faculty) that address common concerns of faculty.  
  • Funding. ADVANCE offers funding for career-relevant needs of faculty if meeting those needs will reflect ADVANCE’s mission of enhancing the climate for and the success of a broadly diverse faculty. Importantly, funding can be used for non-routine dependent care, e.g., care for a child while the faculty member is traveling to advance their scholarship. For example, during DEI 1.0, 69 Elizabeth Caroline Crosby Faculty Grants were awarded to STEM faculty. During DEI 1.0, the SUCCEED (Supporting Careers and Cultivating Excellence, Engagement, and Diversity) Grant mechanism was created to support faculty in the arts, humanities, and social sciences, and 60 SUCCEED grants were awarded. In 2022, ADVANCE collaborated with the Provost’s Office to develop the Provost’s Early Tenure-Track Faculty Research Support Initiative, offering funding to assist with disruptions to scholarship evident during the pandemic and other challenges. 
  • Faculty equity and COVID-19. We reported on the faculty equity concerns that were exacerbated by the pandemic, and made recommendations to campus (Faculty Equity & COVID-19:  The problem, the evidence, and recommendations; Faculty Equity & COVID-19: The ongoing impact on faculty careers). This work was based in part on our two surveys of UM faculty (The Effect of COVID-19 on UM Faculty Life, 2020; The Effect of COVID-19 on U-M Faculty Experiences, 2021) as well as national data. One recommendation is that metrics be developed to assess the impact of the pandemic on faculty by race, gender, and rank. Other recommendations highlight ways to support faculty in their research, teaching, service, and caregiver roles, putting forth principles and recommendations for a future with greater equity and inclusion. One principle for supporting faculty is ‘Equal is not always equitable.’ Strategies that support all faculty identically may inadvertently replicate existing inequalities.
  • Faculty disability. Faculty and staff in LSA shared their experiences with disability and securing accommodations at the university. Too often, the onus is on the person with a disability to learn and navigate the university to secure and extend their own accommodation. Suggested improvements included confidential, centralized support, increased awareness of invisible disabilities, addressing accessibility challenges, and dismantling the culture of ableism. This work was used by LSA in creating their new Disability Navigator positions. In concert with this work, ADVANCE has added a greater focus on accessibility to our events and materials. This includes redesigning our website in 2018 to work with screen readers; following accessibility guidelines for color blindness and contrast needs; and adjusting our events to offer captions, CART services, early access to materials, large-print materials; and including questions about the disability in our unit-level climate studies.
  • Retention of faculty of color. Although U-M has made progress in hiring faculty who are Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC), in recent years these faculty, especially those from underrepresented, racially minoritized backgrounds, have chosen to leave the university at a greater rate than white faculty (U-M ADVANCE Program, 2019). From our focus groups, exit interviews , and climate studies , ADVANCE has identified five primary challenges and concerns for BIPOC faculty at U-M: invisible and overwhelming levels of service; lack of leadership opportunities that resonate with career goals; structural inequalities; family needs (e.g., for partners and children); and poor departmental climates. Addressing these may help retain faculty. We developed a series of workshops for campus leaders to examine the retention of BIPOC faculty and strategies to help retain faculty, including working to create pre-emptive “conditions” that support retention, broadening assessments of teaching quality, increasing service equity, changing the narrative around excellence and diversity as being in conflict, and improving department climates (U-M Record article). 
  • Faculty networks. ADVANCE supports four faculty networks, open to all who support their missions: the Network to Advance Women Scientists and Engineers, the Network to Advance Faculty of Color (in collaboration with the Vice Provost for Equity, Inclusion and Academic Affairs), the Single Faculty Network, and the LGBT Faculty Alliance. Support for the LGBT Faculty Alliance, an existing group, began during DEI 1.0. Common to all are supporting the goal of increased diversity in academia, providing opportunities to connect across disciplines and share experiences, and fostering community.  

• Collection and analysis of institutional data. In addition to studies mentioned above, ADVANCE analyzes faculty demographics and patterns of hiring, retention, and leadership years in yearly Indicator Reports. To better share information with campus, during DEI 1.0 ADVANCE created interactive dashboards about tenure track faculty: faculty demographics 1979-2021, a forecasting model for the composition of the faculty, and leadership and recognition. We also reported on a Tenure Cohort Analysis and a Study of Named Lectureships. These resources inform campus policies and procedures.  

• Unit climate and salary equity studies. At the request of chairs and deans, ADVANCE offers unit climate assessments as well as analyses of faculty salary equity to help units identify areas for improvement. The goal is to assist the unit in making appropriate policy changes to enhance the environment for all members of the department. During DEI 1.0, 172 groups (e.g. faculty, postdocs, staff, graduate students) in 56 units participated in a unit climate assessment, and 23 units received a salary equity analysis.  

ADVANCE’s DEI 1.0 work on behalf of ADVANCE itself:

ADVANCE also turned the lens of DEI to our own program. Some highlights include:

• DEI skills training and professional development opportunities, including training and workshops on:  data equity, Canvas and accessibility, assessing diversity in online samples, intersectional allyship, and dismantling ableism.  
• Our internal hiring processes have benefited by engagement with U-M’s HR consultation service (e.g., enhanced outreach to increase the diversity of the applicant pool, more inclusive staff job descriptions, more effective interviewing protocols).   
• Hiring an ADVANCE HR staff member (2021). With this expertise, we have been able to more effectively implement salary equity reviews for staff and graduate student workers, initiate staff exit interviews, and provide additional support to our diverse community of staff. In addition, this HR expertise was critical during the many pandemic-related policy and benefit changes.  
• Creating staff social events to help us stay connected during remote work and to protect against siloing of teams. 
• Increased collaboration across teams to ensure that new staff members see the connection of their contributions to the work of the unit as a whole.
• Creating equitable work-from-home and hybrid schedules for staff and student workers.
• Enhanced communications and feedback, including a new staff handbook outlining policies and procedures, a staff internal newsletter, mid-year performance discussions, and a staff intranet.
• The increased accessibility of our materials and workshops has also been a benefit to ADVANCE staff and to those who work closely with us on our programs (e.g. reviewers for our grants programs). This increased focus has encouraged ADVANCE staff to keep accessibility as a high priority when developing new materials and programs.  
• Developing authorship policies to ensure that staff and students receive appropriate credit for their contributions to reports and publications. 
• Began discussions of ADVANCE’s values in both small groups and staff meetings to underscore our commitments to DEI, collaboration, and campus support.  

Looking Ahead to DEI 2.0

During DEI 2.0, we look forward to generating and analyzing institutional data that will help us reflect on the effectiveness of our policies and practices – and develop new ones – for supporting a broadly diverse faculty. We will develop more strategic partnerships with schools and colleges to support them in their DEI work. We will continue to find ways to support individual faculty careers, e.g., through funding, skill and leadership development, addressing bias, improving campus climate, and using data to advocate for policy changes. This work will require continued professional development of our own staff, e.g., on analysis methods, and continued attention on fostering an ADVANCE Program that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive.

Implementation Leads

Whitney Tarver, Maurice Washington

Unit Strategic Plan

To learn more, contact: [email protected] or [email protected].

 

Unit Summary

In the five-year strategic plan for the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, the Wolverines made remarkable progress in their Diversity, Equality and Inclusion efforts. Striving to be theLeaders & Best in the classroom and fields of play, Michigan Athletics supported staff, student-athletes, coaches and fans in their commitment to create a more diverse, equitable and inclusive environment. Michigan Athletics strives to be a national leader as they collectively work together towards positive changes for everyone. In this summary, Michigan Athletics has chosen to highlight the following areas:

 

Becoming a Game Changer

The Athletic Department intentionally developed DE&I programming and supported the function of student-led organizations, while also facilitating staff trainings to help “change the game.” Through our social media platforms, unity discussions, and conference involvement. Additionally, we fostered the development of three new student organizations (International Student Athlete Community, Athlete Ally, and Wolverines Against Racism) and made racial justice a central theme to our DE&I efforts. In accordance with NCAA rules and regulations on social justice uniform patches, Michigan Athletics supported students, staff and coaches as they wore Equality, BLM and other social justice themed statements on their uniforms. Discussions and education regarding social and racial justice were provided by faculty, staff and student athletes.

 

Unconscious Bias 

In 2017, the Athletic Department offered and encouraged the opportunity for all staff and coaches to attend the Unconscious Bias in Everyday Life training session, facilitated by members of Organizational Learning.  This session was well attended and survey results indicated that staff wanted the opportunity for additional training, but with a specific focus on hiring and recruitment.  In 2019, the DEI Committee, in conjunction with the HR team, hosted the Unconscious Bias in Hiring and Selection workshop.  The workshop focused on three main objectives:

• Receive information regarding the potential influence of unconscious biases on recruitment of applicants for open positions and on the selection and hiring process.
• Identify how current recruitment and selection processes may inadvertently affect our ability to attract the best possible candidates by fostering biases.
• Discuss a variety of ways to minimize the influence of everyday bias on recruitment and selection of applicants for open positions.

 

Acknowledging Celebrations and Holidays 

Over the last five years, the Athletics DEI committee has identified holidays and awareness months to share with our Michigan community. Our focus has been on growing awareness and educating others about the different holidays, recognitions/celebrations, cultures, and cause initiatives that exist today. This has been accomplished through Lunch & Learn events, internal/external department communications, UM home competitions, and featured athletic/campus events. 

 

Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Symposium Events 

Over the last 6 years, Michigan Athletics has hosted and partnered with the University to celebrate the life of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by engaging our staff, student-athletes, and community members in programming to support our commitment to DE&I. Most notably, in 2020, we partnered with the University to host one of the largest MLK Symposiums that featured activist, scholar, author, Dr. Angela Davis. We are continually striving to ensure that our programming aligns well with our strategic priorities as we work hard to advance our mission.

2017: Changing the Game, Partnered with the Trotter Multicultural Center to host a town hall to discuss the intersection of sports and societal issues. The town hall featured student-athlete panelists as well as football alum, Desmond Howard.

2018: The Fierce Urgency of Now, Social justice in sports town hall and student-athlete panel discussion with sociologist and civil rights activist, Dr. Harry Edwards as our keynote speaker.

2019: Unravel, A Discussion of the Intersectionality of Athletes in Today’s World, The symposium featured a keynote by entrepreneur, activist, speaker and Olympic medalist fencer, Ibtihaj Muhammad.

2020: The (Mis)Education of US, Keynote speaker, educator, political activist, and author Angela Davis. Michigan Athletics co-sponsored this MLK Symposium, along with the Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives under the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and the Stephen M. Ross School of Business with support from the William K. McInally Memorial Lecture Fund. 

2021: Carrying the Torch towards Change, Keynote speaker and Michigan student-athlete alum, Casey Bufford. Virtual symposium sponsored by Michigan Athletics student organization, Wolverine Against Racism, along with the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion subcommittee.

2022: A Reflection on My Time & Commitment as a UM Student-Athlete and   Beyond, Keynote speaker and Michigan student-athlete alum, Briana Nelson. Student-athlete and staff virtual community conversation.

 

Pride 

In 2019, Michigan Athletics held their first-ever Pride games for Varsity Sports at UM. Both the Men’s and Women’s Soccer hosted games. This sport events served as a celebration and awareness event, collaborating with the Spectrum Center on campus, LGTBQIA2S+ student groups, and Athlete Ally from Athletics. For the women’s game, a member from Athlete Ally Board of Directors served as the Honorary Coach. Our department tabled at the event for DE&I, Athlete Ally, and the Spectrum Center, providing information pamphlets and ways to get involved for those interested. The doubleheader featured a Michigan pride flag and sticker giveaway, rainbow powder for goal celebrations, and an exclusive DJ on the concourse. A Pride specific PSA was played in-game, featuring student-athletes, coaches, and Athletic Director, Warde Manuel. 

Since the first pride game, we have hosted multiple Pride events across a variety of sports, and plan to continue doing so in our efforts to enhance inclusive and diverse experiences for students, staff, faculty and fans.

 

DEI Leadership

In an effort to increase departmental leadership support for DEI initiatives, Athletic Director Warde Manuel created the Chief Diversity Officer (CDO) role in summer 2020. The designee serves on the UMAD Leadership Team (LT), provides updates, perspective, and insight to help inform leadership decisions, while also sharing relevant LT meeting highlights to be disseminated among each committee member’s respective work unit. 

As CDO, Abigail Eiler worked closely with existing DEI leads to reorganize the working committee and provide more structure, shared responsibility, and leadership opportunities. Eight staff and one student-athlete (the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) DEI liaison) serve on Athletics DEI Leadership as student-athlete or staff-facing liaisons working to implement the strategic plan action items associated with each distal objective. Athletics DEI Leadership meets once each month to share updates, plan for upcoming events, and to prepare for the full Athletics DEI committee meeting. Leadership members are encouraged to take advantage of DEI-related professional development opportunities and have also been invited to participate in meetings, training sessions, and other educational opportunities offered by ODEI.

 

Student-Athlete Engagement

In an effort to broadened and scale the student-athlete experience and bring about a more inclusive career development focus, the Michigan Athletics Career Center (MACC) increased pre-professional career advising professionals to support students interested in Healthcare, Law, Business, Consulting, Finance, and the creation of non-profit organizations to support local communities. In addition to professional advising, the center created several student-athlete lead professional committees (Leaders in Law, Athletes Business Association, and Athletes in Medicine) to provide students with a High Touch and High Impact career outcome that will broaden their career focus. The MACC also expanded the invitation to the annual career ventures to various cities to first year students. Finally, the MACC has partnered with with campus offices, departments, and student organizations to support lower income, First-Generation, and International student-athletes. This partnership will create networking opportunities, industry resources, and career programs that will build more community within the university. 

 

Coaches Connected 

Nobody knew what the pandemic was going to look like nor did we know the isolating impact it would have on us as social beings. During a time of uncertainty, we provided immense support to our student athletes and felt the need and importance to provide a space for our coaches to come together and find that connection. In the spring of 2020, the Athletic Counseling Team initiated the Coaches Connected program. The program involved ACT hosting monthly virtual meetings for those who are interested in coming together to expand their knowledge of various mental health and high performance-related topics. The goal was to create a learning environment filled with helpful resources and effective techniques utilized to assist student-athletes as they work towards becoming the best version of themselves. This forum served as an opportunity to get to know the athletic counseling team, our areas of expertise and new programming that is available to the student-athletes. Lastly, it provided a space for our coaches to learn from one another, connect, and decrease the feelings of isolation during the pandemic and beyond. Coaches Connected continued even after returning to some normalcy as a continued resource for learning, educating, and connection between the coaching staffs.

Implementation Leads

Paul Millis, Shelley Curry, Tina Foley

Unit Strategic Plan

To learn more, contact: [email protected] or [email protected].

Visit here for more information about diversity, equity and inclusion programs and resources.

 

Unit Summary

DEI 1.0 Summary

Since the inception of the DEI initiative, more than half (11 out of 20) of the Audit Services staff has changed; some have retired, some have gone on to other opportunities.  The amount of hiring provided opportunities to incorporate DEI-infused practices in the recruiting and hiring processes.  

• Changes were made to onboarding procedures to incorporate DEI goals and values, a more thorough explanation of reporting misconduct, and more department members participate as subject matter experts on numerous aspects of university life and the technical aspects of auditing.  
• These practices promoted transparency, inclusion, and improved the overall communication with new team members.    

The COVID pandemic presented challenges as the university shifted to remote work.  Our staff slowly grew more comfortable with new tools and new methods of working and the department successfully adapted to remote work.  

• Our IT Audit team and several other department working groups provided technical support and other tools to assist with this transition.  
• Audit Services management encouraged the establishment of Zoom coffee breaks, employee recognition events, and one-on-one huddles to maintain the interpersonal connections in the department.    

Audit Services team members have expressed interest in and appreciation of the DEI-focused speakers, seminars, and discussion events.  

• 100% of Audit Services team members attended a DEI-related training or workshop
• 100% of Audit Services team members attended a DEI-related talk of seminar.
• 100 % of Audit Services team members attended a DEI-related event on our unit.

Short-term and ongoing focus groups were established to provide input on the formation of department processes and policies.

• The Audit Services Manual was updated
• Guidelines for new office were developed.
• The Values Statement was rewritten.
• Audit Services Mission and Vision statements were reviewed and rewritten.
• A DEI training section was added to the annual individual development plan documents.

Audit Services improved accessibility of physical and on-line resources (SPG and Audit Services websites). 

• To better assist our audit clients and help improve the overall view of the department, a survey was sent to past audit clients soliciting their input on what information would be most helpful on the new website.  

DEI 2.0 Planning

Audit Services Team members feel Audit Services rated higher that the university when asked if:

• I feel valued as an individual in my work unit.
• I feel I belong in my work unit.
• My work unit has a strong commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• I am treated with respect in my work unit.
• My work unit is a place where I am able to perform up to my full potential.
• I have found one or more communities or groups where I feel I belong in my work unit.
• My work unit provides sufficient programs and resources to foster the success of a diverse staff.
• My experience in my work unit has had a positive influence on my professional growth.

DEI 2.0 will provide opportunities to expand on the progress we have made and to continue to strive to incorporate DEI-goals and activities for the department.  In the focus groups conducted to gain input for DEI 2.0, team members have asked for more information, training, and discussion.  Topics of particular interest are gender bias, empathy, microaggression, compassion, and problem-solving.  They also expressed an interest in learning more about the historical context for DEI at University of Michigan (e.g., institutional inequities, Michigan Mandate).

We are a very small unit, so the SoundRocket reports do not provide details on the most under-represented groups, which provided some challenges in focusing our efforts.    To find methods to get meaningful input from our team on issues they feel need attention, the focus groups provided some valuable input.

Implementation Leads

Brian Williams, Ceci Reicker, Corinne Robertson, Diana Bachman

Unit Strategic Plan

To learn more, contact: [email protected] or [email protected].

Visit her for more information about diversity, equity and inclusion programs and resources.

 

Unit Summary

The Bentley Historical Library is committed to representing an array of perspectives in its collections, programs, and engagements. During DEI 1.0, the Bentley Library fully supported and participated in the University’s commitment to connect academic excellence with diversity, equity, and inclusion. A number of initiatives were undertaken by the Bentley, including staff training sessions, lectures, presentations, and exhibits on DEI topics. 

A Bentley committee was appointed in 2021 and charged with developing a statement on potentially harmful language and content in archival collections. The statement was approved in 2022 and is posted on the Bentley’s website: Statement on Potentially Harmful Language and Content. 

In the spring of 2022 the Bentley launched the website for the African American Student Project,  part of a multi-year effort begun in 2016 to develop a comprehensive database listing the names and years of attendance of every African American student who attended the University for any length of time from 1853 until 1970. The project includes a fully searchable database containing information on more than 6,000 African American students identifying hometowns, local addresses, years of attendance, membership in campus organizations, field of study, and degrees received. The website provides additional context for understanding the experience of African Americans at U-M including data visualizations, a collection of stories, autobiographies, and biographies about some of the remarkable African American students who attended the University and the diverse nature of their experiences. For much of the University’s history, these student experiences were a combination of institutional barriers and the determination to overcome them.

Three new digital exhibits relating to DEI were produced by the Bentley. Two exhibits addressed gender issues. The exhibit “Constructing Gender: The Origins of Michigan’s Union and the League” focused on the separate buildings for men (Michigan Union) and women (Michigan League) in the early 20th century.

A second exhibit, “As to the Woman Question: The Admission of Women to the University of Michigan” details the decision to admit women at the University of Michigan in 1870 and the debates preceding that decision. 

Initially a physical exhibit in the Bentley’s reading room, the exhibit on Willis Ward was expanded as an online exhibit to more fully tell the story of the remarkable life and career of Ward, a prominent African African student-athlete thrust into the spotlight by the controversial decision to bench him in a football game in 1934 because of his race, “Willis Ward: More Than the Game.” 

 A series of Bentley Engagement and Enrichment sessions (known as BEEs) featured several guest speakers and staff members providing presentations to staff on a wide variety of topics. DEI topics of BEEs included anti-racist pedagogy, reparative archival projects, LGBTQ history, Title IX and gender, the work of the Department of Afroamerican and African Studies, the Tulsa, Oklahoma race massacre, and plans for the Barak Obama Presidential Library.

The following is a chronological summary of DEI highlights of Bentley work during DEI 1.0 taken from annual DEI updates and other reporting documents.

 

2018 (Year 2)

Bentley staff and student employees participated in a variety of meetings and trainings relating to DEI, including a workshop on disability awareness and etiquette; a workshop on bystander intervention; a workshop in intercultural awareness; a presentation on the history of African American student life at Michigan (related to an ongoing Bentley project); and a presentation on the history of LGBTQ life in Michigan. Social media of the Bentley featured DEI-related stories from the archival collections. The fall 2018 issue of the Bentley Historical Library’s magazine, “Collections,” explored the life of LGBTQ pioneer Ruth Ellis, as well as the Fourth Amendment case that went to the Supreme Court with the White Panther Party at its center. An internal climate survey ultimately engaged all Bentley staff and led to the formation of four committees in response to the survey results, addressing communication, compensation equity, social life of staff, and the Project Archivist Program. Members of the Bentley’s administrative committee began a new practice of open office hours every week to further enhance communications.

 

2019 (Year 3)

The Bentley launched public access to digitized records of the Department of Afroamerican and African Studies and the archival collection of U-M president James B. Angell.

The Bentley staff took part in training sessions relating to DEI, including “Giving and Receiving Feedback” and “Straight Talk Training.” There was also a DEI-focused presentation for Bentley staff, student employees, and volunteers on the ongoing research project on the history of the African American student experience at the University of Michigan. Bentley project archivists organized and hosted an event for Bentley staff, student employees, volunteers, and colleagues from MLibrary, the Clements, the School of Information, and the Gerald Ford Presidential Library on the origins of the Barack Obama Presidential Library as presented by guest speaker Stephen Booth. A national symposium was organized in November 2018 by Bentley archivists on the topic of Teaching Undergraduates with Archives. Over 200 archivists, faculty and students from across the country registered for the symposium. Planning continued on the addition to the University of Michigan Detroit Observatory with construction anticipated to begin in 2018; the addition to the Observatory affords greater access to the original historic structure built in 1854. 

The Bentley continued to formalize the inclusion of a question asking applicants about their demonstrated commitment to  DEI in all searches and hiring. A “launch committee” practice began in 2019 for onboarding new archivists and within that new practice we include topics of DEI.

 

2020 (Year 4)

With the help of ITS, accessibility software was added to all public computers at the Bentley.

An important engagement activity in year four was the assignment for all staff to read the book “Ask A Manager” and to participate in a discussion of key findings. The Bentley Library magazine “Collections” and social media regularly featured content relating to DEI in Michigan history and University of Michigan history as well as the practices of the Bentley. The Bentley hosted a speaker series for the public (until the COVID-19 shut-down) with topics including the history of food at the University of Michigan and the beginnings of coeducation at Michigan. A final year of the winter faculty seminars on Teaching Undergraduates with Archives was held, with direct relevance to Bentley staff, faculty, and students.

In December 2019, the Bentley launched the History of U-M website https://historyofum.umich.edu/. The site is designed as a portal to publications and posts from across the University that deal with the history of the University in ways that are celebratory, critical, and everything in between. The site provides an opportunity to collect and promote inquiry into the University’s past. In particular, it highlights U-M’s historical confrontation and engagement with both successes and failures in achieving diversity, equity, and inclusion. The homepage regularly features several rotating pieces that have, to date, included stories on “Being Black at U-M,” the struggle to admit women in the 19th century (“As to the Woman Question”), the informal segregation and integration of student housing (“An Unwritten Law”), and the achievements of women and minorities (e.g., “In Her Own Right,” “Madelon’s World,” “Firmly in the driver’s Seat”). Although we are still working to raise the profile of the website, we can report that among the pieces most accessed are “Pride and Prejudice,” about Jim Toy and gay rights on campus; “Being Black at U-M”; and “An Unwritten Law.”

The effort to review and revise existing finding aids has expanded to include archivists from several different teams at the Bentley in a commitment to reparative work that addresses unintended harm of past descriptions that either suppressed or marginalized diverse subjects and/or creators of content.

 

2021 (Year 5)

The Bentley organized a public event in September 2020 to celebrate the publication by Professor Andrei Markovits and Kenneth Garner of “The Boundaries of Pluralism: The World of the University of Michigan’s Jewish Students from 1897 to 1945.” 

Also in September, the Bentley together with the School of Music, Theatre, & Dance, organized a virtual event to celebrate the career and archival collection of professor emeritus Willis Patterson. The African American Music Conference celebrated Patterson’s upcoming 90th birthday. The legendary bass singer, U-M alumnus and professor was the first African American faculty member to join SMTD.

Work on the project to discover, document, and digitally share findings on the history of African American student history at the University of Michigan continued to be productive despite the limitations of COVID-19 which prevented the research team from doing onsite research for several months. The Bentley’s website began to be evaluated for improved infrastructure, accessibility, and navigation.

Implementation Leads

Jane Pettit, Katherine Reece, Eileen Rider, Sara Wiener

Unit Strategic Plan

Digital Poster

To learn more, contact: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], or, [email protected].

Visit here for more information about diversity, equity and inclusion programs and resources.

 

Unit Summary

Business and Finance (B&F) provides essential infrastructure services to support the students, faculty and staff of the University of Michigan. Together, we “Make Blue Go.” Made up of over 40 business and finance units, B&F includes the offices of Investments, Finance, Facilities and Operations, Shared Services Center, and University Human Resources, and employs over 2,400 staff members. 

B&F seeks to enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion among its many employees. The more diverse our staff, the more equitable our experience, and the more inclusive our workplaces, the better we are able to create a positive workplace climate. We believe this type of climate attracts and retains the best talent and enables us all to provide exceptional service to advance the university’s mission. 

 

B&F DEI Strategic Plan

In 2016, B&F launched its five-year DEI Strategic Plan along with other units on the Ann Arbor campus. The B&F DEI plan sought to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion through four key areas: 

1. Recruitment, retention, and development
2. Education and scholarship
3. Promoting an equitable and inclusive community
4. Service (This fourth objective was removed in Year 2.)

Recruitment, Retention and Development 

Within the domain of “recruitment, retention and development,” B&F developed two strategic objectives: 

1. Enhance career path development and advancement opportunities. 
2. Cultivate an inclusive and diverse applicant pool, and attract and maintain a diverse staff. 

 

Accomplishments 

Though there were many accomplishments in this area, the overall DEI effort that had the greatest impact was, “Cultivate an inclusive and diverse applicant pool, attract and maintain a diverse staff, and mitigate bias in the hiring process.”  To address bias in the talent acquisition process, B&F collaborated with Michigan Medicine to develop the “Unconscious Bias in Hiring and Selection” training. The training was piloted with hiring managers and HR directors, then rolled out to supervisors, managers and hiring managers. All senior-level search committees in B&F were required to complete training before serving on the hiring committee. Some B&F areas have made this training mandatory for hiring managers as well as staff serving on a hiring committee. B&F areas made a number of changes to their talent acquisition processes. For example, Facilities & Operations used the Korn-Ferry tool to increase awareness of bias and form behavior-based interview questions. Finance used the “Handshake” system to recruit from many schools/universities to produce a more diverse applicant pool and have reevaluated schools based on yielded candidates. The Shared Services Center made the Unconscious Bias in Recruiting and Hiring training mandatory for all hiring managers and search committee members. UHR began using DataPeople (formerly called TapRecruit) as part of its practice for all postings and supported other B&F areas as they adopted the tool. All UHR job postings must now be run through DataPeople to test for inclusive language.

 

Education and Scholarship

Within the domain of “education and scholarship,” B&F developed the following strategic objectives: 

1. Continue to invest and build cultural competency of B&F managers and supervisors. 
2. Invest in developing cultural competency of B&F staff. 

 

Accomplishments 

Throughout DEI 1.0, B&F staff members were encouraged to participate in DEI related educational sessions from Organizational Learning and LinkedIn Learning. Course topics included intercultural communication, understanding power and privilege, multi-generational workplaces, unconscious bias, bystander intervention, and disability awareness. 

99.7% of B&F staff completed the mandatory sexual harassment and misconduct prevention training in an effort to promote a safe and supportive environment for all members to work, learn and thrive. The EVPCFO shared the Interim Policy on Sexual and Gender-Based Misconduct and reiterated our commitment to create a culture of safety and a work environment in which sexual misconduct is not tolerated and people feel safe to report it. B&F shared resources across the university, including an article in the Record and a link to the online course to help staff determine/understand reporting obligations.

 

Promoting an Equitable and Inclusive Community 

Within the domain of “promoting an equitable and inclusive community,” B&F developed two strategic objectives: 

1. Commit to improve the B&F culture related to Diversity Equity and Inclusion by building awareness of the University’s commitment. 
2. Build a more inclusive cross-functional community within B&F – via facilities, events, communication and by establishing routinized mechanisms to solicit and respond to ongoing employee engagement. 

 

Accomplishments 

B&F staff are talented, highly skilled and loyal to the university. They take great pride in stewarding the university’s resources and creating an environment where everyone in the university community is safe and able to achieve their goals. They appreciate being recognized for the great work they do to MAKE BLUE GO. 

In B&F, more than 2,300 activities, events, educational sessions and other engagement efforts were undertaken across B&F during DEI 1.0. These efforts were designed to promote a positive organizational culture and promote our values of diversity, equity and inclusion. 

 

Service

While the service domain is foundationally important to B&F, our university-wide service work relative to DEI was specifically reflected in the central U-M DEI Strategic Plan (accessible facilities, staff recruitment and retention, employee training, etc.) and thus was not duplicated in the B&F DEI Plan. Nevertheless, B&F accomplished much in terms of service to the U-M community during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Accomplishments 

During the COVID-19 Pandemic, B&F demonstrated the flexibility and adaptability necessary to adjust to COVID within the unit while also supporting the entire university and Michigan Medicine with policies and practices that responded to the pandemic. Changes to policies, practices and processes were made rapidly and effectively. Supporting safety and health on all three campuses and Michigan Medicine will be an ongoing issue. The COVID-19 pandemic has created changes that will remain in place even when the pandemic is over. The pandemic tested our abilities, and B&F leaders and staff rose to the challenge. 

B&F leaders and staff have been able to come up with creative and innovative ways to steward university resources and meet university needs, especially in a time of crisis. Providing flexibility and support for staff to maintain work-life balance promotes loyalty and a positive and inclusive culture.

Implementation Leads

Tershia Pinder-Grover, Victoria Genetin, Christine Simonian Bean

Unit Strategic Plan

To learn more, contact: [email protected], [email protected] or, [email protected].

Visit here for more information about diversity, equity and inclusion programs and resources.

 

Unit Summary

During the five years of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) 1.0 Strategic Plan (2016-2021) and beyond, CRLT pursued its mission through a growing roster of campuswide and unit-level programs focused on DEI. We also worked to develop unified understandings and applications of these concepts amongst CRLT staff. Among key accomplishments, CRLT:

• Offered 135+ DEI-focused seminars in its fall and winter seminar series, and through the Inclusive Teaching @ Michigan/Equity-Focused Teaching @ Michigan Series
• Delivered 240+ customized workshops to departments across campus
• Delivered 185+ CRLT Players sessions on topics that included promoting a climate resistant to sexual harassment
• Facilitated programs for 210+ instructors teaching LSA Race & Ethnicity courses
• Presented modules on inclusive teaching to 6,200+ Graduate Student Instructors (GSIs) and undergraduate instructional aides
• Provided 40 programs on anti-racist pedagogy for 12 schools/colleges during Year Five
• Developed and presented new CRLT Players sessions on institutional/departmental climate issues faced by minoritized students and the history of racial inequality at U-M
• Created a CRLT Players video, titled “Act for Equity,” which was shown at instructor orientations and workshops
• Developed and applied practices to promote racial-equity in hiring to 23 searches (for permanent and temporary staff) within 2 years. This resulted in candidates reporting their appreciation for our transparent hiring practices and their ability to demonstrate their potential through authentic tasks tailored to their position
• Institutionalized an expectation that all staff devote professional development time annually to increasing their DEI capacities.
  

U-M Campus Community

CRLT works to advance a culture of teaching for equity and justice that is relevant and impactful across our diverse campus community of teachers and learners. Systemic inequities (such as racism, sexism, ableism, wealth inequality, homophobia, xenophobia, etc.) affect teaching and learning spaces to the benefit of some students and the detriment of others. Making deliberate choices in areas such as course design and class facilitation can work to disrupt the impact of systemic inequities in the classroom. By sharing evidence-based practices, CRLT supports instructors in the creation of equitable and inclusive cultures and climates in their classrooms, studios, and labs. This includes fostering a sense of academic belonging among all students, clearly communicating norms and expectations, and employing equitable assessment practices.

 

Center-Wide efforts

Each area within CRLT has created signature programs designed to enable instructors to incorporate an equity focus into their course design and classroom practices, which is a key component of CRLT’s central action item for the DEI strategic plan. These initiatives center justice and the need to address structural inequities in explicit ways, especially through our shift from inclusive teaching to equity-focused teaching.

• Created modules on equity-focused teaching as part of our campuswide and engineering-specific GSI/IA teaching orientations impacting 2,244 GSIs & undergraduate instructional aides in year 5 alone; this effort laid the path for the integration of equity-focused teaching as a central part of New Faculty Orientation in August 2022
• Experimented with the capacities of video and Zoom to bring CRLT Players’ sketches and embodied case studies to life for virtual audiences in a range of formats: for example, Act for Equity adapted the Players’ successful in-person sketch, Welcome to Teaching, to a 20-minute video format, with a focus on the impact of the pandemic and renewed calls for racial equity
• Established the Inclusive Teaching at Michigan (IT@M) May Series [now called the Equity-focused Teaching at Michigan (ET@M) May Series], providing interactive workshops with instructors from across the university to think through a range of equity-focused teaching questions, challenges, and strategies
• Integrated DEI resources throughout CRLT’s teaching academy programs, which served new faculty in 10 schools and colleges

 

Additional Area Highlights:

EDAS

The Educational and Assessment Services (EDAS) at CRLT continually work to support equity in teaching and learning on campus. Examples include developing a new equity-focused teaching definition, leading an equity-focused teaching learning community for lecturers, and facilitating programs focused on anti-racist pedagogy.

• Implemented a six month professional development program in inclusive teaching and course design for lecturers, in collaboration with the Lecturers’ Employee Organization and the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
• Offered a total of 40 programs on anti-racist pedagogy to instructors in 12 schools and colleges (including the libraries and 9 departments/units in LSA), the Liaisons for Inclusive Teaching, and the Associate Deans Group in Year 5 alone
• Created a short video used to kick-off ET@M 2021. The video highlights the work of select U-M faculty who share their understanding of, practices for, and commitment to teaching for equity

FCI

The Foundational Course Initiative (FCI) involves multi-year collaborations between CRLT staff and course teams from the department to redesign these large, introductory courses. A key goal of the FCI is to reverse the effects of biases, risks of marginalization, and grade disparities:

• Worked with over 31 courses to date that together enroll almost half the UM undergraduate population.
• Generated Course Equity Reports to provide a more detailed overview of outcome disparities between identity groups in large foundational courses and help faculty understand who their students are and where they are in their educational trajectories. These reports are now being made available to courses beyond FCI through the work of a campus-wide Assessment Toolkit Initiative that includes representatives from CRLT, CAI, CEW+, NCID, Enrollment Management, and faculty in LSA.
• Examples of changes instructors make range from the micro level – making assessments more equitable by redesigning multiple choice exams to focus on higher-order thinking skills rather than recall – to significant downstream effects – changing the way faculty in the initiative approach their other courses and jump-starting conversations about equitable pedagogy in the wider department, school, or college

CRLT Players

In addition to the work listed above, the CRLT Players have developed two successful programs as part of the university’s efforts on the topic of sexual harassment: 

• Creation of a three-part curricular series, Moving the Needle on Sexual Harassment, that challenges participants to expand their understanding of what sexual harassment is, how it impacts individuals and communities, and what they might do to alter the permissive status quo of institutional spaces; these three facilitated sessions include embodied case studies
• Creation of a program for leadership teams on creating climates resistant to sexual harassment; the program was originally offered as a day-long, in-person retreat that included overviews of the research, embodied theatrical case studies, and time for design thinking exercises to develop departmental plans for next steps. In the wake of the pandemic, the Players created an asynchronous Canvas course for leadership teams that included the research overview and embodied case studies. Synchronous follow-up discussions offered planning opportunities for academic leadership teams to discuss specific steps they can take to create climates more resistant to harassment. Over 800 members of academic leadership teams from 16 schools and colleges have attended.

CRLT-Engin

Over several years, CRLT-Engin has been a key contributor to enacting the College of Engineering’s (CoE) vision of equity-centered engineering.

• CRLT-Engin developed and facilitated faculty learning communities, where instructors meet over the course of semester to engage in meaningful conversations and deep reflection about DEI pedagogical frameworks, underlying theories, activities, and intended outcomes. The Teaching Circles provide instructors with the opportunity to review their course syllabi, assignments, and/or assessments and work with consultants to implement changes to their courses based on what they’ve learned.
• CRLT-Engin staff were integral to three of the College of Engineering’s DEI cultural shift committees (i.e., undergraduate, faculty and by-stander intervention community teams). These efforts lay the foundation for creating structural improvements within the College that support the principles of equity-centered engineering.
• Created a repository of teaching strategies relevant to the STEM context, by launching a website focusing on CRLT’s equity-focused principles of transparency, academic belonging, structured interactions, critical engagement of difference, and flexibility
• Contributed to the CoE team that applied for and received a $1.2 million NSF grant focused on the creation of a Teaching Engineering Equity (TEE) Center

Implementation Leads

Sarah Prince, Sandra Iaderosa

Unit Strategic Plan

Digital Poster

To learn more, contact: [email protected] or [email protected].

Visit here for more information about diversity, equity and inclusion programs and resources.

 

Unit Summary

In the first five years of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion strategic planning at the University of Michigan, 2016-2021, to the present, CEW+ has instituted the following initiatives. In reporting on its DEI initiatives to the U-M Office of DEI (ODEI), CEW+  addressed objectives related to People, Process, and Product, and used the domain-specific checklist to document the numerous changes in policies, practices, standard operating procedures, and/or usual practices/processes that were formalized during DEI 1.0 and that impact CEW+’s various constituencies.

In terms of Process, CEW+ undertook the following initiatives:

Inclusive and Equitable Climate

• Budget Practices
• Enhanced Communications & Feedback
• Equity Review

 

Budget practices: All staff at CEW+ with spending authority receive basic budget training. They are informed of granted budget requests, and those with sections in the formal budget narrative are involved with providing text and figures for the narrative document. The implementation of Smartsheets will lead to greater transparency across teams.

 

Enhanced Communications and Feedback: Over the past several years, CEW+ leadership has made it a priority to focus on meaningful performance feedback and overall promotion of professional development of staff across all positions. In FY 2020, CEW+ started using the meaningful conversations template developed by a central HR working group. The  guide has been adjusted to reflect specific needs of the CEW+ organization. This fiscal year, CEW+ supervisors will have three formal check-ins with staff to discuss goals, professional development opportunities and DEI trainings/learnings completed. Annual performance reviews measure professional development in the DEI space as well as future aspirations for training/learnings. In addition to formal performance meetings with staff, all supervisors are encouraged to have at least biweekly check-in meetings with staff and keep a running document along with the staff member to document discussions to encourage active participation and engagement.  

 

Equity Review: Annually in the fall, all positions undergo an equity review to make certain that staff are being compensated fairly compared to their peers, and that CEW+ remains market competitive. If CEW+ is not able to hire at the median salary due to budget constraints, CEW+ is committed to ensure staff are paid at the median salary for each job classification by the time the employee has been with CEW+ for 3 years. Staff are aware of annual equity reviews as a vehicle to recognize contributions to the organization. Job descriptions are reviewed annually during performance evaluations to confirm all positions have an accurate and up to date job description. This provides staff with a greater understanding of work expectations and ensures that positions are classified properly.

In terms of People, CEW+ undertook the following initiatives:

Recruitment, Retention & Success

• Fair/Unbiased Hiring
• Holistic/Well-being
• Mentorship or Sponsorship Connection Tools
• Professional/Career Development

Fair/Unbiased Hiring: Beginning in Spring 2021, CEW+ began working with University Human Resources  to review and revise hiring practices and launched a new process for hiring. Key components of these practices include:

•  All staff who search for open positions must complete an Unbaised Hiring Practices e-learning course
• A rubric for all stages of the search process from resume review through interviews. 
• Blinded resumes for review and rubric is based on qualifications in the job posting. 
• Behavioral interviews and round 1 interviews done via zoom to ensure accessibility for candidates. 
• Potential job postings are uploaded to Data People to alert biased language.
• Measurable qualifications as noted in the posting.
• Use of  a skill survey for reference checking with the help of UHR
• Broad promotion of all open positions, including through the U-M Diversity Recruiter email group 

 

Mentorship or Sponsorship Connection Tools: Two successive pilot academic coaching programs were implemented. The program was designed to primarily target students of all genders who are parents or caregivers of adults.

The conceptual framework recognizes the importance of identity climate and institutional culture as key aspects of the context students navigate during their college experience. Further conversations focused on the identification of a core set of competencies (i.e., student strengths) that coaches would promote throughout the coaching sessions. The five competencies examined included:

• Handling multiple roles related to multiple identities 
• Strategies for difficult conversations and interactions 
• Support network and resource identification 
• Goal setting, prioritizing and budgeting 
• Self-reflection and identification of personal strengths

Other important outcomes for the academic program included: 

• Student sense of belonging 
• Perceptions of multiple role stress
• Personal strengths 
• Role management self-efficacy 

 

Professional/Career Development: In 2016, CEW+ leadership revised its professional development policies to ensure  monies were equitably distributed across the organization. All staff have access to $600 and 4-days per year for self-directed professional development. This is provided in addition to any office-wide trainings and/or trainings necessary for position-required licensure (i.e. CEUs). The funds can rollover for up to 3 years allowing each staff member flexibility.

In terms of Product, CEW+ undertook the following initiatives:

Innovative and Inclusive Education, Scholarship & Research

• Assessment Practice
• Community-Engaged Learning or Practice
• Service/Action-based Learning

 

Community-Engaged Learning or Practice: CEW+ has a long history of convening groups to create systemic change at U-M. In addition to supporting the Women of Color in the Academy Project and Women of Color Task Force, both of which are open to interested individuals of any race or gender, CEW+ launched two new focus areas in the past five years.

In 2016, CEW+ launched the Council for NonTraditional Students (COUNTS) to convene student serving organizations across campus that are focused on the needs of less traditional students on campus. 

One outcome of COUNTS was the creation of a free online module, focused on how to improve culture and climate for nontraditional students.  To date, over 280 staff members have engaged with the module, participants representing 18 academic units and 12 non-academic units. 

Student parents & caregivers: CEW+ has been at the forefront of advocacy for this group of students. CEW+ plays a major role in the student caregiver excellence committee and also supports MCaSp (a student organization focusing on the needs of student parents & student caregivers). Advocacy efforts have resulted in changes such as a family friendly study space in the Undergraduate Library; a student parent subsidy program at the U-M Children’s Center; and a statement regarding student parent needs in syllabi. 

 

Service-/Action-based Learning 

Program Interns Coaching and Professional Development: Nine students worked with the WCTF and WOCAP program managers since 2017. Each was offered at least two professional development community-building opportunities to discuss advocacy and DEI issues in higher education, including with respect toWomen of Color in the Academy.

MSW Interns: CEW+ had 12 social work student interns in the past 5 years. The goal is to have multiple interns in placement, with representatives from a clinical and macro pathway. Interviews were framed using inclusive principles, with questions sent to candidates before the interview and a team conducting the interview. 

The interns bring a wealth of experience including identifying with a variety of nontraditional student identities including commuter, gender, first generation, and international. CEW+ offers robust intern training with a focus on integrating theory and classroom learning to practice.

Summerworks: CEW+ participated in the Summerworks program through Poverty Solutions in summer of 2018 and 2019, a 10-week program to employ youth in Washtenaw Country to provide mentorship, job experience and help to create networks.

ITS Internship: CEW+ participated in this program during the summers of 2019 and 2022. In 2019, a team of four interns automated the data analysis process used by CEW+ to generate insights into nontraditional students at U-M. 

CEW+ Evaluation & Needs Assessment: Dr. Angela Ebreo seeks participants involved in   Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programs to ensure that students from diverse fields across campus are engaged in the work of the Center.

ASSESSMENT Programs: CEW+ has conducted post event surveys prior to the hire of its current program evaluator (Dr. Ebreo). Post-event surveys have remained consistent through the DEI 1.0 period. 1. Topics generally asked: Appreciation for DEI; Perceived importance of DEI; Sense of belonging/connection; Participant demographics, inclusion, allyship, engagement and identity. 

In its evaluation of the first five years of strategic DEI planning, during the 2021-2022 school year, CEW+ has highlighted the following initiatives as its most successful.

 

Emergency Funding for Students Through Unit Level Partnerships

For 20+ years, CEW+ has administered one of the largest emergency funds on Campus on behalf of the Office of the Provost. Participants  meet with a licensed counselor who  assists students in navigating the financial, circumstantial, and emotional barriers to academic progress and degree completion and refers students to social service agencies that provide additional financial support to reduce strain on U-M financial resources. 

Innovation has allowed us to flex our model by partnering with other units on campus. This became more crucial during the pandemic. CEW+ quickly launched formalized partnerships with Academic Units, Dean of Students, and Financial Aid to: 

1. Reduce the run around (or resource bouncing) of students during a high stress time 
2. Respond to student needs quickly
3. Create equity and accountability across campus schools, colleges, and units who provide EF 
4. Manage limited counseling appointment availability/capacity in the midst of demand surge 
5. Reduce duplication of funding 

As of June 8, 2022, CEW+ has formalized partnerships with 10 Ann Arbor Units and both Flint and Dearborn campuses (utilizing CEW+ donor funds). We are currently expanding our partnerships.

Asking for help is hard, especially for underrepresented students; this process ensures that when students do ask for help they are treated with respect and due consideration to receive an appropriate level of financial support. Prior to Federal COVID Funding, during COVID, CEW+ averaged $24,700 per week in disbursements, which was an increase of 329% in comparison to CEW+’s normal weekly disbursement. This increase in disbursements was only possible because of our partnerships with other units.

The chart below shows the increase in Emergency Funds Awarded (count of EF Awards) disbursed over time, including the increase during FY20 as a result of the pandemic. In FY 16, 205 Emergency Fund Grants were awarded to students, a spike of 552 in FY 20 due to the pandemic and 336 Emergency Fund Grants were disbursed to students in FY 21.

The chart below displays Emergency Funds Financial Support ($ Awarded) disbursed over time, including the increase during FY20 as a result of the pandemic. All general fund emergency funds were expended in FY 20 with donor funds supplementing once the funds were expended (see following chart for split of general fund and donor fund detail).

The chart below shows the distribution of general and gift funds utilized in FY20 supporting Emergency Fund Awards.

 

Creating a Community of Supporters for Student Parents and Caregivers

In 2019, CEW+ worked with partners across all schools and colleges to develop an inclusive model for engaging students, faculty and staff in the challenge of building awareness around the needs and talents of student caregivers. The result was the 2019 launch of our Student Parent and Caregiver Initiative. Within a two-year period, the initiative has grown to include three independent but interconnected groups of nearly 200 students, faculty and staff who are focused on awareness-building, advocacy, campus-wide change, resources and direct support. A few notable examples of change include: 

• Broad implementation of a student caregiver syllabus statement 
• Creation of a website outlining campus resources available to student parents and caregivers
• Recommendations on classroom best practices for nontraditional students, including student caregivers
• The launch of new resources and support programs such as a preschool pilot, study spaces on campus, and a subsidy for unlicensed childcare

Implementation Leads

Meg Bossio, Paul Erickson

Unit Strategic Plan

To learn more, contact: [email protected] or [email protected].

Visit here for more information about diversity, equity and inclusion programs and resources.

 

Unit Summary

Over the past five years, the Clements Library has undertaken numerous efforts to Recruit, Retain, and Develop a Diverse Community, create a more inclusive and equitable climate, and to digitize historical collections and make them freely available online to support researchers’ and the public’s use of materials.

 After the successful conclusion of the first five years of U-M’s DEI Strategic Planning and Implementation Process, this self-evaluation outlines progress and priorities among three domains: People, Processes, and Products, in order to assess longer-term goals, measures, and initial strategic priorities for DEI 2.0.

 

People

As part of our efforts to Recruit, Retain, and Develop a Diverse Community along many dimensions, the Clements has worked to increase access and visibility of Library holdings on topics related to underrepresented groups in American history  while also enhancing  digital access to research materials related to DEI topics. Initiatives and practices that support these efforts include:

•  Partnering with other units on or off campus to extend beyond our traditional reach (e.g. collaboration with the Alumni Association to recruit new board members)
•  Virtual public programs, online exhibits, and digitized collections, to reach wider audiences with a small staff.
• Intentional and proactive work in broadly diversifying staff. 
• Developing targeted offerings within our existing programs to reach new audiences (e.g. internship programs and thematic fellowships) 
• Internal tracking and metrics moving forward.

 

Processes

The Clements Library has worked to create a more inclusive and equitable climate along many dimensions: for staff and interns, for visitors to the building, for researchers, and for students. Practices that support these efforts include:

• Partnering with other units on campus and leveraging existing programs to more effectively and efficiently move towards inclusion and equity. 
• Dedicating time and resources in areas that are most likely to reach wider audiences to amplify the impact of our efforts. 
• Acquiring materials that relay the stories of or were produced by underrepresented groups, which allows the collection to grow responsibly and be used more expansively. 
• Continuing to address the physical infrastructure of the building and assessing processes to make it more accessible and welcoming.
• Developing mechanisms to get feedback from users, so that we can develop future initiatives with user experiences and needs in mind.

 

Product

Throughout the implementation of DEI 1.0, the Clements has taken great strides to digitize historical collections and make them freely available online to support researchers’ and the public’s use of materials. Content relating to underrepresented groups has been foregrounded, and efforts have been made to make the material accessible. Examples include:

•  Furthering communications and engagement on digital platforms to extend our reach to much wider and more diverse research communities about our virtual offerings. 
• Ongoing efforts of strategic, labor-intensive, and responsible digitization. 
• Dedicated and ongoing campus outreach to substantively impact student and faculty engagement with the library.

 

Challenges

In all of our DEI 1.0 efforts, one pitfall has been that given the small size of our staff we are lacking a dedicated DEI officer. Moving forward, one of our biggest challenges will be utilizing data and metric reporting within our individual unit on campus to ensure that we are progressing on next steps.

 

Priorities for DEI 2.0

Based on the Clements Library’s engagement in DEI 1.0 and the unit self-evaluation process, we have outlined some initial priorities for the university’s next DEI strategic plan:

People

Priorities to continue developing a more diverse community include expanding along many dimensions from expanding the membership of the CLA Board of Governors, ensuring equitable hiring practices, developing new virtual engagement opportunities, and offering thematic fellowships to reach wider audiences as well as more targeted groups of scholars.

Processes

The Clements Library will continue to develop partnerships with other units on campus to help us be more effective and strategic in our work to create an inclusive and equitable climate. Modifying our processes that influence users’ experiences in the library and working with the limitations of our physical space will help us create a more welcoming environment.

Products

To support innovative and inclusive scholarship, teaching, research and/or service, the Clements will continue to conduct outreach and build partnerships with U-M Faculty, other units on campus, community organizations, with indigenous groups, and others to increase awareness of collections and how they can support teaching and education.

 

Conclusion

We acknowledge that spreading the message that the Clements is an accessible place that welcomes diverse visitors is the entire staff’s responsibility and involves building those goals into our daily work processes. We will continue to work on cultivating relationships, strategically using digitization and educational opportunities to highlight collection materials that center marginalized voices, and reaching broader audiences.

Implementation Leads

Lyonel Milton, Evan Marie Allison Pieknik, Alex Cicalese, Sara Pozzi

To learn more, contact: [email protected], [email protected] or, [email protected].

Visit here for more information about diversity, equity and inclusion programs and resources.

 

Unit Summary

Michigan Engineering has demonstrated a strong commitment to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). During the DEI 1.0 (2016-2021) planning and implementation process, Michigan Engineering responded to the need for a more inclusive campus environment and provided DEI-specific tools and strategies for the engineering community. During the college-wide overall strategic planning process (Michigan Engineering 2020), we articulated three pillars of excellence – research, education and culture – pushing ourselves to be innovative, daring and forward-thinking in our service to society. The articulation of and adherence to these core values guided leadership decision-making. Our focus on the culture pillar during the Michigan Engineering 2020 strategic planning and implementation process played an integral role in centering culture in the DEI 1.0 strategic plan. 

Our first five-year DEI strategic plan provided a vision for Michigan Engineering to distinguish itself by becoming a “best-in-class” institution for developing engineers who excel as multicultural technologists and leaders. We define multicultural technologists and leaders as intellectually and socially engaged, culturally competent, and rapidly connected to resources, each other, the community and the world. In order to achieve this mission, Michigan Engineering’s DEI 1.0 Plan consisted of three goals and eight objectives.

The DEI 1.0 goals were: 

• Promote broad diversity at all levels (faculty, staff and students)
• Treat everyone equitably 
• Create and maintain a climate of inclusion

The DEI 1.0 objectives with success indicators are below:

1. Increase the understanding and application of DEI concepts to build skills and provide learning experiences to effectively and constructively engage in dialogue on DEI-related topics across our community – Success
2. Build a robust and complete set of metrics with an established standardized methodology for the continuous collection and monitoring of information (data) relevant to the reporting and evaluation of DEI-related issues within Michigan Engineering – In progress
3. Build mechanisms, including leadership accountability and reward systems, to bring a “constancy of purpose” in focusing on DEI-related issues and opportunities within Michigan Engineering – Success
4. Build communities and creative learning spaces by leveraging and transforming the use of space within Michigan Engineering to create an inclusive environment that welcomes and supports students, postdoctoral researchers, instructional and research faculty, and staff – In progress
5. Develop talented and diverse college leadership, departmental leadership, and instructional and research faculty capable of providing a world class academic and research learning environment for a global, diverse student body. Our five-year objective is to develop a diverse instructional faculty with year-over-year increases in the percentage of gender and underrepresented minority (URM) representation – In progress
6. Recruit, develop, and graduate a talented and diverse body of students and postdoctoral researchers with the academic and multicultural skills to engineer solutions to tomorrow’s global challenges. Our five-year objective is to achieve year-over-year increases in percentage of female and URM enrollment while reaching and maintaining parity on academic performance (GPA) and retention-to-graduation – Success
7. Recruit, retain, and develop a talented and diverse staff capable of supporting a world class academic and research learning environment for a global, diverse student and faculty population – Success
8. Design and develop resources and opportunities for engagement and interaction that facilitate a more equitable and inclusive learning environment for students – Success

[Website Navigation: Click on the Strategic Objective below to learn more about what is accomplished in that year’s plan. Each strategic objective will have a drop-down for users to be able to click on the respective objective they want to review]

The following information highlights Michigan Engineering’s progress and outcomes in accomplishing these objectives.

 

S01: Increase the understanding and application of DEI concepts to build skills and provide learning experiences to effectively and constructively engage in dialogue on DEI-related topics across our community (Success).

Michigan Engineering has made significant progress toward increasing the understanding and application of DEI concepts through developing DEI facilitator capability, creating DEI trainings, and excelling in communicating our progress. Examples of our major programming and progress include:

• Change It Up – Anti-Black Racism Bystander Intervention Training (CiU-ABR) – Since its launch in 2020, Michigan Engineering has held 206 workshops and 2,967 faculty, staff, and students participated in the CiU-ABR training. Participants learned various strategies to become an active bystander, and facilitators became anti-racism allies in their spheres of influence, actively modeling appropriate responses to inappropriate behaviors.

• • DEI Lecture Series – Michigan Engineering sponsors events throughout the year that cover a variety of topics related to DEI. Thought leaders present data, perspectives and context to issues surrounding DEI in academia and beyond. These events are well attended with an average of 100 participants for each lecture.

• Inclusive Teaching – 100% of Michigan Engineering’s new instructors are trained in inclusive teaching practices, contributing to an environment of success for students from all backgrounds. Beginning in 2016, CRLT-Engin expanded this offering by adding dedicated sessions that focus on inclusive teaching practices at all new instructor orientations. New instructors engaged in discussions on social identities and how classroom climate impacts teaching and learning. 

• Faculty Learning Communities – From 2017-2021, Michigan Engineering’s CRLT-Engin has led four faculty learning communities focused on inclusive teaching, with nearly 60 faculty participants. These programs were designed to impact faculty perceptions and understanding of the literature on inclusive teaching and learning as well as empower them to institute best practices in their own classrooms and labs.
• DEI Lecturers – Michigan Engineering hired two lecturers with DEI expertise and experience, whose service was devoted to college-wide DEI efforts. These lecturers led the establishment of best practices for inclusive teaching, including gathering DEI-related curricula and disseminating these practices and curricula to instructors across Michigan Engineering. They also focused on developing and coordinating DEI-related metrics related to faculty, staff and students, covering all areas of the DEI strategic plan.
• Strategic DEI Communications – The Michigan Engineering DEI website is updated biannually to align with the revamping of the DEI communications and marketing strategy. Additionally, Communications and Marketing (C&M) developed an email newsletter and website content to highlight DEI activities and to share updates on our progress. Michigan Engineering’s C&M team was recognized with a CASE Grand Gold award for Circle of Excellence in the category of Communications, Advocacy/Issue Campaigns for this work.

 

S02: Build a robust and complete set of metrics with an established standardized methodology for the continuous collection and monitoring of information (data) relevant to the reporting and evaluation of DEI-related issues within Michigan Engineering (In progress).

Michigan Engineering continues to explore intentional practices of teaching and research that emerged as a result of comprehensive evaluation and assessment and continues to integrate feedback provided by faculty, staff, and students. This strategic objective will be a particular focus in DEI 2.0 as there is a need to build a robust and complete set of metrics with an established standardized methodology for the continuous collection and monitoring of information relevant to the reporting and evaluation of DEI-related issues. Examples of metrics, reporting, and evaluation include:

• DEI Activities Tracker – Michigan Engineering established a tracker with metrics for DEI departmental activities. The DEI Tracker includes the outcomes of our major initiatives on a yearly basis by the DEI Faculty Department Leads. 

• • DEI Metrics Dashboard – Michigan Engineering’s DEI Metrics Dashboard tracks undergraduate, and graduate enrollment trends, enrollment and degree indicators, and graduation rates. These data can be disaggregated by gender, enrollment level, and other demographics to assist in monitoring progress toward DEI objectives. 

• 2017 & 2021 Climate Survey – Michigan Engineering completed the university-wide climate survey conducted by SoundRocket. The climate survey included questions asking respondents if they felt they belonged/were valued and if they were satisfied with Michigan Engineering’s climate. The climate survey results were also used as a platform for engagement for all members of the Michigan Engineering Community. 

• • Comparatively, between 2017-2021, students’ satisfaction with the U-M campus climate increased. 
  • Comparatively, between 2017-2021, faculty’s satisfaction with the climate at Michigan Engineering increased. 
  • Comparatively, between 2017-2021, faculty, staff, and students felt an increased sense of being valued as an individual in their department/unit, and felt an increased sense of belonging and commitment to DEI. 

 

S03: Build mechanisms, including leadership accountability and reward systems, to bring a “constancy of purpose” in focusing on DEI-related issues and opportunities within Michigan Engineering (Success).

Michigan Engineering has built mechanisms for faculty and staff to bring a “constancy of purpose” in focusing on DEI-related issues and opportunities. We created support infrastructures at both the leadership and faculty levels to support the work toward achieving the vision of the strategic plan. Key mechanisms and programs implemented include:

• Michigan Engineering Implementation Committee – The purpose of the DEI Implementation Committee was to implement the DEI 1.0 strategic plan and monitor progress. The Implementation Committee created funding opportunities for faculty and student groups interested in DEI programming, training programs, and evaluation efforts.

• Faculty Director of DEI & Faculty DEI Department Leads – Michigan Engineering appointed our first Faculty Director of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion at the beginning of 2019 as well as created the faculty DEI Department Leads committee. This group consists of representatives from the 14 academic departments, and they meet monthly with the Faculty Director to work across academic departments to create and maintain a climate of inclusion.

• DEI Faculty Grants – Since 2020, Michigan Engineering has awarded faculty with grants to lead activities that foster diversity, equity, and inclusion in our community. In total, this funding has supported over 25 projects totaling in excess of $107,150. 

• DEI Faculty Awards – The Raymond J. and Monica E. Schultz Outreach and Diversity Award honors a faculty member with a deep and sustained commitment to outreach and diversity as an important part of the University’s educational mission as demonstrated by academic and outreach programs that show intellectual excellence and diversity in service, teaching, and scholarship. The recipient of the award receives a one-time award of $4,000.

• Unconscious Bias – Michigan Engineering requires all hiring committee members to have completed unconscious bias training. 

 

S04: Build communities and creative learning spaces by leveraging and transforming the use of space within Michigan Engineering to create an inclusive environment that welcomes and supports students, postdoctoral fellows, instructional and research faculty, and staff (In progress).

Michigan Engineering has identified that space is a valuable resource, and the way we choose to use that space reflects our priorities and commitments. Space has a tremendous impact on the learning environment within Michigan Engineering. Effective use of space can create natural learning communities that invite intercultural engagement and/or provide “safe havens” for groups to come together and feel included and supported. In many instances, however, current space designs do not facilitate this purpose. Where possible, we should examine how to design, redesign, or repurpose space to be more welcoming and inclusive. This strategic objective will continue to be a focus in the next DEI strategic plan (DEI 2.0). Space renovations and updates include: 

• North Campus Space Update – Michigan Engineering’s staff DEI Committee helped bring reflection rooms, gender-neutral restrooms, and lactation rooms to buildings on North Campus.
• New Biomedical Engineering Spaces – In the Fall of 2019, Michigan Engineering announced that the first floor of the LBME building would receive 12,000 square feet, $5 million dollar renovation that would reinvent and redesign the BME Design Spaces with a focus on experiential teaching and learning. 

 

S05: Develop talented and diverse college leadership, departmental leadership, and instructional and research faculty capable of providing a world class academic and research learning environment for a global, diverse student body. Our five-year objective was to develop a diverse instructional faculty with year-over-year increases in the percentage of gender and URM representation (In progress).

Michigan Engineering achieved an increase (19% to 20% in the past five years) in female faculty representation. We will continue to prioritize increasing gender and URM representation among faculty in the next DEI strategic plan (DEI 2.0). Examples of our progress toward developing a diverse leadership and faculty consist of: 

• Female Leadership – Michigan Engineering’s female leadership is at historic levels – having reached 50% parity. Michigan Engineering followed four tools for success in this endeavor: 1) assessing culture, 2) equipping search committees to challenge unconscious biases, 3) ensuring equal access to mentors, and 4) expanding merit to include contributions toward diversity, equity, and inclusion. 
• Dean’s Advisory Committee for Faculty of Color (DACFC) – This group of faculty, which is open to all who share its mission, assists the Dean by identifying and prioritizing best practices to recruit, retain, and promote under-represented minority faculty members in Michigan Engineering while also serving as an advocacy group for faculty of color. 
• Dean’s Advisory Committee on Female Faculty (DACFF) – This group of faculty, which is open to all who share its mission, assists the Dean by identifying and prioritizing best practices to recruit, retain, and promote women faculty members in Michigan Engineering while also serving as an advocacy group for women in the engineering professions. The DACFF provides leadership and career resources and fosters community building through monthly discussion-based events.
• NextProf – Developed by expert faculty, Michigan Engineering’s annual NextProf workshops have established a reputation as preeminent events in a nationwide effort to strengthen the next generation of academic leaders. NextProf supports marginalized individuals in engineering graduate programs to successfully pursue faculty positions. 

 

S06: Recruit, develop, and graduate a talented and diverse body of students and postdoctoral researchers with the academic and multicultural skills to engineer solutions to tomorrow’s global challenges. Our five-year objective was to achieve year-over-year increases in percentage of female and URM enrollment while reaching and maintaining parity on academic performance (GPA) and retention-to-graduation (Success).

Michigan Engineering aims to continue to increase female and URM enrollment for students and postdocs. Examples of our progress toward developing a diverse student body consist of: 

• Females in STEM – Michigan Engineering welcomed an incoming first-year class with 36% female enrollment for fall 2022 up from 29% in fall 2021. Overall female enrollment increased to 31% for undergraduate students, 23% for master’s degree students and 30% for female doctoral degree students. 

• Increasing URM enrollment – In the fall of 2022, there was an increase in underrepresented minority enrollment to 14% from 12% in fall 2017. This increase in enrollment is the direct result of proactive recruiting, leveraging outreach programs and school partnerships. 

 

S07: Recruit, retain, and develop a talented and diverse staff capable of supporting a world class academic and research learning environment for a global, diverse student and faculty population (Success).

Michigan Engineering is committed to developing a talented and diverse staff workforce. This strategic outcome has been met by ensuring training opportunities exist for all staff at Michigan Engineering. 

Examples of our progress toward the recruitment, retention, and development of our workforce consist of: 

• Embedded DEI within the Annual Review Process – In 2018, the performance review rubric was changed to ensure Michigan Engineering’s values with regard to DEI were embedded in the process. These changes included the introduction of a DEI reflection section. This effort aligned with Michigan Engineering’s aim to create intentional communication around DEI training, metrics, and structure.

• Staff DEIC Committee – Michigan Engineering formed a staff-led governance committee tasked with overseeing the recommendations of the strategic plan. Some of the committee’s accomplishments include DEI training for all staff, incentive options for DEI training, and reviewing all classrooms for accessibility and updating where needed.

• • Cultural Competency (CQ) Training – Michigan Engineering offers DEI training (CQ) for Grad Chairs, Master’s Chairs, Graduate Coordinators, Associate Director of Graduate and Professional Education (ADGPE) staff, and selected Office of Student Affairs (OSA) staff. In addition, 98 CoE graduate staff and faculty have completed CQ (Cultural Intelligence) workshops since 2018. Efforts are ongoing to train more trainers for CQ to provide workshops and follow-ups for graduate student-facing staff.

• Creative Conversations – Since 2019, the staff-created and staff-led Creative Conversations have provided the Michigan Engineering community with an effective way for staff to connect across all departments. Michigan Engineering’s Creative Conversations also provide a platform for the community to discuss matters related to DEI. The focus of the Conversations is to provide opportunities for connection and to help staff get more comfortable with some of the discomfort that might happen when discussing diversity, equity, or inclusion. 

 

S08: Design and develop resources and opportunities for engagement and interaction that facilitate a more equitable and inclusive learning environment for students (Success).

Michigan Engineering has made strides in designing and developing resources and opportunities to facilitate a better environment for all students. Michigan Engineering works to equip our engineers with the skills to understand problems from multiple perspectives, reevaluate established assumptions, and rebuild systems to better serve all people. From the classroom to extracurricular activities to funding opportunities, Michigan Engineering is reimagining and reshaping what engineering can be. 

Examples of our progress toward developing a more equitable and inclusive learning environment consist of: 

• Teaching Equity Engineering Center – Michigan Engineering was awarded a $2M grant from the National Science Foundation’s Broadening Participation in Engineering program to create a Teaching Equity Engineering Center. The goal of this center aligns with the strategic objective to create teaching environments where equity centered values are present in both technical content and teaching style, leading to engineering education where students from a variety of backgrounds will experience inclusion and belonging, and engineering solutions that help to close critical gaps and elevate all people.

• Robotics Department – Michigan Engineering launched the Department of Robotics, which is the first among the nation’s top engineering schools and colleges. The new department features an inclusively designed curriculum with more than 30-course offerings, providing exposure to technologies that were inaccessible for most undergraduate students a decade ago. The new Robotics Department allows Michigan the opportunity to define the discipline of robotics with a priority on both equity and excellence. 

• DEI Student Advisory Board (SAB) – Michigan Engineering’s DEI SAB comprises both graduate and undergraduate students and has become a strong voice for input and action. A direct result of the DEI SAB was the “ENGIN Talks” series. The series created forums for students to speak to key administrators and faculty about DEI programs and issues. The SAB also advises on the implementation of the DEI strategic plan. 

• Sponsored Student Organizations (SSO) – Michigan Engineering created an intentional working relationship with the DEI leads of SSOs and required these organizations to create a DEI strategic plan in order to receive funding. 

• Student DEI grants – This Michigan Engineering initiative supported student groups interested in working collaboratively together on DEI Initiatives. Funding was available for up to $1500 and 13 unique grants have been awarded.  

Other notable achievements

• ASEE Diversity Recognition Award – Michigan Engineering received the ASEE Diversity Recognition Program Bronze-level recognition in January 2021. This is the highest level issued. The recognition means that Michigan Engineering is among the nation’s leaders in inclusive excellence.

 

As Michigan Engineering moves toward DEI 2.0, we strive to incorporate lessons learned from the past five years. Our efforts have focused on building a framework to ensure every member of the Michigan Engineering community is educated about issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion, beginning with a focus on race, ethnicity, and unconscious bias. To that end, Michigan Engineering launched two major initiatives that will be critical to our next DEI strategic plan: Equity centered Engineering: A People-First Perspective and the new Office of Culture, Community and Equity (OCCE).

• Creating a People-First Framework for Engineering – Engineering is a people-first field. Our approach is to improve both the culture and the solutions through an equity centered engineering lens. This includes sustained pervasive education around issues of race, ethnicity, unconscious bias, and inclusion for everyone at Michigan Engineering. 
• Office of Culture, Community and Equity (OCCE) – Michigan Engineering hired the first Executive Director of Culture, Community and Equity, to evolve the role of our Center for Engineering Diversity and Outreach (CEDO), to a new structure that works horizontally across all units to establish a centralized base of support and expertise for the DEI efforts within Michigan Engineering.

Michigan Engineering has dedicated significant resources toward the implementation of our inaugural DEI strategic plan. We have realized significant gains in some areas and modest gains in others. We have more work to do in order to create and maintain a climate where every member of our community feels valued. The work of DEI is never done; it is work that evolves, not concludes. Michigan Engineering looks forward to building on our progress in DEI 2.0.

 

Implementation Leads

Jessica Garcia, Paula Hathaway, Isis Settles

Unit Strategic Plan

Digital Poster

To learn more, contact: [email protected], [email protected] or, [email protected].

Visit here for more information about diversity, equity and inclusion programs and resources.

 

Unit Summary

U-M’s campus-wide DEI 1.0 effort, a five-year strategic plan launched in 2016 to enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion across campus, provided LSA with the opportunity to expand existing DEI efforts and develop a number of new programs, policies, and initiatives. LSA’s DEI 1.0 strategic plan was informed by a college-wide diversity census and input from faculty, students, and staff. Additional DEI initiatives have been developed since the initial strategic plan based on expertise of the LSA community, such as the Anti-Racism Task Force in 2020-21 and the Working Group on Preventing Sexual Harassment in 2020-2021. LSA’s DEI efforts are guided by a commitment to make LSA an inclusive, equitable, and collaborative space to learn, teach, work, discover, and thrive together. 

This document summarizes the core college-wide activities undertaken as part of LSA’s DEI 1.0.

 

Build DEI infrastructure through new positions to support LSA DEI efforts

A robust infrastructure is critical to implementing DEI at a college-wide level. Dedicated personnel with DEI expertise ensure that DEI activities are consistent with college values, developed with a deep understanding of empirically-supported practices, and applied across units and constituencies. Below is an overview of the LSA Core DEI Team.

Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. In 2017, LSA designed a new position for an Associate Dean to lead the work of the DEI Strategic Plan for the college. Early work for this strategic plan was shared by a DEI task force. Establishing a new position of associate dean for diversity and professional development provided leadership and accountability across these newly identified efforts. Additionally, creating the position of AD for diversity and professional development reflects LSA’s commitment to DEI and excellence in mentoring. Creating an appointment with a “bird’s eye view” of DEI initiatives within LSA ensures that programs are developed in a timely manner, administered consistently, and evaluated regularly for their effectiveness. 

Chief People Officer. In 2020, the LSA Anti-Racism Task Force (described below), recommended designing a new position for Chief People Officer to: expand DEI expertise and capacity; more-fully integrate DEI into LSA human resources processes and practices; and support action around anti-racism in LSA systemic processes that impact staff. In 2021, the CPO also refined the vision and role construction for new Faculty and Staff Disability Navigators as part of a new pilot effort spearheaded by the dean’s office.

DEI Manager. In 2016, a staff DEI officer position was created as a very visible commitment of human and financial resources to this important work. This position, now the LSA DEI Manager, is dedicated to developing, implementing, and evaluating a variety of staff DEI activities in the college. This position also supports the Associate Dean of DEI in the design, implementation, and ongoing sustainability of DEI strategic goals and overseeing the college’s DEI Strategic Plan.

Faculty and Staff Disability Navigators. Thanks to a number of programs within the college and the university, as well as the Student IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility) Board and its findings and recommendations, LSA gained a much clearer understanding of the gaps in access and support for our faculty and staff with disabilities. In 2020, a committee worked to benchmark the needs of our faculty and staff, survey available resources and vendors, identify language and best practices for accommodations, and review the practices at peer institutions. Through these efforts LSA requested two full-time positions to provide ongoing, high-quality support for faculty and staff in all units. While these budget requests could not be met by the Provost’s Office, LSA Dean Anne Curzan decided to use available discretionary gift funds to run a 3-year pilot for the two full-time disability accommodations navigator positions. These positions were posted in Fall 2021 and filled in early 2022.

DEI Administrative Coordinator. The DEI Administrative Coordinator supports and contributes to the DEI initiatives of the DEI Core Team. This position was added to the DEI Core Team in 2018.

Inclusive Culture Liaisons. Beginning in 2018, the Inclusive Culture Liaisons formed as a group of dedicated staff across the college committed to DEI above and outside of their job responsibilities. This group includes DEI leaders from every LSA unit, and meets on a monthly basis with the DEI Manager to address best practices, identify needs and solutions within units, access and contribute to the development of DEI training offered through the DEI Office, and build community. They help advance DEI programs within the college and on campus and offer DEI resources to their units; they have also incorporated DEI issues into their unit meetings. Liaisons also serve on search committees and help to design and implement programs.

 

Improve Systemic Policies and Practices to Support Equity

LSA has engaged in a number of structural efforts to support DEI. These include evaluating and improving existing policies and practices in the college and developing new ones when needed. Attention to structural and systemic issues allows the college to formalize empirically-based best practices into policy, thereby enhancing transparency and clarity. LSA has drawn on the experience and expertise of members of the community in the following key activities. 

Anti-Racism Task Force. Spurred by racial justice movements and the COVID-19 pandemic, in September 2020 LSA convened an anti-racism task force to assess sources of structural inequalities within the college, and to surface specific recommendations to reduce any systemic racism in LSA. The task force was made up of faculty, staff, and students across a range of LSA disciplines/fields, academic and administrative units, and demographic backgrounds (e.g., gender, race/ethnicity), each with expertise and records of sustained engagement in anti-racism work, at department, college, university, and/or broader community and public levels. The task force report, completed in 2021, included a series of recommendations related to the recruitment, retention, and advancement of students, faculty, and staff (full report). Based on the task force recommendations, LSA has implemented several changes including: hiring a Chief People Officer; convening a workgroup on undergraduate recruitment, admissions, and enrollment; and creating an Anti-Racism Collaborative through the National Center for Institutional Diversity (NCID) that catalyzes scholarly activity related to racism, racial equity, and racial justice topics.

Sexual and Gender-Based Misconduct Prevention Working Group. Based on the landmark 2018 report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) on preventing sexual harassment in higher education, a working group focused on developing actionable plans to implement the report recommendations was formed in December 2020. The group was made up of demographically-diverse staff, faculty, and graduate students from a range of LSA units, each with critical expertise and experiences relevant to the group charge. Drawing on focus group interviews with LSA faculty, staff, and student-employees, and informed by the 2018 NASEM report, the work group developed a number of recommendations to improve practices in the college. Initial actions taken include a mechanism to provide one semester of funding support to graduate students who must transition away from a trainee-advisor relationship with a supervisor on whom they are dependent for funding, including in cases that may involve a harassing, abusive, or harmful trainee-advisor relationship; increasing awareness of existing policies surrounding respectful and professional behavior; and including respectful and inclusive behavior as a selection criteria for, and affirmative responsibility of, college leaders.

Existing Staff Policy Review. LSA reviewed and updated all LSA staff policies to ensure language supports the college’s DEI objectives by fostering an environment that is inclusive and supportive of a diverse employee population. In completing this review, minor changes were made to these policies and those changes largely reflected broader changes occurring at the university. Our policy review process also substantially influenced our work to ensure new policies were inclusive, equitable, and considerate of the needs of a diverse staff in LSA, most notably our Interim Policy on Flexible Work Arrangements.

Race & Ethnicity Degree Requirement. One recommendation of the Anti-Racism Task Force mentioned above was to convene a new group explicitly to look at the R&E requirement vis-a-vis antiracism efforts. A committee of faculty and administrators met regularly throughout the 2021-22 academic year with three primary goals: to consider how we think about which classes qualify for the R&E requirement and how we might refine the course requirement to better meet its intended goals and address current needs of student, faculty, and staff communities; to explore changes to the R&E requirement to reflect a focus on anti-racism, address class sizes, facilitate deeper faculty-student interaction and instructor training on anti-racist pedagogy; and finally to consider how to incentivize departments and faculty in the development of new R&E courses, particularly in areas of the curriculum where few R&E courses exist. Recommendations have been submitted to the Dean for subsequent follow-up.

Inclusion of Diversity Statements for All Faculty Searches. Drawing from research conducted by NCID, in 2021 LSA implemented an ongoing pilot program that requires that all tenure-track faculty search committees include applicant diversity statements as part of their evaluation. Diversity statements are a way for faculty applicants to demonstrate their DEI contributions in their research, teaching, service/leadership, and outreach. We continue to assess this pilot and will consider expanding the requirement to all faculty searches.

 

Increase Access to Higher Education 

One of the key areas in LSA’s DEI 1.0 plan was the recruitment and retention of a more inclusive community. Several LSA efforts have worked toward this goal through initiatives that increase access to higher education – as a student or faculty member.

LSA Collegiate Fellows Program. In 2016, LSA announced that a newly created Collegiate Postdoctoral Fellowship Program would recruit 50 extraordinarily promising scholars whose research, teaching, and service will contribute to diversity and equal opportunity in higher education. The program offers support to fellows to prepare them for possible tenure-track faculty appointments in LSA; this includes community-building activities, professional development and mentoring, and support for teaching and research. To date, the program has been incredibly successful with 47 total hires, out of which 45 have or will transition into tenure-track assistant professor positions in LSA.

Kessler Presidential Scholars Program. The Kessler Presidential Scholars is a cohort-based wrap-around and scholarship support program designed to increase the retention, feeling of belonging, and graduation rate of first-generation limited-income students. In 2017, the Wilpon family shifted the scholarship from funding-only to support this more robust program. With over 250 total scholars since the inception of the scholarship in 2008, the first cohort receiving wrap-around support graduated in 2021. The Kessler Scholars Program has been incredibly successful in recruiting, retaining, and graduating first generation, limited income students at the same levels of their more affluent, continuing generation peers. Additionally, in 2021, the donor family endowed the program so that student success will be the focus for this student population in perpetuity. 

Transfer Student Program. We continue to build a robust effort to increase the number of transfer students who apply, enroll, and successfully graduate, with a focus on making LSA more accessible to community college transfer students and particularly those from underrepresented minority, low SES, veteran, and first-gen backgrounds. LSA created the LSA Transfer Student Center, which offers resources and support for transfer students including dedicated staff to provide advising, Transfer Student Ambassadors, transfer student events and programming, and dedicated study/meeting space. In addition, LSA updated transfer credit policies and course withdrawal dates. 

Laptop Program. LSA began a pilot program in 2015 to provide laptop loans to the lowest socioeconomic students admitted to LSA. This program, which reduces the digital divide by increasing access to technology to support students’ educational success, continued during DEI 1.0. It was so successful that it was fully institutionalized in Spring 2021 within the Office of Enrollment Management to include eligible new first-year and transfer students in all undergraduate colleges/schools on the Ann Arbor campus. All eligible incoming LSA students now receive a free laptop through the Michigan Undergraduate Laptop Program (ULP). 

Preview Weekend. Preview Weekend is a collaborative recruitment effort between LSA, Rackham, and participating departments to broadly diversify the pool of applicants with strong potential for success to apply to our graduate programs and better position them for admission. Preview events include workshops, opportunities to engage with faculty and current graduate students, social events, and individual meetings. 

Trainings on Inclusive Practices. LSA provides a robust suite of offerings for professional development in areas related to recruitment, retention, and climate for those in leadership positions. These include Inclusive Teaching workshops and training for instructors, workshops for graduate student admissions chairs, workshops for staff hiring directors, workshops to address bias in staff searches, workshops for chairs and directors on faculty mentoring, and ADVANCE’s Respect in Striving for Excellence (RISE) workshops for chairs and directors.

 

Support DEI Knowledge and Implementation

An important feature of DEI transformation is to ensure that the LSA community has access to a variety of DEI resources and support. This allows community members to share their knowledge of DEI issues and practices with others in their units.

LSA DEI Website. The visibility of DEI initiatives, events, and resources in the college was a key priority for the DEI strategic plan to communicate our commitment to DEI.  Beginning in 2017, the DEI Office collaborated with LSA Advancement to significantly redesign our website and improve its functionality in accessing DEI support.

Inclusive Teaching Website. Hosted by LSA and maintained by the Inclusive Pedagogies Subcommittee of the Inclusive Campus Collaborative, the Inclusive Teaching website is intended to be a resource for all faculty. Focus areas include large courses, online courses and STEM classes. In 2021, following the LSA Anti-Racism Report, the site was expanded to include Practicing Anti-Racist Pedagogy. This new focus area includes a wealth of tools, definitions, and campus spaces engaging in anti-racist practices.

 

Workshops and Certificates. All LSA employees can enroll in workshops facilitated by the DEI Office. In 2020, the DEI Office and LSA Undergraduate Division launched the LSA Student Employee DEI Certificate. The DEI Office is also developing an LSA Staff DEI Certificate. These programs provide participants with interactive opportunities for applied learning, drawing on evidence-based best practices in creating more inclusive and equitable spaces in their units.

 

 Support Individual Careers and Career Development

In order to achieve lasting diversity, as well as equity and inclusion, LSA provides support to individuals so that they can be successful in their careers. 

Faculty Professional Development and Workshops. LSA engages in a number of efforts to support the college’s goals for faculty diversity, recruitment, retention, and advancement. LSA collaborates with the U-M ADVANCE Program to provide faculty workshops on a variety of topics including grant proposal writing, getting your book published, and running a research lab. In addition, all new tenure-track assistant professors across all LSA units participate in ADVANCE’s LAUNCH mentoring program. Professional development workshops are also offered to LSA Collegiate Fellows through NCID.

LSA Opportunity Hub. The LSA Opportunity Hub is a transformative career exploration center exclusively for undergraduate liberal arts and sciences students that was developed in 2017 to support the future of their success. The Hub partners with LSA students to develop their aspirations and professional identities through 24/7 online career learning modules, career reflective courses and coaching, access to internships and funding to support those immersive experiences, and connections to employers and U-M’s extensive network of alums. In alignment with the Hub’s statement on diversity, equity, and inclusion, the Hub team works with departments to design opportunities for engagement so that all LSA students, especially those who have been historically underserved, can pursue purposeful work and meaningful lives. Since launching, the Hub has provided more than 25,000 learning experiences for LSA students connecting the dots between their liberal arts education and career exploration; attracted more than 2,000 organizations to the Hub’s career platform where they engage with LSA students through networking events and in-the-field experiences; and raised approximately $24 million in funding that made internships, scholarships, and the Hub’s broader work with LSA students possible.

 

Summary of LSA DEI 1.0 Activities

 

	Faculty	Undergraduate Students	Graduate Students	Staff
Improve Systemic Policies and Practices to Support Equity
Anti-Racism Task Force	✔	✔	✔	✔
Sexual and Gender-Based Misconduct Prevention Working Group	✔	✔	✔	✔
Existing Staff Policy Review				✔
Race & Ethnicity Degree Requirement		✔
Inclusion of Diversity Statements for All Faculty Searches	✔
Increase Access to Higher Education
LSA Collegiate Fellows Program	✔
Kessler Presidential Scholars Program		✔
Transfer Student Program		✔
Laptop Program		✔
Preview Weekend			✔
Inclusive Teaching Workshops & Training for instructors	✔	✔
Rackham’s Workshops for Graduate Student Admissions Chairs			✔
Inclusive Hiring Workshops for Staff Hiring Directors				✔
Workshop for Chairs & Directors on Faculty Mentoring	✔
ADVANCE Training of Chairs & Directors on Creating an Inclusive Climate	✔
Support DEI Knowledge and Implementation
LSA DEI Website	✔	✔	✔	✔
LSA Inclusive Teaching Website	✔	✔	✔	✔
LSA Staff DEI workshops (open to all LSA employees)	✔	✔	✔	✔
LSA Student Employee DEI Certificate		✔
LSA Staff DEI Certificate (forthcoming)				✔
Support Individual Careers and Career Development
LSA-ADVANCE Faculty Workshops	✔
LAUNCH Program	✔
LSA Collegiate Fellows Workshops	✔
LSA Opportunity Hub		✔

 

Implementation Lead(s)

Regina McClinton

Unit Strategic Plan

To learn more, contact: [email protected]

Visit here for more information about diversity, equity and inclusion programs and resources.

 

Unit Summary

Although it is one of the smallest colleges at the University of Michigan, the College of Pharmacy has a longstanding record in diversity, equity and inclusion. In 1871 it graduated Amelia and Mary Upjohn, cousins of William E. Upjohn, founder of the Upjohn Company and Univ. of Michigan graduate. In addition, the College graduated people of color before many had full rights as citizens in the United States.

The College fully embraced the creation of a DEI strategic plan as part of the University’s DEI 1.0 program. This document serves as a summary of the College’s first five year plan, which sought to be intentional and strategic in moving the College forward in diversity, equity and inclusion.

 

A. Who we are:

The College of Pharmacy is a professional school, and includes those pursuing PharmD, PhD, MS, and BS (secondary admit) degrees. The College has 3 academic departments: Clinical Pharmacy, Medicinal Chemistry, and Pharmaceutical Sciences. The College of Pharmacy continues to be ranked #3 in the nation, yet we also continue to pursue being ranked #1. We recognize that achieving this goal will be done through inclusive excellence, which means broadening the participation of those from marginalized groups in all cohorts of the College. One area where we have seen change has been in leadership, as seen in the following milestones:

• In 2017 3 of the College’s 5 associate deans were women, as was 1 of the 3 department chairs.
• In 2020 the College had 3 associate deans, 2 of which were women, and 4 assistant deans, 2 of whom were women and one was African-American. Also the Medicinal Chemistry department had its first woman as department chair.
• In 2022 the College chose a new dean, its first woman in its 150+ year history. Of its 4 associate deans, two are women; of its 5 assistant deans, 3 are women and 2 are African American.

While we celebrate our diversity in leadership and our student cohorts, we recognize that we still have work to do. This is especially true in our tenure track faculty. From 1996 to 2020 we went from 42% women to 44%, and from 5.7% to 9.9% of those who identify as belonging to a race/ethnicity that is underrepresented in STEM.

“The University of Michigan and the College of Pharmacy are committed to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). … My vision for the College is to become a change agent in the pharmacy field. The College’s commitment to DEI is rooted in both the deep literature that repeatedly outlines that diverse teams develop more creative and successful solutions to challenging problems and our deeply held respect for the dignity of each individual. We have a duty to the citizens of the state of Michigan, our nation, and the world to grow our commitment to DEI and positively impact the lives of our local, statewide, national, and international communities.”  Dean Vicki Ellingrod

 

B. Prior Year Highlight Section

The College of Pharmacy made significant strides in addressing and accomplishing the action items in its first 5 year DEI Strategic Plan (2017-2022). Some of our achievements during the plan include the following:

1. Increases in the number of URM students in PharmD (3.4% to 14%) and PhD programs (4% to 16%).
2. Hired the College’s first Chief Officer for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
3. Conducted climate surveys through the University’s ADVANCE Office in 2014, 2018 and 2022.
4. Hired a new faculty member as part of the Provost’s anti-racism initiative;.
5. Hold annual training in DEI for all faculty, staff and students, with attendance required.
6. Established partnerships, open to all students, with 4 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (Morgan State Univ., Xavier Univ. of Louisiana, Spelman College, and Fisk Univ.).
7. Regularly send graduate students to attend meetings such as ABRCMS and SACNAS on behalf of the College as part of our recruiting efforts.
8. Created a new summer program, the Pharmacy Scholars Program, to recruit students from marginalized educational or economic backgrounds to pursue careers in pharmacy, and to do so at U of M.
9. Created new College of Pharmacy value statements with input from students, faculty, and staff.
10. Regularly utilize LAUNCH committees for new faculty hires.
11. Have increased diversity of applicants in faculty searches through more expansive outreach efforts.
12. Formed a curriculum sub-committee to address race, ethnicity and more in the curriculum.
13. Are collecting and using data that will help us identify and recruit experiential sites that will enhance student engagement with more diverse patient populations.
14. Have a committee studying our PharmD technical standards and consulting with the Medical School about admitting students who may have special needs beyond what our standards have allowed in the past.
15. Have a well-being committee that is raising awareness and providing training and resources regarding mental health and wellness.
16. Provide educational opportunities for alumni and preceptors to learn about DEI
17. Host regular diversity / inclusion events (socials, seminars, chats, etc.) to promote awareness and respect of differences, including National Coming Out Day Celebration, and the annual multicultural potluck.
18. Ensure that faculty and staff are treated equitably with regard to salary, opportunities, promotions, tenure, etc., through annual review of salaries and titles.
19. Require all faculty and staff to report their DEI activities on their annual activity report.
20. Require all faculty complete STRIDE training (2018). We’re the first College/School to do so.
21. Created a system that allows individuals to report instances of discrimination, harassment, disrespect, etc., and developed a policy and resources related to sexual misconduct.
22. Created child travel policies to assist faculty and staff who have young children participate in activities that are important for their careers.

 

C. Summary of DEI 1.0 Assessment Data

The College completed its assessment of its DEI 1.0 efforts, and shares a synopsis of that information below.

 

1. Climate

The College of Pharmacy has been intentional in addressing its climate. In 2014, 2018 and 2022 the College engaged the University’s ADVANCE Office to conduct surveys of the College’s cohorts. Each of these timepoints were strategic.

• The 2014 survey was done just prior to the arrival of Dean Jim Dalton. The survey identified several key areas that needed to be addressed, including: each cohort reporting having experienced bias or exclusion, and a lack of feeling that they belong to the College.
• The 2018 survey marked the end of Dean Dalton’s first term as dean, and the beginning of the second year of Chief Officer for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Regina McClinton. The results showed marked improvements in the areas noted above as well as others. The 2018 survey also indicated that women tenure track faculty felt the College needed to be more supportive and provide mentoring.
• The 2022 survey was conducted under Interim Dean Bruce Mueller, whose time as dean spanned the Covid pandemic and the challenges it caused. The results showed that faculty found the College to have a less tolerant environment than in the past, and to also have reduced gender egalitarianism. Both PharmD and PhD students reported having an insufficient number of student experiences, such as attending conferences and receiving interdisciplinary training. While some of the results are likely due to Covid, the College is examining its need to address all of the areas reviewed to ensure that needed changes to the College’s environment are made.

 

Climate study results are made available to all members of the College via its intranet. They are also discussed in meetings with each cohort.

 

2. Best Practices and Areas for Attention

The assessment focused on evaluating people, processes, and products. Below we share what we learned regarding best practices and areas where attention is needed.

 

	Best Practices	Areas of Attention
People	-Advertising in academic diversity magazines, in addition to improving information on our website have both worked to raise our profile and communicate our commitment to DEI. -Having the Chief Diversity Officer serve on all faculty search committees. -Direct recruiting of candidates for faculty positions.	–Marketing:  COP must understand that it has to “sell itself” to future members, by consistently and persistently advertising itself to establish its brand. –Training:  While there is goodwill for addressing DEI in all facets of the College, there is the need for additional training that goes beyond previous efforts. Trainings must be tied directly to initiatives and roles (e.g. mentors). –Retention/Belonging:  Explore the creation of affinity groups and other ways of increasing a sense of belonging for all COP members.  Identify ways to remove barriers to success. –Recruitment:  Increasing the diversity of the faculty is essential in being able to further diversify the student body.
Processes	-Regular education on, and awareness of, issues of race, gender, sexual orientation, diversity, inclusion, and more have been helpful in supporting changes. -Addressing issues raised, whether in our climate studies or directly to leadership, and reporting back to faculty and staff on how these issues were addressed. -Being willing to create new policies to support needed changes identified in the studies.	–Accountability:  Our requirement for faculty and staff to list their activities in DEI on their annual activity report was only a first step. We must take the next step and include a DEI assessment as part of employee performance evaluations to increase accountability. -Not holding COP constituents accountable for their behavior. –Transparency:  We will continue to strive for increased transparency, communication, and sensitivity.
Products	Having value statements, policies, and other mechanisms to communicate expectations and hold people accountable.	–Curriculum:  Addressing inclusiveness in our curriculum is a high priority in order for us to remain competitive as a top pharmacy school. –Policies:  Establish a regular practice of reviewing our policies with an eye toward inclusiveness and to ensure clarity about expectations and accountability. –Value Statements:  Now that our new value statements are established and communicated, we must continue promoting them and actively employ them throughout our activities, initiatives, communications, and missions.

 

3. Lessons Learned

People

• Regarding existing efforts to recruit students: We need to communicate to future students that Michigan is attainable for them. We continue with the “Leaders and Best”, but our public image does not directly communicate “excellence through inclusion”. We need to better present ourselves as being approachable and attainable.
• We need to better package what we can offer students. For example, we are able to offer any of our students emergency funding, so if a student has to return home for an emergency, we can support them in this. But this information is not readily available, leaving potential students with the impression that if they come far from home that they would not be able to return if needed.
• Regarding efforts to recruit faculty, we must be proactive by identifying potential future hires while they are graduate students and post-doctoral researchers, and maintaining relationships with them.
• Regarding retention, we need to ensure that faculty, particularly those who are women and people of color, are mentored and supported in ways beyond LAUNCH committees.
• We need to address our climate and ensure that members of COP are held accountable for any biased or harassing behavior. We need to ensure that everyone is well informed of the policies, procedures, and accountability that currently exist in the College, and those added in the future.

 

Process

• Our use of the ADVANCE climate study helped us to identify areas of progress, such as communication (in our 2014 survey), and areas in need of improvement, such as mentoring, particularly for women faculty.
• While the number of students from minoritized backgrounds increased, the absence of faculty from such backgrounds has been an issue for them and may well result in us losing the gains we’ve made.
• We must be diligent in addressing our climate issues. While we made progress from 2014 to 2018, we did not fully sustain them, nor make additional progress, between 2018 and 2022.
• Some faculty have old wounds that have not healed and have been made to feel less than. These must be acknowledged by leadership and addressed through the changing of policies and procedures.
• Several issues from our climate studies were based on false or misinformation, including that the College needs more women leaders (at the time of the 2018 and 2022 studies, the gender distribution of asst. and assoc. deans was 50% women to 50% men). The College needs to share more information on climate related issues and topics and be more transparent.

 

Products

This is a category where we have not had much activity. We did add a requirement for faculty and staff to report on their activity in DEI. We have created student pipeline programs during DEI 1.0 (and are actively working on additional efforts) But we need to do more in this area to truly affect change. This includes:

• Revising our curriculum to be inclusive.
• Socializing our recently revised values so that they serve to guide us.
• Continuing to reviewing all of our policies to identify gaps and needs, and sharing these results with the College.

 

D. Future Priorities

People

• With regards to recruiting students, we will work to recruit “locally”, meaning work to attract students from schools such as UM Flint, and two-year (tribal and community) colleges into our academic programs.
• We created a new academic postdoctoral research fellow training program for PhD and PharmD graduates who are interested in an academic career with the goal of establishing a pipeline of qualified candidates for faculty positions.
• We will work on creating and implementing new marketing and communications strategies.
• We will continue to pursue having our BS in Pharmaceutical Sciences program become a primary admit program (currently it is a secondary admit program).
• We have been approved for a new post-doctoral fellows program that will allow us to engage with potential future faculty candidates.
• We will explore creating a “Next Prof” program in COP, akin to that in Engineering.
• We will explore ways to increase a sense of belonging and identify/remove barriers to success for all members of the COP (e.g., affinity groups, assistance for international students, childcare resources, etc.).
• We will educate COP on our policies and procedures around bias and harassment.
• We will increase accountability and consequences for inappropriate behavior.
• We will continue to address issues identified in our most recent climate study.
• We will tie DEI training and education directly to initiatives and roles, set benchmarks and hold those responsible accountable.

 

Processes

• We will address concerns raised by graduate students, such as lab climate and culture.
• We will require leaders, supervisors, and mentors to set an example and hold their subordinates accountable for their behavior.
• We will review and revise our messaging so that we set the tone on who we are and who we are working to become.
• We will continue to strive for excellence through inclusion, especially in recruiting new faculty.

 

Products

• We will establish a timeline to complete the changes to our curriculum to be more inclusive.
• We will continue to review our policies and better communicate this review to the College.
• We will socialize our recently revised values and integrate them into everything we do.

Implementation Leads

Christopher Billick, Hanna Quinlan

Unit Strategic Plan

Digital Poster

To learn more, contact: [email protected] or [email protected].

Visit here for more information about diversity, equity and inclusion programs and resources.

 

Unit Summary

From being one of the first universities to admit women in 1870 to our historic defense of race conscious admission policies in the U.S. Supreme Court in 2003, the University of Michigan has had a fierce and longstanding commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. 

This commitment rests upon our recognition of the history in the United States of racial, ethnic and gender discrimination as well as our understanding that our progress as an institution of higher learning will be enhanced with a vibrant community of people from many backgrounds.

As the Office of the Vice President for Communications reflects on DEI 1.0 and looks forward to the launch of DEI 2.0, it’s crucial to our unit’s growth and education to summarize and analyze our unit’s work on behalf of the entire university’s DEI efforts, and our own division’s DEI awareness and activities.

Within the OVPC our strategic plan during DEI 1.0 was to advance that commitment, ensure that we live the principles ourselves, and guide us as we seek to operate at maximum effectiveness into the university’s third century. Our planning process was conducted by the OVPC Planning Team, which meets monthly. The team considers activities and practices, and input received from the OVPC office results to the Climate Survey, published in 2017. 

Our unit strives to continue to play a pivotal role in conveying both the ethos of U-M and information about its achievements and contributions to society. The commitment to engage and convey differing perspectives is a key underpinning of our daily and long-term work.

We also seek to recruit and retain a diverse workforce as a reflection of our commitment to serve the diverse people, processes and products of Michigan, to maintain the excellence of the university, and to offer our students richly varied disciplines, perspectives and ways of knowing and learning.

 

People. 

We believe that the most important lesson learned in our efforts to recruit, retain and develop a diverse community is that it requires coordinated and sustained efforts on many fronts over time. 

Many elements and aspects are important, but they need time and constant care and feeding to pay dividends. More than any other aspect we worked on, recruiting requires the most holistic commitment and effort. For example, it is critically important to advertise positions widely, both in traditional and targeted markets.

However this effort alone is unlikely to bear fruit without attention to the language of the posting itself. We are less likely to make good hires without a rigorous hiring process that both lets go of old ideas about interviewing and introduces metrics and rubrics for bias mitigation throughout the process. It seems obvious in hindsight, but all of these individual efforts, while important, really needed time and coordination to begin working. 

The most important OVPC best practice was to run hiring committees in the manner that Angela Benke and her team trained us to use interviews with pre-selected questions and a rigorous evaluation rubric. This method decreases the chances of unconscious bias skewing the results. The second-best practice is a reminder that this is a holistic process that has many components that all need to work together over time to achieve results. 

Our instinct is that we will absolutely put a large focus and effort into recruiting, retaining, and developing a diverse community in our 2.0 plan to realize the results of a sustained and intentional effort. 

In addition, while reflecting on our Campus Climate Survey results, we learned that higher education status among our unit increased for post-graduate degrees and decreased for bachelor’s degrees. This is an example of the kind of trend we want to keep an eye on. We want to make sure we are focusing on hiring diverse talent across the board and not just focusing on candidates with higher education status.

 

Process.

For over two years during the timeframe of DEI 1.0, the pandemic brought forward just how fragile an ecosystem we have as a community. Even before COVID-19, OVPC placed a renewed effort behind accessibility for websites and digital media, internally mandating captions for all videos produced. 

We utilized expertise in ITS, OIE, and internally to check compliance and improve accessibility processes as new tools and techniques have become available. Remote work and learning forced us to look again at all the ways that inclusion and equity are manifest in our work. This allowed us a different perspective that revitalized our views across the board. 

Living through the pandemic was a shared experience.

While the experience continues to be shared, however, there are many significant differences with how the pandemic has and is impacting our community and OVPC, including: physical health, mental health, health of loved ones, ability to maintain social relationships, financial situations, housing situations, work and/or academic performance, experience of discrimination relation to one or more of a person’s identities and more. 

These factors are key to consider when looking at creating an inclusive and equitable campus climate within our unit, all while trying to stay connected while we are physically distant during a pandemic. 

In addition, we need to avoid the tendency to “check off” tasks as complete. We need to embrace a posture of continuous process improvement and periodic re-evaluation.  

The data shown in the 2021 Campus Climate survey is a great tool to reflect and adjust as we transition in DEI 2.0, however, the survey is only one component of the campus-wide plan to foster and strengthen diversity, equity and inclusion at the university. 

As we reflect on our unit’s processes, our team plans to share the survey results from the Campus Climate Survey with members of our community and have an open and honest conversation about where we need to change and grow within our unit’s process and beyond. This will serve as an opportunity to secure more insights from community members regarding their lived experiences with DEI. 

The results from these conversations will help us inform the development of our DEI 2.0 plans. 

 

Products. 

The implementation of U-M’s DEI plan and the COVID-19 pandemic provided OVPC with both a mandate and an opportunity to focus on digital accessibility across all media. The sudden shift to remote work, communication and learning forced our unit to develop innovative digital strategies for promoting inclusion and equity and for making universal accessibility standard practice in all communications. Activities included:

• Introducing a COVID-19 Key Issues page
• Launching the Campus Maize & Blueprint website to communicate U-M plans and programs
• Responding to thousands of inquiries from the campus community
• Auditing all websites to assure accessibility
• Conveying health and safety messages from U-M leadership
• Working with the CDC, Washtenaw County Health Department and local, state and national officials
• Disseminating materials to increase awareness and uptake of vaccines, mental health services and public health guidelines

This multi-year communications effort touched all aspects of campus life and helped ensure that the university’s mission continued throughout the pandemic.

The implementation of the DEI plan and the pandemic provided the unit an opportunity to focus strongly on digital accessibility including digital media. Remote work, communication, and learning forced the unit to look at innovative ways that inclusion and equity can be digitally promoted, allowing for a renewed focus on making sure that all communications materials are accessible to all U-M audiences as standard practice. Beginning in late January 2020, all OVPC departments were involved in supporting the university’s response to and communication about the COVID-19 pandemic. Activities include creation of a COVID-19 Key Issues page, creating and maintaining the Campus Maize & Blueprint website to support and communicate the university’s plans, which also included responding to over thousands of inquiries from the campus community about support and resources available. 

OVPC accessibility initiative impacted every piece of COVID-19 related content produced including all new websites created as well as audits of existing websites. Video production was standardized with accessible captioning in mind and live virtual events were produced with accessibility in mind.

Our unit also supported executive communications from the president and university leadership, to convey public health and safety messages. We worked with members from the CDC, Washtenaw County Health Department, local, state, and national government for the response to COVID-19. It disseminated accessible materials to increase awareness and uptake of vaccines, mental health services, and public health best practices. 

This multi-year continuous communications effort touched all aspects of campus life and contributed to ensuring that the university’s core mission remained operational throughout the pandemic. OVPC web and other digital communication strategies had record numbers. For examples, the Spanish version of the publication “Flattening the Curve for COVID-19: What Does It Mean and How Can You Help?” had 414,471 unique pageviews and the publication “14 Things to Do If Someone You Live With Has COVID-19 in Chinese had 271,359 unique pageviews.

In addition to the products related to COVID-19, our unit provided support over the last few years to U-M’s anti-racism efforts, including communications through the Offices of the President and the Provost.

 

Additional OVPC DEI highlights.

Institutional DEI communications support began in 2015 and continues. In addition to our committee work that supports our own staff, all of our work teams (including Michigan News, Public Affairs, the University Record, Michigan Creative, Photography and Media, the Freedom of Information Office, Strategic Initiatives, Web Strategy and Executive Communications) have actively worked to include DEI concepts in the overall institutional messaging and images since the inception of this effort. Support included:

• Photographed institutional events. When considering shots or hiring models for print materials, we always seek diverse representation across a variety of dimensions that remain authentic to our community.
• Lauren Love, now Hanna Quinlan,  in our Public Affairs office keeps the central Diversity website updated and handles social media channels on behalf of the central cause. They remain the point person in Public Affairs for DEI issues and coordinates with ODEI. 
• Michigan Creative, which produces much of the university’s outward-facing material, has a variety of practices designed to advance university DEI messaging and outreach: Develop communication plans that consider how marketing objectives and goals, messaging, outreach and distribution can reach the intended audiences and convey the university’s dedication to diversity, equity and inclusion; Identify different ways to reach target audience members through a variety of traditional and innovative channels. Consider how broad and diverse audiences may require multiple touchpoints to deliver messages successfully. Follow accessibility requirements and standards in the design and development of website projects to ensure online resources are available to the widest possible audience. Consider how to portray a wide range of people and places for images used in design work to illustrate diversity and inclusivity
• Launch of mentorship program: Managers worked with their direct reports to map a career path, so that there is more transparency in which career possibilities exist within a job type and what needs to be considered for advancement. Based on interests and experience, we will work to identify pathways within OVPC. If pathways that match your goals do not exist in OVPC, we will help you identify other places in the university that may be next steps for employees to consider. Our team in OVPC is extraordinary and we want to help them attain their career goals – wherever those take them.
• Launch of an adjusted “passport” this year as the OVPC DEI Journal. This notebook can be used however employees like, but we hope that they might use it to take notes at various DEI events across campus, or to journal their reflections afterward. This journal is intended to be a useful companion to the Individual DEI Activities listed on the Events page of our Handbook website. This DEI journal was distributed at our winter All-staff event which we hosted at UMMA. There was a discussion about how art is an important expression of diversity, and we heard from two UMMA staff members about the thought and process behind the reinstallation of the first floor of Alumni Memorial Hall.
• A special screening of Me, the “Other” which was co-sponsored by the Fleming DEI committee. This powerful film was screened at the Michigan Theater and included a guided discussion afterward. 
• Hosted all-staff meetings to consider better methods of inclusion, including a new onboarding process. From the ideas proposed at that meeting, the team has developed a plan.
• Onboarding for new employees: There was wide participation to help develop an onboarding process for new employees. We want everyone to feel welcome and have the information they need for success at U-M. Each physical location has “onboarding champions” who agreed to be guides for new employees. These were established right before the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated that the majority of our staff work from home. We did onboard a new employee in Public Affairs and utilized one on one video meetings with each member of the Public Affairs and extended Internal Communications employees. 
• The DEI team continued to update our handbook website (OVPC employee information) with activities that help orient newly hired colleagues to OVPC, as well as aid established employees in understanding our policies and procedures. The site covers resource links to many things, such as the university’s staff handbook, MHealthy, parking information and maps, and dining options. It explains policies, our role in the university’s mission and some pointers on how the university works. The content continues to change and grow over time.
• We recognized that not all employees were able to attend scheduled events and sessions. This section was added to enrich those employees, as well as others who wished to grow in their understanding of DEI. 
  • Video: Complete Heritage Month Series – This channel showcases sets of videos from all heritage months, spotlighting “hidden figures” during recognized history months like Black History, LGBT+Pride, Native American Heritage, and more. The first video will provide insights into the history of the month. There are also seven spotlight videos featuring individual history-makers. 
  • Audio: Same Same Different – a podcast from Michigan Radio: A show about identity and how to survive “otherness” with our humanity and sanity intact.
  • Video: Conversations Across Difference – a video series from the Ford School of Public Policy. (choose Conversations Across Difference from the SERIES dropdown) 
  • Events: U-M Suffrage 2020 – U-M celebrates the fight for the 19th amendment and interrogates its role in the history of struggles to extend the right to vote.
  • CONFRONTING RACISM: Another mid-year pivot was providing a page of resources to actively confront racism. This was inspired by the nationwide demonstrations for racial justice and confrontation of police violence. 
  • STAYING CONNECTED AS WE ARE PHYSICALLY DISTANT: We launched this page once it became clear that most of our staff would need to work from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Pivoting to employee support, this page provided practical work tips as well as self-care and support information.
  • The OVPC DEI Committee was pleased with the success of the “Expanding Horizons DEI Series” last year. While we began with in-person events, these events will be moved online while the COVID-19 pandemic necessitates physical distancing for most of our staff.

 

Implementation Leads

Michelle Chatell, Marlanna Landeros

Unit Strategic Plan

Digital Poster

To learn more, contact: [email protected] or [email protected].

Visit here for more information about diversity, equity and inclusion programs and resources.

 

Unit Summary

DPSS Commitment to DEI/Overview

Diversity, equity and inclusion stand out as a core value for the University of Michigan Division of Public Safety and Security

“We value and are dedicated to respecting differences, equitable practices and intentional inclusion to create an environment where our community feels welcomed and safe.” 

DPSS believes that everyone plays a role in contributing to a safe and secure environment. Our ability to achieve our mission, vision, and values is dependent on the relationships and partnerships we build with our diverse and vibrant community across all three campuses. . 

 

DPSS Implementation Process

DPSS cultivates an environment where diversity, equity and inclusion can thrive. We work to ensure policies, practices, and operations meet the highest ethical and equitable standards, requirements, credentials, and licensing. Over our five-year plan, we strategically incorporated the U-M Dearborn and U-M Flint public safety departments to more efficiently and effectively deploy resources across the three campuses as well as share best practices ensuring consistent policies, mission, vision, and values. Representatives from across the division led the implementation of our strategic plan, covering over 400 DPSS personnel and the entirety of the community we serve. 

The 16-member implementation team was led by the DPSS DEI Program Manager along with DEI leads. We explored improvements to our team makeup, which resulted in seeking participation from current DPSS student employees, interns, and the DPSS student advisory board. The team collected, analyzed, and evaluated the data and feedback through a U-M all-staff survey, U-M climate surveys, DPSS employee surveys, town halls, department meetings, and personnel input, to help identify key areas of opportunity for further education and engagement of our staff and our community. In addition, institutional data and demographics from the U-M Human Capital Report, data warehouse, shift briefings, and departmental interviews were regularly reviewed to further assess themes that may need to be incorporated into the four university-identified domains. 

Over the past five years, we achieved many goals within our DEI Strategic Plan by focusing on the four domains listed below. We’ve also adjusted where necessary through collaboration and feedback with our staff and the community. We are very proud of two activities spotlighted in the University’s DEI plan – Pancakes and Politics (year 1) and Future Public Safety Leaders Program (year 3). 

 

The Four Strategic Plan Domains
Recruitment, retention and development This domain focuses on who we recruit, how we retain staff, and the professional development opportunities available to employees across the division.	Education and scholarship This domain focuses on ensuring our personnel are educated on the foundational aspects of diversity, equity and inclusion, in addition to providing opportunities to build relationships and understanding with our diverse community.
Promoting an equitable and inclusive community This domain includes DPSS efforts to create and nurture an inclusive environment where all staff and members of the community feel welcomed and safe.	Service This domain ensures diversity, equity and inclusion values are a fundamental underpinning of the DPSS service-delivery model.

 

PRIOR YEAR HIGHLIGHTS DEI 1.0

 

Recruitment, Retention and Development 

Goal: To effectively recruit and retain staff as well as improve professional development opportunities. 

 

• Improved recruiting and leveraged technology through participation in 15 job fairs (in person and virtually during the pandemic).
  • Wayne State University Virtual Career Fair, National Collegiate Virtual Career Fair, National Collegiate Virtual Career Fair, Washtenaw Community College, Career Fair, NOBLE Criminal Justice Job & Career Fair, Macomb Community College, MSU Virtual Criminal Justice Career Fair, Eastern Michigan University.
• Utilized Datapeople Recruiting Analytics to improve 19 job descriptions and postings to be more inclusive. Datapeople is a writing tool that assists with identifying candidate-friendly job postings.  
• Reinforced expectations of  equitable and unbiased hiring practices through required training in “Unconscious Bias in Recruiting” and “Interviewing Candidates for Hire in DPSS.”

• Implemented an electronic Performance Management system, including a DEI anchor of Valuing Inclusion and Diversity, to facilitate focused discussions during  performance and development meetings.
• Approximately 74% of all management staff have a bachelor’s degree or higher. We continue to encourage the utilization of tuition reimbursement for academic professional development.
• Support membership in professional organizations for growth and development (ex. IACP). This will ultimately set the foundation for hosting various developmental training sessions in the future.  
  • Six staff members chose to use their general DPSS professional development funds to attend four sessions at The International Association of Chiefs of Police-sponsored Women’s Leadership Institute (WLI) 

“I was inspired to be surrounded by so many strong female leaders in law enforcement who were focused on mentoring, coaching, and training other women to be leaders” –DPSS Staff Attendee

“Attending the WLI conference in the fall of 2019 was one of the most valuable and rewarding training I have ever attended. Meeting other women in law enforcement and hearing their stories about the challenges they faced and overcame was so inspiring and encouraging. I believe every female officer should be given the opportunity to attend this training early in their career.“ –DPSS Staff Attendee

 

Promoting an Equitable and Inclusive Community

Goal: To create and nurture an inclusive environment where all staff and members of the community feel welcomed and safe.

• The June 2021 Engagement Survey resulted in 304 surveys received with a 71% participation rate. The DEI question of “I understand the impact DEI philosophies have on DPSS Service” was the highest scoring survey driver (85% favorable, 11% neutral and 4% unfavorable.)
• The University Climate Survey reported our staff as being more satisfied and perceiving a more positive climate within their unit. For example, there was a 19% increase from 2017 to 2021, in BIPOC staff that reported “my experience in my work unit has had a positive impact on my professional growth.”
• Leveraged technology and resources to provide staff with equitable access to training and information through the use of recordings, closed captioning, improving venue accessibility, and/or consideration of appropriate technology platforms.
  • Caring for Patients and Visitors Who Are Transgender or Gender Non-conforming
  • Mental Health Response
  • DEI Community Conversations
  • Respecting the Differences that Define Us
  • Religion and Cultural Awareness
• Implementing a number of recommendations identified by the University of Michigan Advancing Public Safety Task Force.
  • 78% of the Official Orders are currently posted on our public-facing website including use of force specific initiative 
  • DPSS has updated its website to include a public-facing organizational chart to better understand the structure of DPSS 
  • DPSS developed a public-facing hiring and selection webpage that contains an overview of job descriptions across DPSS and information on the hiring process
• Targeted partnerships and mentoring with students through the DPSS advisory board, student employees and interns to garner interest in DPSS, creating opportunities for hiring pipelines and word of mouth advertising. 
  • As a year three unit spotlight, in partnership with Wayne County Community College District, DPSS had two cohorts of the Future Public Safety Leaders Program totaling twenty-six students and fifteen dedicated days of professional development programming. 
  • DPSS sponsored a cohort of fifteen youths aged 14-21 through the Flint Area Explorers Post #810 which develops character and leadership skills and interest in Public Safety careers.  
  • DPSS Student Advisory Board (SAB) has allowed DPSS to further its engagement with students across campus. 
    • At the SAB monthly meetings, members have collectively dedicated over 200 hours. Membership has grown to include undergraduate and graduate students from varying schools, colleges, and affinity groups, open to all (Black Student Union, Muslim Student Association, etc.). This group was able to connect with over 51 student organizations and participate in the following:
      • The group provided feedback on the DPSS website redesign concepts, public safety app, and DPSS social media, resulting in a DPSS Facebook page
      • Hosted the first ever “DPSS FiresideChat” with DPSS Executive Director
      • SAB members participate in approximately forty five hours of experiential learning through ride alongs with DPSS staff
      • Participated in fifteen sponsored events and 165 hours of engagement, including Festifall, DPSS Community Engagement  Unit tabling, Maize & Blue Cupboard, DPSS food drive, and International Center Ice Cream Socials 
      • Identified a software package (IAPro/BlueTeam) that will centralize professional standards reviews and support public transparency. The system encourages policy adherence, increases accountability, and maintains public trust.

Education and Scholarship

Goal:  To ensure our personnel are educated on the foundational aspects of diversity, equity and inclusion, in addition to providing opportunities to build relationships and understanding with our diverse community. 

• Worked closely with community partners and Office of General Counsel to update  the Clery Standard Practice Guide and ensure deployment of required training to all University staff identified as campus security authorities (CSA). Understanding these responsibilities is critical to providing accurate statistics and improving awareness of reporting requirements. 

• DPSS created a robust social media presence to engage with the community, provide information quickly, correct misinformation, recruit employees, and share safety tips.

“We see you, we hear you, and we stand with you. Racism and injustice will not be tolerated on our campus. DPSS is committed to being part of the solution.” – DPSS Twitter & Facebook from DPSS Executive Director following the death of George Floyd.

• Increased internal communication and awareness by adding a DEI Reflection section to the DPSS Digest in 2020. Over 20 DEI-focused topics, as well as dedicated training and staff discussion prompts have been included since its inception.
   
• DPSS continues its dedication to students through direct interface and educational forums 
  • Annually hosted 11 students for a 10-week CDC program through the School of Public Health (Michigan Future Public Health Leaders Program FPHLP) providing exposure to public safety, specifically Interpersonal Violence (U-M DPSS SVU), Emergency Management and Public Health. 
  • Hosted four U-M undergraduate students providing 160 volunteer service hours in conjunction with the“Juvenile and Criminal” section of Psychology 211, Project Outreach.

Service 

Goal: To ensure diversity, equity and inclusion values are a fundamental underpinning of DPSS  service-delivery model.

• To expand on existing engagement and educational efforts, DPSS began the process of establishing the DPSS Training and Education Center (DTEC) DTEC is a model of systems to deliver training to internal DPSS team members, University members, public officials, and community members. DTEC exists to create and encourage individual and organizational effectiveness by developing and offering multiple programs to support our commitment to workforce development and partnerships and service to our community.
• Training and development opportunities to improve service delivery were centralized using Power DMS. This is a uniform way to identify training, run attendance reports, and add a library of training as recordings for use by staff over multiple shifts given the 24/7 nature of the division. 
  • MILO (Multiple Interactive Learning Objectives) – interactive video scenario-based training 
    • Twenty-two university and community partners observed and participated in interactive de-escalation and response scenario training. Since 2016, 90% of DPSS staff have been trained through interactive scenarios
    • In partnership with MILO, DPSS staff trained to create new scenarios incorporating DEI principles, resulting in five new scenarios filmed at Michigan Medicine

“I’m really looking forward to partnering with DPSS as we expand the reach and impact of MILO. This is exciting for the Anti-Racism Oversight Committee and our entire health system.”

        -Michigan Medicine Anti-Racism Oversight Committee Member 

• We adjusted our platform and outreach to provide support for victims of interpersonal violence. The Special Victims Unit set up virtual platforms to maintain connections with survivors to provide reporting options, safety planning, and advocacy during the pandemic. 
• DPSS partnered with multiple agencies and organizations to create and conduct over 30 DEI-focused sessions during annual training to include sessions focused on: 
  • Spectrum Center to learn about the LGBTQ+ population on campus, engagement, policies, and pronouns usage  
  • Implicit bias
  • Wayne State University DEI to learn about and generational differences and impact on interactions
  • Trotter Multicultural Center and U-M Interfaith, learning about Religious, Secular, and Spiritual (R/S/S) identities awareness 
  • Disability Inclusion on safety & security presented by LSA Disability Navigators  to improve and promote an Anti-ableist culture

Diversity, equity and inclusion are more than goals for our Division, they are key to achieving greater safety and security today and into the future. In 2025, we envision a campus where implicit bias does not exist and there is awareness, education, and an investment in relationships with people.  

“Our dedication to creating an environment where our community feels welcomed and safe is inseparable from our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.”  
– DPSS Executive Director Eddie Washington

Implementation Leads

Sian Dowis , Kylie Snyder

Unit Strategic Plan

To learn more, contact: [email protected] or [email protected].

Visit here for more information about diversity, equity and inclusion programs and resources.

 

Unit Summary

Our initial plan:

The Duderstadt Center committed to preparing a five year Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Strategic Plan in February 2018. The planning and data collection process was centered on the

Digital Media Commons (DMC) employee community, consisting of student staff, professional staff and administrators. The initial work was kicked-off by our then Student Program Coordinator Janine Turner. We began a full semester beyond the rest of the UM and with only six months to prepare the plan, the implementation lead and DEI committee quickly acknowledged that the data collection process would need to continue into the next year. Janine did a great job getting the Duderstadt Center’s DEI initiatives started. She led the planning, interviewing and writing of our first plan. She and the DEI committee worked hard to develop a plan with the flexibility to change over time, meeting the needs of the many constituencies of the Center. The planning process for the Center included the initiatives listed below.

 

1. A community rollout

In February 2018, the strategic planning process was rolled out to DMC staff and administrators in their regular monthly meeting. A presentation by the implementation lead explained the history of the strategic planning process at the University, and highlighted the importance of developing a plan specific to the DMC working group. Their presentation included a list of planning goals, objectives and intentions. Following the meeting, every employee and student staff member of the DMC received an email recapping the presentation. The email included additional resources and ways to become involved in the planning process. An open invitation to ask questions and provide feedback was also included in the correspondence. The implementation lead contacted administrators asking for their support in the rollout of the planning process. Administrators encouraged employees within their teams to get involved in the process and pose questions about the development of the strategic plan. Throughout the planning process, the implementation lead also sent DEI updates via email to facilitate transparency and call for participation across the DMC teams.

 

2. The development of a Duderstadt DEI Committee

As a fundamental piece of the planning process, the implementation lead worked to build a committee of dedicated DMC staff to be in conversation with DEI at the Center, and the development of the strategic plan. Members were recruited from the professional and student staff of the DMC working group. The committee met biweekly with the goals of collecting input around policy that impacts DEI at the Center, developing cultural competency skills through training, and building community across DMC teams. The DEI committee worked intentionally throughout the six month planning timeframe to hear and amplify as many voices as possible, while learning about their own impact on DEI at the Center.

 

3. Focus group discussions

In April and May 2018, DEI focus group discussions were conducted among DMC employees at the Center. In consideration of organizational power structures, focus group discussions were divided into three areas of collection based on employment role: student staff, professional staff and administrators. This division allowed for unique constituencies to more transparently share their experience and unique needs. All employees of the DMC, including students and staff, were invited and encouraged to participate. The focus group discussions were designed to honor culturally responsive research practices, working to support an environment in which participants of diverse, intersectional identities had the opportunity to co-create knowledge around DEI at the Center. The questions asked in the focus groups were developed in conversation with the four planning domains that drive the University’s DEI strategic process. The focus group discussions were designed to support the following outcomes:

• Assess the needs of employees across and between roles based on experience
• Gather data around the four planning domains of the strategic plan
• Co-construct knowledge around DEI at the Duderstadt Center

 

4. Intragroup DEI idea generative workshops

The focus group findings unearthed a lack of inclusion felt between teams within the DMC community. DMC employees found it difficult to be vulnerable in sharing their experiences around colleagues and administrators outside of their immediate working group. The DEI committee facilitated intragroup idea generative workshops to create environments in which employees felt more empowered to share their ideas linked to DEI. Committee members were trained in inclusive facilitation skills and asked to develop their own workshop for their respective teams. These workshops provided them the opportunity to use language their colleagues were comfortable with, develop their own community guidelines, and facilitate in a way that met the needs of their unique groups. The workshops were utilized to collect feedback around DEI at the Center, while honoring the experiences of those in the room. These workshops continued, and input collected after the strategic plan was submitted was used to shape action items for the next year.

5. DEI brainstorming session

The DEI implementation lead facilitated a DEI brainstorming session in which professional staff across DMC teams collaborated to cultivate policy ideas around DEI at the Center. These sessions were meant to hold space for DMC staff to collectively impact the development of objectives in the strategic plan.

 

6. Acknowledgement of future data collection

The DMC was not included in the U-M Climate Scan because of the organizational restructure taking place during the scan’s deployment. This impacted the ability of the DEI Implementation Lead to fully understand the experiences of the community. Future climate scans would be needed.

With only six months to prepare the plan, the DEI committee acknowledged that the data collection process would extend into the following year. Data would need to be collected from the unique constituencies that make up the community of the Center existing outside of the DMC. Those communities include but are not limited to:

• The Art, Architecture, and Engineering Library
• ArtsEngine
• The Center for Entrepreneurship (CFE)
• The College of Engineering Computer Aided Engineering Network
• (CAEN)
• The Computer & Video Game Archive
• The Millennium Project
• Mujo Cafe

 

Data and Analysis: Key Findings

The data used to inform the strategic plan was collected from only one constituency of the Center; the DMC employee group. The DEI implementation lead chose to frame the research around one constituency as the beginning of a larger in depth data collection process. A series of focus group discussions and idea generative workshops were held to work towards understanding the experience of those working specifically within the employee group of the DMC. As the strategic planning process moved forward, quantitative and qualitative research would need to be conducted across constituencies and working groups to provide a more holistic understanding of the Duderstadt Center climate.

 

Focus Group Findings, Themes and Recommendations

Mixed methods analysis revealed 3-4 themes within each planning domain across employee roles of the DMC (student staff, professional staff and administrators). These themes worked towards understanding the needs of each role independently, and the needs of the employee community as a unit. Each domain is divided into sub-categorical themes that reflect the trends found in focus group discussions, as reflected below.

 

Domain A: Recruitment, Retention and Development

• Students, staff and administrators agreed that the Center excels in diverse representation of skills and interdisciplinary approaches, promoting an appreciation of unique communities.
• Students, staff and administrators expressed a serious need for recruiting and hiring a more diverse professional staff/administrative team as it relates (but isn’t limited) to gender, race, ethnicity, and (dis)ability at the Center.
• Professional and student staff agreed that the Center needs to better support incoming staff across identities in efforts to increase retention.

 

Domain B: Education and Scholarship

• Community centered programming and the support of DEI projects at the Center has positively impacted the experience of DMC employees including students, professional staff and administrators.
• Professional and student staff as well as administrators called for more intentional programming around DEI that allows employees to connect across differences.
• Student staff and professional staff expressed their need for foundational DEI training that better prepares them to work with diverse communities.

 

Domain C: Promoting an Equitable and Inclusive Community

• Both professional staff and students, as well as administrators expressed a need to increase their collective awareness of bias influencing decision making, communication and conflict. The identities of those in positions of power are impacting the experiences of those around them, and may be creating a lack of inclusion and equity.
• Professional staff and student staff are committed to making everyone who walks into spaces at the Center feel welcome.
• As expressed across employee groups, there is a lack of collaboration between administrative teams that negatively impacted the experiences of professional and student staff. These have since been addressed.
• While there is a strong sense of belonging cultivated within the DMC teams, employees as a whole (including student and professional staff as well as administrators) are not feeling valued or appreciated between teams, causing a perceived lack of inclusion.

 

Domain D: Service

• Professional and student staff, as well as administrators are energized around making the public spaces more accessible to unique communities, including those related to (dis)ability, gender, sexuality, and race.
• Administrators and professional staff called for service design, as it relates to meeting the needs of diverse communities, to be wider reaching and more intentional at the Center.
• Professional staff and administrators called for data from users to be collected in efforts to identify the unique needs of the Center’s community.
• Administrators, professional and student staff agreed that the building was not accessible for some groups with disabilities and urgent attention needed to be paid to this. This was addressed in our work done to make the building BFS compatible.

Our first DEI Lead Janine left after one year, but left us with a good plan which we have continued to use as our template. For a period of time after Janine’s departure our DEI work was halted. Steve Eberle took over as our DEI Implementation Lead at the end of year two. He completed our second strategic plan and got our DEI work restarted. 

In the fall of 2019 the Duderstadt Center went through another organizational change. As a result Kati Bauer became our new director and she came with a significant amount of DEI experience from her previous roles. We added a second DEI Co-lead (Kathi Reister), in addition to our existing lead (Steve Eberle). While many departments have full time DEI leads, our leads have been part time, so the addition of a second lead helped with the DEI workload, which is significant. We also added a new DMC student coordinator (Cameron Celestia) who updated some of our student hiring and onboarding procedures to be more inclusive and equitable.

The largest change to the Duderstadt Center DEI efforts that fall was a change of focus from being a Digital Media Commons (DMC) centric effort to a Duderstadt Center (DC) wide effort. While our action plans centered on the DMC staff, our DEI committee expanded to include representatives from all the DC units. The newly formed committee met on a bi-weekly basis. The committee also planned to create a student led subcommittee to provide a voice to the student community that both worked and studied in the DC. We had some student representation during our first year, and we hope to bring them back into the discussion, perhaps as a student-led subcommittee to allow for open discussion without their supervisors “in the room”. 

As we change our focus from DMC to the Duderstadt Center as a whole, we are evaluating how to best serve all our DC Units.  We hope that by sharing DEI relevant information and best practices across DC Units, our DEI committee can better serve all of our DC communities. 

Due to organizational and staffing changes during Year 2, little work was conducted to gather data and do analysis. Moving forward the DEI Committee will revisit the analysis from Year 1 and move forward with an action plan to generate new data and findings reflecting the Duderstadt Center’s new organizational landscape.   

Our third and fourth years were largely conducted online. Due to Covid our meetings, and programming moved to Zoom. Our data gathering and recruiting (students, others) was halted, but we were able to run a number of training and informational sessions online. Because working schedules were considerably shrunk, we actually had relatively high attendance at many of our programs. One of our findings during the early interviews was a need for informational sessions to educate our staff on DEI issues, and in a strange way this provided a way to do it. 

 

Highlights from the last 5 years

Programming:

• • DEI Kick-off events each fall for the DC staff
  • Book club “White Fragility”
  • Podcast Club – SceneOn Radio Podcasts
    • Seasons 2 – Seeing White 
    • Season 3 – Men 

• Season 4 – The Land that has Never Been Yet

• Anti-Racism Primer
• Special topic discussions including – Meet the Ombudsperson, Pronouns, Land Acknowledgements, and more. (~30-40 in attendance)
• “2020 Vision Talks” were held as monthly brown bags for all members of the DC to learn about the work of other units in the building. These were very well attended (~60-75 at each session). 
• Sanity Breaks (community building during pandemic)
• Our Media and Studio Arts crew focused on the topic of under-represented groups in media production and technology during their annual symposium in 2019.
• Our gallery has hosted or produced a DEI related exhibition during the MLK Symposium for the last many years, and has been the venue for the North Campus MLK Spirit Awards reception for the last 5+ years. 
• Many of the recordings, performances and exhibitions that happen every year in the DC are focused on diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice themes. 

 

Administrative/Policy Changes

• DEI webpages were added to our website
• A comprehensive hiring policy was put in writing
• Job postings have been sent to a more diverse group of job boards
• Student minimum wage was raised to $15, before the U-M did so officially
• Significant accessibility updates have been made to our building, allowing us to receive BFS status. Funding from the Provost helped considerably towards those goals.
• A small budget has been added for DEI programs. A number of DEI volunteers received special acknowledgement of their efforts in FY22.
• An onboarding video is in the planning stages

 

Lessons learned

Pros:

• The monthly DEI Leads meetings and periodic staff retreats have been very helpful, and provided a chance to meet colleagues and share ideas.
• The DEI community and leadership have been very supportive.

 

Cons:

• The amount of work expected of the DEI Leads is difficult for smaller units with part time leads.
• We could use more pre-vetted material for training, workshops, etc.
• Large campus surveys did little for smaller units, as we did not have enough data to provide any real information.
• Academic units and smaller service units have very different needs and capabilities, maybe there could be meetings and/or retreats geared to the smaller units.

 

Conclusion:

We have tried to address the issues raised during our first year of data gathering and all of those major concerns have been addressed to some extent. 

Domain A: Recruitment, Retention and Development – our new hiring policy for staff and student staff, and the expansion of job posting sites to include a wider array of audiences, has improved our ability to broadly diversify our staff going forward. The increased minimum wage will help us retain some of our best student employees. And finally, any of our staff who serve on a hiring team must go through “anti-bias” training, keeping bias out of our hiring process.

Domain B: Education and Scholarship – this is an area where we excelled, in part because of the pandemic, but also through the dedication of our DEI committee and facilitators who put in a lot of time to provide a series of great programs around hot topics. See the list of programs above.

Domain C: Promoting an Equitable and Inclusive Community – with the re-organization and new leadership of the DMC, our silos have been coming down. Kati Bauer brought in a communications specialist (Mary) and together they worke d with our staff to improve our team communication and create a new mission statement for the DMC, with input from all staff, and with an emphasis on DEI. Additionally, one of our special topics presentations was with the Staff Ombudsperson for the University, who educated us on the University’s conflict resolution process, so if issues arise that are “bigger than us” we know where to turn.

Domain D: Service – our whole team is dedicated to providing great service to our patrons, and we always have been. One area that needed improving was the accessibility of some parts of our building. With input from staff and users, a wish list of improvements was crafted. Our Facilities Manager and Accessibility Expert John Muckler has made significant improvements on those issues and continues to correct the problems as they arise.

Implementation Leads

Stephanie Sanders, Catie Hausman, Dominique Adams-Santos, Luke Shaefer

Unit Strategic Plan

Digital Poster

To learn more, contact: [email protected], [email protected] or, [email protected].

Visit here for more information about diversity, equity and inclusion programs and resources.

 

Unit Summary

In October 2016, the Ford School released a five-year strategic plan for diversity, equity, and inclusion that builds on the school’s longstanding strength and commitment in this area. Developed through broad community and student involvement, the plan takes a proactive approach to address four central goals: 

1. diversifying who we are, 
2. diversifying what and how we teach, 
3. promoting an equitable and inclusive climate, and 
4. diversifying our research and policy engagement. 

Recognizing there is still much work to do, this document reflects the initial accomplishments of the Ford School’s diversity plan efforts. 

A new infrastructure to support DEI

We created a new infrastructure to support the ongoing development, evaluation, accountability, and transparency of the Ford School’s DEI efforts. It includes: 

1. A DEI officer, hired in 2017, who sits on the senior leadership team, and who serves as both a member of the faculty and as the staff lead for DEI initiatives. 
2. The DEI Coalition, is composed of faculty, staff, and students. The coalition shares ideas, feedback, and concerns, and increases communication between students, faculty, and staff. 
3. The DEI co-leads team, who provide leadership and coordination to improve unit-level processes that further the school’s commitment to a respectful, diverse, and inclusive culture.
4. Monthly DEI Updates newsletter to increase awareness and transparency of DEI-related programs and resources and regularly update the community of our strategic plan process. 
5. At the Ford School DEI is an integral part of academic and strategic planning efforts; diversity is regularly discussed at faculty meetings and among senior leadership and is reemphasized in our updated core values. 

 

Goal 1: Diversifying who we are 

Through intentional review and development of new practices, we seek to attract new and diverse students, faculty, and staff with diverse backgrounds to the Ford School to learn, research, and engage in policy. Our approach includes pipeline programs from high school to college to graduate school, student support, postdoctoral fellowships, and faculty hiring. 

1. We developed and institutionalized new processes for all faculty searches based on best practices in open, inclusive searches using STRIDE (Strategies and Tactics for Recruiting to Improve Diversity and Excellence) and ADVANCE. 
2. All faculty applicants must now submit a diversity statement about how their teaching, research, and service will contribute to the Ford School’s DEI goals with their other portfolio materials. 
3. As part of their annual reporting, faculty must now respond about how their research, service, or policy engagement has helped the school advance its commitment to DEI. 
4. We have hired a broadly diverse pool of faculty in terms of their research agendas, disciplinary training, and background that diversify and expand our curriculum offerings. 
   1. We’re engaged in a University-wide anti-racism faculty hiring initiative that provide opportunity for units across campus to hire more faculty working in this area. As part of the first round of hires for the anti-racism hiring initiative, the Provost selected the Ford School’s Racial Justice in Technology proposal, submitted in partnership with the School of Information and the Stamps School of Art and Design.  
5. We’ve made a concentrated effort to improve our staff hiring processes, to bring that work up to the level of success we’ve achieved in faculty hiring over the past several years. We reviewed staff hiring protocols to identify areas in our current recruitment and hiring processes where we can improve and better leverage outreach to connect with diverse populations. Staff were invited to attend information sessions on updated staff and hiring processes and are encouraged to complete the U-M Unconscious Bias Recruiting and Hiring Online Training module.
6. A broadly diverse array of national and international policy leaders join our faculty to teach and mentor students through the Harry A. and Margaret D. Towsley Foundation Policymaker in Residence. These visiting professors have significant policy and leadership experience—in government, non-profits, industry, and elsewhere. They expand and enrich the breadth of our course offerings and link our students and faculty to many policymaking communities. They teach graduate-level courses ranging in length from six weeks to a full semester; host public lectures, and advise and mentor students.
7. We have expanded our recruitment pipeline to attract students from broadly diverse backgrounds. This includes:
   1. We’re offering annual simulations on policy issues through Wolverine Pathways to Detroit and Ypsilanti high school students. 
   2. The Ford School and the College of Engineering Michigan Engineering Zone (MEZ) launched a STEM Summer Camp for 55 Detroit high school students including a policy simulation. 
   3. We have grown the Public Policy and International Affairs (PPIA) Junior Summer Institute from 18 students in 2017 to 24 students in 2019 and 2020. We fully fund every student in the program and provide a stipend as well. During the summer of 2021, we celebrated the 40th anniversary with a panel of distinguished alumni, and reconnected with the 825 students who’ve come through PPIA here in Ann Arbor.
   4. In 2020, we launched a new BA minor to bring students from diverse disciplines and backgrounds into the Ford School community. 
8. Student support continues to be a priority for our recruitment and retention efforts. We have increased our financial support to students for professional development, summer internships, and emergencies every year, for the last several years. Student support constituted 62% of our non-personnel operating costs in FY2020. In 2018, $243,050 was allocated towards MPP internships; in 2019, $314,250; and in 2020, $323,610. 

1. In 2020 we established the Weill Scholars and Weill Fellows programs. Weill Scholars recognize two Rackham Master’s Awards recipients for their outstanding qualifications. With this generous gift, students receive two years of full tuition, a stipend, and health and dental care. We also established the Weill Fellow, also a Rackham Master’s Award recipient, who also receives full support, a stipend, and health and dental care, an internship on education and workforce development, and works with the Youth Policy Lab and Professor Brian Jacob. 
2. During FY2020, Ford School students also received approximately another $5.1 million in support from Rackham, the Office of Financial Aid, and other cross campus sources. We have advocated strongly for the availability of Rackham Masters Awards (RMA) funds for Ford School students. The Ford School provides RMA awardees with two terms of funding and Rackham matches our contribution with an additional two terms of funding; together we cover each student’s entire graduate education (in-state or out-of-state), plus a stipend and grad care. This is approximately equivalent to $78,000 in total support per student per year, and after strong advocacy, we have been able to obtain 17 RMA slots available for each cohort of MPP students for the last several years. 
3. We worked with many existing employers to pivot in-person internship commitments to remote work; however, not all employers were equipped to offer remote internships. To fill the gap, the Ford School increased student employment during the summer of 2020 by providing faculty research and research center opportunities that met the internship requirements. 
4. One major focus over the past few years has been on our Leadership Initiative, which provides our students with the critical leadership development skills that allow them to be the “leaders and best” in their careers—to lead organizations, to lead others, and to lead self.  The Leadership Initiative is a natural space to address and better understand issues of diverse leadership, difference, and concepts of mutual benefit when engaging with diverse communities. Some of the DEI-focused activities related to the Leadership Initiative include: 
   1. competency-based curricula that include a strong focus on management and leadership skills.
   2. seminars, workshops, and leadership skill-building opportunities on topics ranging from “Women Leading Local Government” to “Entering & Engaging with Communities.”
   3. interaction with a diverse group of leaders like Hillary Clinton, Susan Rice, and many other current and former policy leaders who model exemplary leadership practices, lessons, and reflections.
   4. individual assessments that enhanced students’ self-awareness and understanding of others.
5. In 2020, during the pandemic, we prioritized fundraising for our student emergency fund, to help students cover rent, utilities, technology needs, food insecurity, unexpected travel expenses, and more. 
6. We added important new perspectives to the Ford School Committee, our school’s external advisory committee, with key new additions of Hardy Vieux (MPP/JD ‘97), Dudley Benoit (MPP ‘95), Broderick Johnson (JD ‘83), and Annie Maxwell (MPP ‘02). 

 

Goal 2: Diversifying what and how we teach 

Given the Ford School’s mission to “prepare diverse leaders for public service,” our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion must be clear in our classrooms. We continue to strengthen and expand our course offerings, workshops and speaker events, and other student opportunities related to DEI. 

1. We updated the core courses in the MPP curriculum to have a greater focus on racial justice. The most recent changes, implemented in fall 2021, provide increased attention throughout the core curriculum on the intersecting issues of leadership and management skills, and understanding structural racism and the historical role that policy has played both in building inequality and pursuing equality. 
2. We updated our BA curriculum to require that all seniors take a course in program evaluation methods, which includes course content related to social inequality, structural racism, discrimination, and other DEI-related content. We also have added PUB POL 476: Applied Learning Seminar and the 2020 and 2021 case study was focused on structural inequalities and the role of policy history. 
3. We launched a series of workshops and seminars on Critical Race Theory and Public Policy and Institutional Discrimination, fostering dialogue in the Ford School community on important issues of U.S. public policy, race, and discrimination. 
4. With student input, we hosted a diverse, topical slate of speakers with attention to tensions in public policy, equity, and inclusion. Notable 2020 events included: 

• MLK Jr. Symposium with Susan Rice on” Tough Love: My Story of the Things Worth Fighting For” 
• “Navigating the Economic Crisis During a Global Pandemic” 
• “From Epidemiology to Equity” 
• “DACA: What happened in the Supreme Court?” 
• Our planned commencement speaker, Janet Murguia, President and CEO of UnidosUS, gave brief virtual remarks given the pandemic. 
• We held a virtual conversation with Cecilia Muñoz regarding her book, “More than Ready: Be Strong and Be You…and Other Lessons for Women of Color on the Rise.” 
• Policy for the People and Students of Color in Public Policy co-sponsored a student-led conversation with Dr. Abdul El-Sayed on “Progressive Politics and the 2020 Election.” 
• In collaboration with the University Musical Society, we hosted “A Conversation with Trevor Noah.” In this virtual event, Noah reflected on the state of our nation and discussed how we can come together around the arts, pursue racial justice, and rise to the challenge of this moment. 
• Leading up to the election we hosted a panel on “Continuing Challenges to Suffrage in Michigan in 2020: Who Still Can’t Vote?” with panelist Stephanie Chang, Dessa Cosma, Rev. Wendell Anthony, Matthew Fletcher, and Michael Steinberg. 
• A panel on “Policing Reform or Revolution” focused on police reform and mass incarceration featured panelists Lisa Daugaard, Broderick Johnson, David Klinger, and Christian Davenport. 
• We hosted a panel discussion on “Managing presidential campaigns: Lessons learned in 2020” with panelist Katie Packer Beeson, Greg Schultz, and Broderick Johnson. 
• In December 2020, we held an event focused on tribal sovereignty. 

1. We expanded support and resources for Ford School student organizations whose programming advances DEI efforts. As a result, student organizations advanced the conversation on decolonization through student-led programming and invited speakers to discuss topics on Decolonizing International Policy, racial disparities in Voting and Electoral Politics and Criminal Justice, and How Colonial Policies attempt to make Indigenous Kinship into American Family. 
2. More than half of our monthly faculty meetings have devoted time to learning and planning related to critical race theory, inclusive classrooms, eliminating bias from course syllabi, mental health and wellness, anti-racism curriculum changes, and more. 

 

Goal 3: Promoting an equitable and inclusive climate 

We strive to offer formal and informal opportunities that build community and foster openness to multiple perspectives and backgrounds outside the classroom and through interactions with one another. We acknowledge the particular mental health issues facing many students in what has been an excruciatingly difficult time for our country. 

1. We made some notable improvements to Weill Hall, including a renovated student lounge, gender inclusive restrooms, new study nooks, and a personal care space for nursing mothers. The updates make Weill Hall a more inclusive and welcoming space for our community. 
2. We created Café Fordies, to create space for students to interact with fellow Ford students that they might not normally get to know. Students are randomly matched into groups of three each month and encouraged to connect sometime that month to get to know one another either in-person in a public-health informed manner or virtually. 
3. We established avenues for students to confidentially report issues of concern, including discrimination and unlawful bias through an anonymous feedback form that is sent to Ford School leadership. 
4. We placed special emphasis on our international students, providing customized support, such as: 
   1. A volunteer buddy system where returning students serve as points of contact for new and incoming students, the International Student Lunch, informal coffee/dinner chats to share resources, virtual social events, and Q&A sessions, career workshops that focus on job searches and international visas, career office hours, alumni career conversations. 
   2. The American Government Module is a free, non-credit program offered during pre-Welcome Week to learn about the U.S. political system. 
   3. Small grants are available to student organizations to design and carry out activities pertaining to international affairs/international policy. 
5. We encouraged and supported faculty and graduate student instructors (GSIs) to share resources and utilize tools to foster inclusive classrooms and anti-racist pedagogy. 
   1. We provided individual coaching and one-on-one support to faculty, as needed, to address classroom climate issues, student concerns, and best practices related to teaching strategies. 
   2. We regularly facilitated DEI-related discussions in faculty meetings and GSI check-ins, with topics such as Critical Race Theory, “Inclusive and Policy-Relevant Statistical Methods,” “Anti-racist teaching,” “Group Dynamics,” “Teaching and Learning in a Tense Election Season,” “Reactions to Disruptions, Disrespect in the Classroom,” “Teaching International Students Pedagogy and Cross-Cultural Group Work,” and “Trauma-Informed Teaching.” 
6. We partnered with Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) to hire an embedded clinical social worker, together with the School of Education, to provide additional 1:1 counseling and educational programming tailored for Ford School students. 
7. We welcomed student perspectives in decision-making. A new student-led Anti-prejudice Taskforce was formed to amplify the actions and voices of students working towards anti-prejudice at the Ford School. We also created a new Student Leadership Team in 2020 to advise and directly assist the administration in pandemic-related changes in regard to Ford School academics.

Goal 4: Diversifying our research and policy engagement 

As public policy researchers, faculty at the Ford School identify important social and public policy problems using rigorous methods, and develop and analyze solutions of public concern—bringing to light important social, health, and social justice concerns, examining the implications of public policies, and identifying inequities that demand policy solutions. Our faculty demonstrate a strong commitment to research questions related to DEI, particularly with regard to issues of socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, nationality, and gender. This includes studies of the effects of poverty and inequality on educational performance, the effects of immigration policy on outcomes for immigrants, and the ways in which those with limited resources engage in innovation. We make a concerted effort to lift up their findings and connect them with the public and policymakers. 

1. Our faculty continue to lead on issues related to social and racial justice. They think, speak out, and teach about structural inequality–about differential outcomes and experiences for marginalized populations in education, policing, health, economics, finance, and other key systems. 
2. In September 2020 we launched a new school website. We call attention to our community’s work through impact areas on topics such as racial justice, Detroit, COVID-19, and diplomacy. 
3. Research centers run by Ford School faculty Earl Lewis (Center for Social Solutions) and Luke Shaefer (Poverty Solutions) announced an inaugural faculty grants competition, with additional support from the Ford School and other units, for action-based research aimed at confronting and combating systemic racism in society. The funded projects aim to address challenges such as systemic oppression, organizational exclusion, and institutional discrimination. 
4. We bring in leading experts and policy leaders for public and community events that highlight conversations across differences and how they’ve navigated challenges and choices in their careers. Students often play a key role in identifying speakers they would like to see. 
5. As a result of our commitment and strength in social policy and research on anti-poverty policy, Hal and Carol Kohn provided the Ford School with a generous gift to establish three new professorships to advance equity and inclusion: the Hermann and Amalie Kohn Professor of Social Justice and Social Policy; the Karl and Martha Kohn Professorship of Social Policy; and the Arlene Susan Kohn Professorship of Social Policy.

Implementation Lead

Maya Kobersy

Unit Strategic Plan

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To learn more, contact: [email protected]

Visit here for more information about diversity, equity and inclusion programs and resources.

 

Unit Summary

The Office of the Vice President and General Counsel (“OGC”) has been a key partner in the University’s efforts to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”). OGC regularly does work in the areas of civil rights, election law, and affirmative action, including matters relating to disabilities and accommodations, discrimination and harassment, and diversity initiatives. For example, OGC vigorously, and successfully, defended the compelling nature of the educational benefits that derive from a diverse student body in the University’s own admissions cases, Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger, and has continued to champion that interest before the U.S. Supreme Court, including in amicus briefs in support of the University of Texas in the Fisher case and in support of Harvard University and the University of North Carolina in the Students for Fair Admissions cases. OGC has also been instrumental in helping the University strike the appropriate balance between living fully into our DEI values while still fulfilling a university’s role as, as the U.S. Supreme Court put it in Rosenberger v. Rectors of the University of Virginia, a “free and robust marketplace of ideas.”  Finally, OGC has also served as an advocate and partner on addressing health disparities, most recently partnering with Michigan Medicine leadership to launch a new and highly innovative Healthcare Equity Consult service, which will support both members of the clinical care team as well as patients and their families in understanding and addressing any concerns about inequitable delivery of care.

OGC strives to create a work atmosphere in the department that is equitable and inclusive, treating each other, our clients, and others with respect, civility, and professionalism. 

 

Development of the OGC DEI Strategic Plans

In October 2015, Vice President and General Counsel Tim Lynch announced the Office’s diversity, equity, and inclusion strategic planning initiative and solicited members for OGC’s planning team. The team developed a team charge, reviewed existing data (from the University’s Human Capital Report), and collected additional data regarding office climate and diversity, equity, and inclusion issues from OGC staff through an online climate assessment survey. A subset of the planning team reviewed and compiled the results of the assessment survey, and shared those results at an all-OGC staff meeting in February 2016. A draft of the Year One strategic plan was shared with all OGC staff in March 2016 for input and feedback. Subsequent staff meetings were also devoted to discussion of the plan and of the results of the OGC climate assessment survey and a follow-up survey conducted in Spring 2016.

In subsequent years, a similar process was followed: all interested members of the Office were invited to serve on OGC’s DEI Working Group, and the Working Group led the preparation of the annual DEI strategic plan and its implementation, with input from the full Office.  Over the course of DEI 1.0, the OGC DEI Working Group included at least one member from each of the three staff groups that comprise OGC’s permanent staff – attorneys, legal assistants/ secretaries, and paralegals – as well as at least one member from each OGC office location (Fleming (now Ruthven), N. Ingalls, Wolverine Tower, and NCRC/Tech Transfer).

 

Highlights and Key Takeaways

Although the Office of the General Counsel has a long history of being deeply engaged in helping our clients throughout the University achieve their DEI goals in creative and legally justifiable ways, the University’s DEI strategic planning initiative has caused us to take a more formalized and holistic approach to these efforts, one that focuses not only on our work on behalf of our clients, but also on creating, nurturing, and supporting an office climate and culture that respects diversity and improves our work environment within OGC itself. The formalized approach was done with the strong support of leadership, and within the Office’s standing budget; in this way, the Office reinforces the idea that DEI principles are integral to an effective and inclusive Office environment, and to our efficacy in all of our work for the University. 

Perhaps most importantly, the entire staff of OGC, whether on the OGC DEI Working Group or not, have provided input and ideas to inform this important work. For example, staff responses on OGC’s internal climate assessment led to the development of several of the action items noted in OGC’s inaugural DEI Strategic Plan, including with respect to periodic reviews of salaries and title classifications. Similarly, staff responses on the University’s All-Staff Census, as well as the subsequent all-staff discussions of those results, informed the development of several of the action items noted in OGC’s subsequent DEI Strategic Plan iterations, including with respect to exploring the “blinding” of resumes and creating new opportunities for informal intra-office interactions. One such initiative, Coffee with Colleagues, provides an opportunity for interested staff to get together, in random groupings, for coffee and conversation outside the Office.  

OGC staff also participated in the selection of DEI-related staff trainings (which have included The Art of Perception, Organizational Learning’s unconscious bias training, disability awareness training from the University’s ADA Coordinator, as well as others), and in the identification of OGC’s community service activity each year. Our OGC-selected service projects have included soup-packing via the Outreach Project for donation to local food banks; creating kits for those experiencing homelessness via Michigan Is My Home; donating gifts via Adopt-a-Family; donating and helping staff a team to assist in the Delonis Shelter Garden Project; and decorating pillowcases for children in foster care through the Pillow Effect, a Blavins Scholars Program project.  These service projects serve a dual purpose, in that they both aid the chosen community and also build camaraderie within the Office by allowing OGC staff-members to engage with one another in a different way.

Over the course of DEI 1.0, we have also focused on aspects of diversity that often do not get as much attention, including by participating in the Office of Organizational Learning’s Disability Awareness and Etiquette training and in sponsoring an event in October 2018 to highlight diversity of thought. Our diversity of thought event – which featured past members of the Office of the U.S. Solicitor General who had been appointed by presidents from both major U.S. political parties – addressed how being open to different perspectives strengthens one’s own efficacy and understanding. One key takeaway from the event is how important it is to define the mission of a university as including diversity of thought/perspective. The event also marked the first time since DEI 1.0’s inception that the Office had crafted and sponsored an event for the larger University community.

Following our successful 2018 event on diversity of thought, OGC continued to partner with other units to sponsor more public-facing DEI events. Our biggest effort involved a special screening of Me, the “Other” at the Michigan Theater, co-sponsored by the various units then-housed in the Fleming Administration Building. The film chronicles the experiences of twelve students at the University of Michigan, Eastern Michigan University, and Washtenaw Community College, and was followed by a brief discussion facilitated by Tina Jordan. The event was open not only to all who worked in Fleming, but also to all DEI leads across the University. 

Another key OGC initiative during DEI 1.0 was the establishment of an Office DEI discussion group that meets every month or so to discuss DEI-related topics.  Typically, the group reads an article or watches a video to form the springboard for the discussion.  Past topics have included police brutality, building off the Coursera teach-out that Rachel Niemer and Ryan Henyard had created; the intersectionality of race and gender as framed by reporting on the vice presidential debates; the continued relevance of Martin Luther King’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail as a jurisprudential analysis of the source of law; ways to appropriately acknowledge and communicate across difference, using the short video “Whale Eyes,” which addresses the filmmaker’s visual disabilities, as a jumping-off point; implicit bias, as elucidated by a study of law firm associate evaluations; gender and sexuality, based on participation in a training on LGBTQ+ Cultural Competency for law professionals; and ageism, building off our individual screenings of UMS’s production of Some Old Black Man. 

Given an uptick in turnover over the course of DEI 1.0 (and the pandemic), we recently began conducting exit interviews to learn more about the reasons for an employee’s departure, so as to better inform office policies and practices, as well as to identify future hiring and onboarding practices intended to address any identified concerns

Based upon OGC’s experience with DEI 1.0, perhaps the most significant takeaway thus far is to continue to solicit the entire staff’s input and feedback on upcoming DEI action items and educational opportunities. The staff’s input is critical to maximize staff participation, promote ongoing dialogue and continued engagement, and minimize the potential for DEI “fatigue” in the context of a demanding workload. More importantly, it also fosters a sense of inclusion regarding the development of OGC’s DEI Strategic Plan and the Office’s approach to implementing that plan.  

Another key takeaway – made particularly visible by the pandemic – was the importance of adapting! Although the global COVID-19 pandemic, and the resulting stay-home orders, made it impossible for us to conduct some of our DEI efforts in-person, or in the same manner as was our wont, we recognized that, if anything, DEI was more important than ever, and found alternate ways to accomplish our DEI action items and to promote an Office climate that remained welcoming, equitable, and inclusive, even from afar.  

 

Initial Priorities for DEI 2.0

Given the importance of engaging all OGC staff in our DEI efforts, our priorities for DEI 2.0 will continue to evolve as we solicit and receive additional feedback.  In the interim, however, based on thoughts shared at the June 2022 DEI retreat as well as initial Office feedback at our September 2022 all-staff meeting, we have proposed the following as potential initial priorities for DEI 2.0:

• We plan to engage in more interactive, skills-building training.  
  • Some topics of interest identified by the Office include “giving and receiving feedback,” as this would be helpful to any conflict resolution efforts that may be needed, as well as bystander intervention training, training on active listening and engagement, and other skills that promote both our DEI effort and our professional development more generally.  
  • We will seek out training opportunities from campus experts, like Organizational Learning, and will also seek to promote no-cost training and professional development opportunities, including those available via LinkedIn.
  • In addition, we will strive to continue to emphasize the availability of funds for professional development (including with respect to areas not already within an employee’s portfolio) and to more systematically share the learning that comes from conference/training attendance with others in the Office.
• We plan to continue efforts to learn more about factors influencing employee retention.  
  • As noted earlier, this effort began via exit interviews, which we plan to continue, to learn more about departing employees’ motivations and concerns so that we might assess whether changes in practices or procedures might be needed.  
  • We may also explore the idea of “stay interviews” with those who have been in OGC for a period of time, to learn what they like about their role/the Office, what keeps them here, and what improvements we might consider.
  • As another part of this effort, we may explore issues related to “promotion pathways.”  For example, some paralegals in the Office have asked about the criteria used for promotion within that overarching job category, and some attorneys have likewise asked about potential expansion of job titles (like Senior Associate General Counsel).  This effort could take the form of articulating criteria for, for instance, promotion from Senior to Lead Paralegal, and is an offshoot of our DEI 1.0 action item calling for periodic review of salaries and job titles.  
• Based on the results in the most-recent University DEI Staff Census, which were shared with the Office for review and discussion, we have noticed disparities between male and female staff members in certain aspects of employee satisfaction.  One priority will be to ascertain ways to further evaluate and assess the root causes of any apparent disparities in employee perceptions of Office climate and employment satisfaction, so that we may better address those concerns and promote the equitable and inclusive climate we seek for all OGC employees.
• We believe our periodic OGC DEI Discussion Group is an effort that is important to carry over into DEI 2.0.  The Discussion Group provides an opportunity for interested staff members to engage critically with a variety of DEI-related topics, and to practice their DEI skill-building in a “low-stakes” way, with other interested and engaged colleagues whom they already know and trust.  More generally, we believe continuing to offer a variety of topics and approaches, including the all-OGC DEI trainings that we selected each year with Office input, is a best practice for all of our DEI programming efforts.  We will explore other formats for DEI-related discussions, including potentially bringing in outside performers or facilitators on occasion, as well as holding other types of gatherings, such as book clubs or the like.
• Similarly, we believe it is important to continue OGC’s record of service via Office-chosen community service projects that allow us to come together for a common purpose. As noted above, in this way, our community service efforts – highlighted in one of the University’s annual DEI reports – not only benefit the broader community, but also build Office camaraderie and promote an inclusive and welcoming climate.  There is an interest, too, in exploring ways to combine our service project with related DEI training, to increase the impact and reinforce the DEI component.
• In keeping with the theme of building Office camaraderie, another priority that we have identified relates to developing a variety of approaches whereby we can reconnect as colleagues, particularly in light of a changed (hybrid) work environment.  This could include revitalization of our Coffee with Colleagues program, constructing our service projects so that we can work on them together, and finding other ways to engage socially with one another and get to know each other on a more individual level, among other efforts.
• A final priority that we have identified to date is to find additional opportunities to collaborate with other units, whether in Ruthven or otherwise, to promote DEI.  In particular, we would like to co-host another DEI-related program that will – like our “diversity of thought” event – be open to the University community as a whole.  Such an event will further demonstrate, in a very public way, the strength of the Office’s commitment to DEI.

Implementation Leads

Sarah Crane, Andrea Lewis, Nell Dority, Brooke Sweeney

Unit Strategic Plan

To learn more, contact: [email protected], [email protected] or, [email protected].

 

Unit Summary

The U-M Office of the Vice President for Government Relations (OVPGR) in conjunction with the broader university-wide community has remained committed to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Since the inception of DEI 1.0, OVPGR has pursued the following goals and objectives (as identified by OVPGR staff after a year-long planning project, reviewed annually to ensure relevance and focus, since 2015) within the below 4 domain areas: 
 

Inclusive & Equitable Climate

• Accessibility 
• Accommodations 
• DEI Skills Training
• Enhanced Communications & Feedback
• Equity Review

 

Recruitment, Retention, & Success

• DEI in Staff Annual Review Process (APE)
• Fair/Unbiased Hiring
• Onboarding and/or Orientation
• Professional/Career Development 

 

Innovative and Inclusive Education, Scholarship & Research

• Community-Engaged Learning or Practice

 

Service

• ADA Compliance
• Community-identified Priorities
• External Partnerships
• Outreach Activities
• Underserved Group Focus

 

In order to meet these goals, OVPGR launched initiatives such as:

• Adding a DEI professional development component to the staff annual review process;
• Monthly DEI activities focused on areas identified by staff and opportunity for non-DEI leads to facilitate sessions as part of professional development;
• Implementing professional development opportunities utilizing campus and non-campus expertise;
• Ensuring virtual events/activities meet accessibility standards;

If you’re interested in learning more about these efforts and goals, please contact: Nell Dority, [email protected]

Please also follow this link to see the DEI focus of the Economic Growth Institute

Implementation Leads

Andrew Horning, Mary Kay Phelps

Unit Strategic Plan

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To learn more, contact: [email protected] or [email protected].

Visit here for more information about diversity, equity and inclusion programs and resources.

 

Unit Summary

A Continuing Journey

On October 6, 2016, following a year-long planning process, the University of Michigan launched its first five-year Strategic Plan for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). Now known as DEI 1.0, the plan was guided by three overarching strategies: create an inclusive and equitable campus climate; recruit, retain, and develop a diverse community; and support innovative and inclusive scholarship and teaching. The 2021-22 academic year marked the conclusion of this initial plan.

The Graham Sustainability Institute adopted many strategies and tactics in DEI 1.0 that we will continue to use indefinitely. Some of these are described in the following pages.

As we look forward to the next five years and DEI 2.0, we are eager to build upon past strategies and break through conventional thinking to achieve ever deeper and more meaningful diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The purpose of this report is to document our process and tactics thus far so that we can learn and grow in our demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and accessibility. We invite you to partner with us on this continuing journey.

 

Recruitment & Retention

At Graham, we appreciate the importance of tailoring our overall recruitment, onboarding, and retention strategies to enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion.

We ask prospective staff members and program participants to share their DEI-related perspectives and experiences as part of the application process, sending a strong signal that DEI is important to Graham. New members of our community are not surprised to find that DEI considerations are integrated throughout our work.

We have found that students—whether interns or program participants—welcome the opportunity to share their ideas and perspectives around diversity, equity, and inclusion. They also respond positively to DEI-focused learning opportunities. By integrating DEI-related topics into the onboarding process for scholars, fellows, and interns, our students know that Graham invites their active participation in the institute’s advancement of DEI.

New employees are welcomed to Graham with information about DEI resources. All staff— new and seasoned—are encouraged to engage in DEI-focused trainings and activities on an ongoing basis. In doing so, we aim to achieve a shared understanding of the principles of DEI and a shared commitment to advancing them.

 

Ongoing Tactics

• Intentionally advertise job postings to reach more diverse applicant pools.
• Remove irrelevant barriers—such as technological barriers—from the application process. Increase the time available to apply for jobs, scholarships, fellowships, grants, and other opportunities and broader distribution of opportunities.
• Include our DEI statement on all applications and request that candidates share their own DEI experiences and perspectives as part of the application process.
• Provide new employees and volunteers with information about DEI resources and opportunities for training.
• Encourage staff members to spend time on DEI activities and help them prioritize those activities within their workload.
• Coach and mentor student interns and full-time staff on career development by suggesting professional development opportunities and sharing resources like U-M’s Career Navigator.
• Regularly review recruitment materials to make sure they are welcoming, inclusive, and reflective of the diverse community we aspire to be.

 

Climate & Culture

Collaboration and inclusivity are two of Graham’s core values, and our expression of those values begins with our own climate and culture.

Regular check-ins with staff have emerged as a best practice in maintaining an inclusive and equitable climate. In addition, we make an effort to get pertinent resources directly into the hands of those who can use them by emailing them attachments and links to events, articles and reports, by sharing opportunities through our internal newsletter, and by regularly discussing ongoing and emerging DEI opportunities in staff meetings. Our community members feel more connected when they interact regularly, and they are more equipped to contribute to collective DEI efforts when they have specific tools to use in their daily activities (e.g., a summary of best practices on how to run equitable and inclusive RFPs).

We are especially proud of our efforts to enhance climate and culture with our colleagues across campus. The Planet Blue Ambassador Program and the Student Sustainability Coalition are two programs hosted by Graham that reach broadly across the entire U-M community. Our deep integration of DEI principles into the content of those two programs ensures that thousands of U-M community members experience the intersection of DEI and sustainability.

 

Ongoing Tactics

• Share among ourselves how each program is experiencing and integrating consideration of DEI-related issues into daily work.
• Foster a sense of belonging and ownership in each staff member, e.g., by ensuring that all staff members have an opportunity (e.g., in all-staff meetings) to express their professional needs, priorities and opinions, and by presenting optional social events open to all staff who wish and are able to participate.
• Ensure that existing staff and faculty receive ongoing diversity training and skill-building by dedicating at least one staff meeting per year to DEI issues (training, skill development, reflections, etc.) and encouraging ongoing discussion via staff meetings, social events, and informal interactions.
• Strongly encourage staff to participate in at least one professional development opportunity each year,
• and collect and report on professional development training completed by staff. Maintain dedicated sections of our public website and our intranet to house DEI resources for our community.
• Share annual plan updates and progress with, and request feedback from, key advisory bodies composed of U-M faculty and external partners.

 

Research, Teaching, Outreach, Service

With continued support from the U-M community, Graham is positioned to break new ground

on the application of DEI principles and best practices to sustainability challenges.

Graham serves as a bridge organization, linking the U-M community with partners and stakeholders external to the university. We launched a new strategic plan in the midst of DEI 1.0, and integrating diversity, equity, and inclusion in our strategy and mission has been highly beneficial in directing our work. Much of our focus has turned to underserved groups and environmental injustices.

For example, recent work from the Water Center includes a statewide water affordability assessment that illuminates the significant affordability gap experienced across the state by under-resourced individuals and communities. This and other work that highlights the needs of underserved groups are integral components of Graham’s portfolio.

Graham’s outreach activities go beyond bringing U-M’s expertise to bear on real-world sustainability challenges. We collaborate with and learn from communities and other external partners to co-produce knowledge that effectively addresses their needs. Service and the advancement of community-identified priorities will continue to guide Graham’s work in the future.

 

Ongoing Tactics

• Include information, signals, and cues about Graham’s commitment to DEI in all communication and public outreach efforts, including the website, social media, presentations, and other promotional materials.
• Design information so that it is accessible to those who need it most, and create distribution methods to reach those audiences.
• Proactively cultivate a broadly diverse, inclusive pool of collaborators at all levels, including long-term and short-term staff, students participating in our programs and in internships and
• part-time positions, faculty, visiting scholars and fellows, contractors, partners, and advisors.
• Continue to leverage the U-M DEI public campaign, which positions diversity and an inclusive campus climate as core values of the University of Michigan.
• Forge new paths in the application of DEI principles and practices to sustainability challenges.

 

Campus Climate Survey on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

The U-M Campus Climate Survey on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, conducted by ODEI, was designed as both a scientific sample and a census of students, faculty, and staff at the U-M Ann Arbor campus. The main objective was to provide respondents with the opportunity to share their perspectives, opinions, and experiences associated with DEI topics as they relate to U-M overall, as well as to the units where the respondent spends most of their time. Disaggregated results for Graham are shown in the tables below.

As a small unit, it was challenging for Graham to collect useful data without compromising anonymity or confidentiality. The Campus Climate Survey, and the anonymous surveys and questionnaires we conducted, were somewhat helpful but did not yield the richly instructive information we needed to inform future strategies.

Moving forward, we will examine our processes for collecting feedback and input on our DEI efforts to determine if we are using our resources in the most effective ways. We will seek innovative ways to capture data more comprehensively without invading privacy.

 

Reflections

Graham works to infuse the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion into our research, learning, and culture as we address real-world sustainability challenges. During DEI 1.0, we made and formalized many changes in policy and practice that impact our constituencies. We infused these changes into our infrastructure and day-to-day operations.

We worked to remove structural barriers and facilitate a vibrant, dynamic, and diverse community where everyone has a sense of belonging. We began to increase diversity in its myriad forms among the U-M scholars and external partners with whom we collaborate.

We proactively supported cross-campus efforts to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion at U-M and, at the same time, conveyed our commitment to these principles to all of our stakeholders. We aimed to create an inclusive, welcoming environment with collegial relationships and interactions at all levels.

For our staff, we provided a range of opportunities to engage more deeply with issues of DEI, anti-racism, and working across differences. We developed processes for monitoring and continually improving the culture and climate at Graham, enhancing the experiences of staff, students, faculty, partners, and advisors.

Perhaps most importantly, we worked to elevate the voices and representation of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) communities, among others, in sustainability and help our U-M community better understand DEI as it relates to sustainability.

The strides we have made over the course of DEI 1.0 are significant. We have greatly benefitted from building a more intentional DEI infrastructure and leadership support for DEI, social justice, and racial justice efforts, which we will maintain as we continue to implement our DEI plans into the future.

As we reflect on these successes, we also recognize that there is still much work to be done.

Looking ahead, we will aim to increase diversity in its myriad forms to broaden the perspectives of our community. We will provide equitable opportunities and directly challenge bias, harassment, and discrimination. We will work so that everyone has the opportunity to contribute to the common good. Our DEI 2.0 roadmap will include plans that are more strategically integrated with our work, more collaborative across units, and more grassroots-engaged.

 

Up Next… DEI 2.0!

At the Graham Sustainability Institute, our dedication to academic excellence for the public good is inseparable from our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Our mission of engaging, empowering, and supporting faculty, staff, and students to foster sustainability solutions includes ensuring that each member of our community thrives. We believe that diversity is key to empowerment, and the advancement of sustainability knowledge, learning, and leadership.

We thank you for your interest and support of our efforts. Additionally, we welcome your questions and suggestions. Please reach out any time by emailing [email protected].

graham.umich.edu/diversity

Implementation Leads

Keila Walton, Kaylee Bloom, Diane Jones

Unit Strategic Plan

Digital Poster

To learn more, contact: [email protected] or [email protected].

Visit here for more information about diversity, equity and inclusion programs and resources.

 

Unit Summary

Information and Technology Services commits to diversity, equity and inclusion as a means to flourish individually, excel professionally, and advance knowledge in information technology at U-M. Since the inception of our strategic plan in 2017, we set out to accomplish this mission by fostering a climate rooted in mutual respect, drawing on intellectual strength, and producing innovative solutions from the synergy of our people. ITS stands behind the University of Michigan’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion—because we cannot be excellent without being diverse, and because it’s the right thing to do.

The implementation of our strategic plan allowed us to assess the needs of staff in a way that we otherwise could not accomplish. By setting intentional goals and action items in concert with the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion’s DEI 1.0 domain framework, successfully accomplished most notably:

 

Summer Internship Program

ITS has successfully maintained an annual summer internship program. Each summer, the unit hires 35+ interns, with varying educational backgrounds and interests in IT. Interns are exposed to intentional professional development to help them explore the IT industry.  Each intern is matched with a mentor in their field of interest, and challenged through rigorous and meaningful work that leaves a lasting impact on services and projects affecting the entire U-M community. This internship program serves as a pipeline for temporary and full-time hires into the organization; to date, 18 former interns are in full-time roles in ITS or at the University of Michigan in an IT capacity.

 

DEI Passport

The DEI Passport is a tool for self-directed learning and reflection, and a fun way for us to stay engaged with DEI topics every month. The Passport is a digital platform hosted on the employee intranet that allows ITS staff to explore a variety of suggested DEI workshops, training, and readings that can be applied in their day-to-day work, aligned with U-M’s lifelong learning model. Staff are asked to complete at least two suggested activities per monthly “destination” as well as a written self-reflection (private to them) in order to earn a digital stamp. Within our DEI 1.0 efforts, 32 passport modules were created (302 activities) for 481 participants.

 

Workshops and Watch Parties

ITS made the commitment in our DEI strategic plan to Identify training resources for employees to develop skills related to DEI (e.g., unconscious bias, bystander intervention skills, facilitating dialog, etc.). This included offering or supporting two to three virtual DEI educational opportunities (including DEI Passport content, training, watch parties, etc.) for staff to engage in per month to increase accessibility of attendance, with an increase of 5% of staff from the previous year having engaged in at least one activity. Since 2017, we have offered 24 classes and 12 watch parties.

 

Words Matter Task Force

The Words Matter Task Force was developed in July 2020. To effectively communicate with customers, it is important for ITS to evaluate the terms and language conventions that may hinder effective communication, harm morale, and deliberately or inadvertently exclude people from feeling accepted to foment a healthy and inclusive culture. As an organization, ITS has a laser focus on customer service and strives to be sensitive to customers and their needs. By using inclusive language, ITS is able to design and build better tools and services to meet customers’ needs. 

 

Given the importance of communication and the ITS core value of inclusivity, the Words Matter Task Force was formed and charged with identifying terms used within ITS that are, or can be construed to be, racist, sexist, or non-inclusive. The Task Force created a recommendations document to highlight the importance of inclusive language, suggest new artifact naming standards, and provide guidance for further organizational development.

 

Accessibility Scorecard

ITS has further developed our need to address accessibility gaps at the University of Michigan relative to technology services and projects by establishing an Accessibility Scorecard initiative. The initial audit of the Accessibility Scorecard targeted 50 services/applications in our Enterprise Application Services department for initial launch. The ITS Accessibility team provided support to any of the services that had a determined need to address. This initiative continues to be expanded to other department services/applications across ITS, and communicated more broadly for recognition across the Michigan IT community.

 

Virtual Town Halls

Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer Ravi Pendse hosted regular monthly town halls to keep all staff engaged. Several times in these spaces, topics in DEI would be a focus. For example, LSA Dean Ann Curzan joined a Town Hall session to discuss linguistics and accessibility, a topic of high interest to ITS in how we can continue to support students, faculty, and staff in this way. The town halls provide a space for staff to learn, engage, and ask important questions to Sr. Leadership in our unit.

 

Adapting to Flexible Work

A marker in our DEI strategic plan was the COVID-19 health crisis and how it changed our ability to connect internally and serve the University. Despite the challenges we ensued, we learned just how adaptable we can be in the face of a global pandemic. We did not let these factors halt our progress in creating a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive unit, and we became even more empowered by this adversity to continue our implementation efforts. With about 40 staff volunteers and multiple planning committees to support initiatives, we reacted to the pandemic by providing unparalleled support of staff. ITS created a flexible work team to address plans for a post-pandemic hybrid work environment. This team continues to address any accommodations that will be needed for staff to be able to continue to work remotely or make adjustments to return to campus. ITS has also started investing into the recalibration of how our buildings operate in a hybrid space. We hope to continue to support staff well-being in this way.

Among these accomplishments is also humility in that we were able to engage nearly 40 ITS staff members in the planning and execution of our strategic plan, which does not include our stakeholders in executive leadership who were the driving force in helping us move the needle forward. 

As we begin planning for DEI 2.0, it is important to also reflect on the challenges we faced throughout the last five years. Some of our lessons learned consider:

• Ensuring staff are offered DEI engagement opportunities during the right time of year to increase participation and meaningful dialogue. There are times staff have expressed there are conflicting priorities from other work commitments, limiting their ability to participate in our initiatives. Timing is everything, and keeping DEI at the forefront means we need to be strategic when promoting DEI opportunities within ITS. We also hope to work closely with department leadership in understanding how we can integrate DEI programmatically into already-existing staff meetings, training, etc. 
• Utilizing and supporting campus-driven DEI materials and events. We are fortunate to be a part of a larger campus community that is rich with educational resources and leaders relevant to DEI. ITS would like to partner with community members in programmatic planning and take advantage of already-existing opportunities. This will allow our unit to engage with the campus as a whole on a more regular basis.
• Enhancing our career pathways and ensuring staff are given on-the-job training and growth opportunities more regularly. To accomplish this, we have recently hired an Organizational Development and Training Specialist Lead who will begin assessing professional development needs across the unit. 
• Continuing to support staff well-being. Our 2021 climate survey results addressed our self-reported mental health needs, and we hope to embrace this data to encourage mindfulness and use of available campus resources.

Implementation Lead(s)

Tara Engholm, Margaret Hicken

Unit Strategic Plan

Digital Poster

To learn more, contact: [email protected] or [email protected].

Visit here for more information about diversity, equity and inclusion programs and resources.

 

Unit Summary

Strategic Plan: Overview of DEI 1.0 Efforts

As part of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) 1.0 Strategic Planning Process (2016-2021), over 50 University of Michigan (U-M) units regularly reviewed and updated their DEI plans to reflect both progress toward constituent goals and any newly identified opportunities and challenges.

The DEI 1.0 evaluation year provided the opportunity to assess longer-term measures in:

• Demographic composition within ISR and campus over time
• Shifts in climate and key indicators of equity across all populations
• Impact of DEI 1.0 efforts and initiatives

Herein, we will focus on the impact of ISR’s DEI 1.0 efforts and initiatives, processes, policies, and practices that have been formalized as a result of DEI 1.0 (2016-2021) to make ISR a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive community, and opportunities for improvement. We also include some suggestions that we’ve heard thus far from the ISR community that we should include in DEI 2.0, the next DEI Strategic Planning Process.

The University provided a framework for measuring DEI 1.0 efforts in three domains:

• People: Recruitment, Retention, and Success
• Process: Inclusive and Equitable Climate
• Products: Innovative and Inclusive Education, Scholarship, and Research

 

Recruitment, Retention, and Success (People Domain)

Most Positive Impact: HR Recruiting and Hiring Toolkit

A key goal in ISR’s DEI 1.0 plan was to increase the diversity and representation of our workforce. To accomplish this goal, we focused on the creation of a toolkit of best practices and resources to ensure that ISR recruits, hires, and onboards a talented and broadly diverse community of employees. The ISR HR Recruiting and Hiring Toolkit has consistently received positive feedback from the U-M Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion as a best practice DEI initiative.

Watch: Recruiting & Hiring Toolkit

A winter 2022 survey disseminated to 178 supervisors within ISR (33% response rate and 83% completion rate) yielded the following data:

• 78% of the respondents of the quantitative survey were aware of the Toolkit; 76% indicated that the resources within the Toolkit were valuable.
• The most valuable topics within the Toolkit were identified in the areas of screening and selection of candidates.
• 62% of respondents know where to access the Toolkit; 57% have used the Toolkit at least once.
• The results of two focus groups were similar and positive. Across both groups, respondents characterized the Toolkit as a valuable high-level resource that can be adapted to the specific needs of their units and to particular positions to conduct equitable searches and decrease bias in the recruiting and hiring process

 

Most Likely to Be Expanded

The Survey Research Center (SRC) Visiting Scholars Program is the DEI effort in the people domain that is most likely to be expanded because of the positive short term results of this pilot initiative. Several junior scholars came to ISR to work with senior SRC faculty members, resulting in successful collaborations yielding multiple funded grants and publications, as well as engagement with other Schools on joint faculty hiring of these promising junior scholars. With more funding and wider uptake across ISR centers, we believe that this recruitment program has the potential to significantly increase the numbers of junior faculty from broadly diverse backgrounds who are selected for faculty positions at ISR and/or joint faculty positions with other U-M Schools and Colleges.

 

Additional Initiatives

• Strong engagement with Provost’s Anti-Racism faculty cluster hiring initiative. Current efforts include:partnership in hiring a faculty member who will examine the connections among racism and racial violence, environmental injustice and racialized health disparities; partnership with another school in hiring a faculty member under the faculty cluster hire initiative.
• Successful joint hire in the School of Social Work who is affiliated with RCGD.
• Increased the representation of women in the senior ranks of tenured faculty including ISR leadership (ISR director, two center directors).
• Increased representation of people of color in the research investigator track.
• Increased representation of people of color in faculty associate role at RCGD.
• Updated processes for job postings, including language to communicate ISR’s commitment to DEI, and a required 2 week minimum for postings to allow time to attract a broadly diverse pool of candidates.
• Require DEI statements for SRC faculty positions and Population Studies Center (PSC) postdoc recruitment.
• Perspectives subcommittee hosted virtual trivia event to facilitate community-building among ISR employees.
• Revamped Community Guides program designed to aid in retention of staff. Enhancements increased participation and awareness, clarified expectations of the program, and utilized a more coherent matching strategy for participants and guides.

Watch: ISR Community Guides

Program: Thoughts from a Previous Guide

 

Inclusive and Equitable Climate (Process Domain)

Most Positive Impact

Analyzing whether faculty within SRC, our largest center within ISR accounting for about 75% of our faculty, are situated within the appropriate track (research scientist or research professor) had a significant and positive impact on the career development of several women on the faculty. Changes to women’s faculty positions from research scientist to research professor put these women scholars on the tenure track or granted tenure within SRC.

• During the period of DEI 1.0 (2016-21), five track changes were implemented resulting in moves from research scientist to the research professor track.
• Two women were moved from research scientist to research professor, a tenured role.
• Three women were moved from associate research scientist to research associate professor, a tenured role.

 

Additional Initiatives

• Hired full time DEI director to oversee ISR’s DEI infrastructure and execution of ISR DEI Strategic Plans.
• DEI Guiding Principles articulated and communicated throughout ISR.
• Adoption of ICPSR DEI statement, Center for Political Studies (CPS) DEI statement.
• DEI and accessibility commitment added to ISR grant boilerplates.
  
• Adoption of first School or Unit level Accessible Technology Policy at U-M and development of enhanced accessibility resources linked to ISR intranet.
• DEI/ISR HR training series, “Working in Diverse Teams”, focused on defining DEI, mitigating unconscious bias, upstanding strategies, allyship, and microaggressions.
• Social Justice Subcommittee developed a social justice video series and resources page, and hosted a speaker.
• Lending Library used ISR Weekly newsletter to educate the ISR community on curated books, podcasts, and other media relevant to DEI topics.

 

Innovative and Inclusive Education, Scholarship, and Research (Product Domain)

Most Positive Impact

The Diversity Fellowships sponsored by the ICPSR Summer Program and SRC Summer Institute In Survey Research Techniques were selected as having the most positive impact in the product domain. From 2018-2020, the ICPSR Summer Program funded 67 diversity fellowships while the Summer Institute supported 69 diversity fellowships. These fellowships provided graduate students and undergraduate students with advanced statistical and methodological expertise and expanded their networks.

 

Most Likely to Be Expanded

The Inclusive Research Matters Seminar Series is the first series of its kind in ISR focused on why inclusion matters to the research enterprise. A host of questions have been examined such as which research questions are asked, who is included, how findings are interpreted, and what assumptions are made in the research process.

• The inaugural 2021-22 Inclusive Research Matters (IRM) seminar series hosted seven presentations which garnered over 100 participants.
• An ISR-wide survey revealed that 61% of respondents agreed/strongly agreed that the IRM series is an impactful way to promote awareness about DEI issues and strategies in research at ISR and 64% found the presentations in the series valuable.
• The inaugural IRM series resulted in one manuscript accepted for publication (Paula Fomby and colleagues at Harvard and George Mason University).
  
• Due to the engagement with large audiences (faculty, students, staff) for this series, and the impact of the series on publishing, teaching and pedagogy, it will be expanded in the upcoming year.

 

Additional Initiatives

• Hosting and sponsoring of ISR Pipeline Programs (e.g., ICPSR Summer Program Diversity Fellowships, SRC Summer Institute Diversity Fellowships and Achievement Fellowships, ISR Director’s SOUL interns) designed to bring scholars at all levels into ISR with the ultimate goal of broadly diversifying the faculty. Work is underway to strengthen the pipeline.
• ICPSR’s addition of three short workshops focused on measuring racial attitudes and identities, and the use of historical materials to conduct research on structural racism.

 

Barriers to Progress

Lack of perceived accountability for making progress on DEI: (e.g., low attendance at trainings from supervisors, lack of accountability and connection to performance for DEI commitment in performance evaluations, lack of resources to support Accessible Technology Policy, lack of funding to incentivize broad recruitment)

 

Suggestions for DEI 2.0 submitted by respondents to ISR DEI 1.0 Strategic Plan Survey (February 2022):

The below themes emerged:

• Accountability for DEI commitment and increased DEI resources
• Evaluation of DEI efforts, policies, and procedures
• Expanded communication, recruitment, equity and inclusion efforts
• Future of work (schedules, wages, career and professional development)

Implementation Leads

Michele Fraiser, Kimberly D’Haene

To learn more, contact: [email protected] or [email protected].

Visit here for more information about diversity, equity and inclusion programs and resources.

 

Unit Summary

For the past five years, the Law School has worked to create a more diverse, equitable and inclusive educational and professional environment in an iterative process of growth and change with our stakeholders. The DEI objectives, assessment process, and strategies have been profoundly shaped by the occurrence of the syndemic of the Covid-19 pandemic, the racial reckoning that followed the murder of George Floyd, and the challenges to the integrity of democracy. 

At the outset, in year one, twenty-five (25) staff members served on the Planning Team.  We held ten “town halls,” as well as listening sessions, with student staff, volunteers, organizations and leaders.  We held five “town halls” and seven focus groups with staff and Staff members were also surveyed anonymously, and each of the student services units submitted reports and inventoried the activities of staff members.  The initial Year One Plan was quite broad in scope and highly ambitious.  It contained 23 strategic objectives to be achieved over the five year period, seemingly reasonable for a strategic plan.  It also listed almost 80 action items to be completed in the 2017 fiscal year alone, so it was necessary to prioritize the action items.  Over the course of the full five years this list was refined, expanded, or reimagined as the Law School community has grown and changed.  The ongoing self-reflection and self-assessment guide by the DEI Strategic Plan has provided a framework for realizing the Law School’s potential and promise of creating a diverse, equitable and inclusive living and learning community.   

The Law School community is dynamic and each cohort of students provides an opportunity to explore new and exciting permutations. Recruitment and Retention of students immediately emerged as an area where the Law School was able to realize the earliest stated DEI objectives. The Admissions strategies employed for recruitment were  grounded in creating and then centering a culture that distinguished Michigan Law from its peer institutions through carefully curated strategic partnerships, personal outreach, and alumni engagement.  These efforts created a deep and wide applicant pool of applicants who are diverse across many dimensions.  This applicant pool is reviewed through a holistic, time- and resource intensive process using individualized and non-mechanical criteria. The diversity goal is particularly critical to the Law School, where diverse experiences enable students to engage in multidimensional problem solving. 

The steps taken were intentional and created measurable metrics to determine which efforts were effective, and included several opportunities for feedback and self-assessment, including ongoing review of forums, materials, and even language. This iterative process, and the cyclical nature of the recruiting process, enabled Admissions to meaningfully engage, and realize the goals set, in the DEI 1.0 strategic plan from the outset.  In each year, Admission has made significant progress in expanding the applicant pool to include more highly qualified candidates from a wider range of experiential backgrounds.  In Year Five, we assembled an exceptional community of talented and interesting students with broadly diverse backgrounds, identities, and perspectives, who have flourished in and out of the classroom. Because the syndemic required us to strategically reinvent many aspects of community building, we collaborated across departments and university units with an intentional growth mindset that enabled us transfer strategies used by our most nimble and responsive departments, Admissions and the Office of Career Planning, to approach recruitment and retention of faculty and staff in similar ways.  

Recruitment and retention of faculty and staff had a wider arc.  There were 16 initial action items which were able to be implemented in Year Two due to the timing cycle.  The initial strategies were more long term, with less predictable outcomes.  In many ways they were reliant on the efforts of individual faculty members to create and mine professional networks.  In Years Four and Five, the faculty shifted to a full team approach.  They began with a series of self-assessments to determine potential areas of growth, evaluated the most effective practices for engaging a broad pool of diverse candidates, and the full faculty engaged in an assessment and minimization of potential barriers to recruitment, including using the STRIDE training and developing a more holistic evaluation of potential candidates.  The outcome was a meaningful shift in the recruitment process that enabled the Law School to be highly competitive in the market and produced a more inclusive model of hiring.  The Law School successfully attracted a diverse pool of candidates and hired more than twenty top scholars and teachers across a wide range of  scholarly interests, professional backgrounds, and perspectives. This growth will allow the Law School to remain a leader in the production of innovative scholarship.   

Staff recruitment and retention began with an emphasis on education and community building. The hiring process emphasized creating equitable and inclusive experiences for candidates by standardizing the training for staff participating, allowing candidates exposure to, and feedback from, a wide range of community members.  In Years Three and Four, we worked to expand the pool of applicants by targeting additional sourcing options. Year Five was deeply impacted by COVID and the Law School experienced significant staffing changes; however; the remote technology innovations adopted during COVID enabled us to engage a wider pool of applicants and candidates beyond their resume through the SPARK-Hire video interviewing platform.  This new dimension to the process has created a more inclusive hiring process.         

The Law School has long been recognised nationally for the “Michigan Difference” and is often noted by prospective and current students as a place with a diverse body of talented students whose cooperative spirit helps bring out the best in one another.  At the outset of the DEI planning, many of the objectives centered on creating a community that encouraged and supported intellectual curiosity and the robust engagement of diverse viewpoints.  The Law School administration and student organizations regularly provided anti-bias and inclusion programs and training by the Spectrum Center, the Office of Service for Students with Disabilities (SSD) and what is now the Office of Equity, Civil Rights and Title IX.  The Educational Environment Committee (EEC) was a student, faculty and staff committee that provided a forum for exploring the issues and challenges associated with DEI.  The dynamics of the EEC allowed students to lead and drive the agenda, but it did not provide for a systematic way of evaluating challenges, analyzing data, identifying informed strategies and tactics for problem solving. The EEC did not have either the tools or the resources to adequately assess or address DEI challenges and it was disbanded in Year Four, with an eye toward creating an alternative entity or mechanism for effective engagement.  

In years four and five the Law School shifted to a more dynamic DEI model, where a wide range of stakeholders — including faculty, staff, students, alumni and other members of the community –were activated around understanding and improving the campus climate as it relates to race, gender, sexual orientation, class, ability, and other aspects of identity that shape the educational experience. In 2020, following  the events surrounding the murder of George Floyd, our campus, like the entire nation, responded to the increasingly urgent call for deeper and immediate redress of systemic racism, inequities, and exclusion as they may be presented at the Law School as an institution.  Many of the objective and action items in the original DEI plan were necessary, but not sufficient.  

The “Michigan Difference” was exemplified in our community when the Black Law Students Association (BLSA) issued a set of demands that identified barriers that created or reinforced racial inequities, presented action items that they believed were necessary to address and diminish those barriers.  The overwhelming majority of student organizations created a letter writing advocacy campaign in support of those demands.  In Year Five, the Law School community and its stakeholders engaged in the most comprehensive period of self-assessment in our history.  With the support and leadership of Dean Mark West, the students, faculty, staff, and alumni, the Law School responded to the student demands, and the demands of the moment. The Law School has entered into an unprecedented period of growth and development characterized by: 1) community engagement; 2) self-assessment; and 3) communication.  

Dean West formed the  Dean’s Advisory Board on Race and Racism, composed of faculty, staff, and alumni to explore the ways that race impacts the community. The Law School stakeholders, in various permutations, were asked to begin their efforts by doing a meaningful institutional self-assessment, identifying real and perceived barriers to productive engagement around issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion. We conducted interviews, held listening sessions, and created teaching cohort work groups. Stakeholders were asked to help problem-solve by identifying resources and/or strategies that might minimize or eliminate such barriers. The goal was to create an ongoing opportunity for a wide range of community members to engage and provide valuable insight into the needs, concerns, and capacity of community members to do challenging work.  

In response to the potential barriers identified through the assessment process, the Office of Student Life was expanded to include a Director of Student Affairs, operationalizing and assessing equitable access to resources and an Assistant Director of Student Services for individualized support to students with disabilities, or facing issues related to identity, financial, family, or health status; an Assistant Director Academic Programs, for guidance on professionalism and professional identity formation and academic advising, and an Assistant Director for Campus Life and Engagement, for community building and organizational support. The new positions allow us to provide more equitable access to information and resources for students, and allow us to share and assess data more effectively with faculty and staff.

The Dean created an ongoing dialogue with BLSA, and the Law School leadership team, and the broader community in order to create space for honest dialogue regarding competing visions and interests, and for formulating shared objectives. Engaging various stakeholders with the common goal of community development allowed the Law School to better leverage available talent, perspectives, and resources, resulting in better outcomes. This allowed the community to rebuild trust and allow more grace for the learning curve associated with navigating and engaging complicated issues. 

We have increased our efforts to promote communication between stakeholders, particularly that flowing outward from the administration. An important aspect of developing community conversation, action, and trust, has been to increase efforts toward transparency and accountability. We have routinely shared our process and progress back to the stakeholders, including the assessments, challenges, strategies, tactics, and the parameters within which we are working.  

We have expanded our academic course offerings to include a broad spectrum of courses that explore race, class, gender, ability, sex and sexual orientation, religion, and other aspects of group and personal social identity. The expanded offerings provide students with a greater opportunity to develop an understanding of the law and how it impacts communities. In addition to course offerings, we are providing the faculty, students and staff the training workshops and tools to understand and assess the complexities of personal, client, and broader social constructs of identity related to diversity, equity, and inclusion and the implications of those for professional responsibility, the legal profession and the legal system. Through course offering and programming from orientation through graduation, the community has several opportunities to explore and develop the tools for deep understanding, conflict resolution and civil discourse around complex issues.  

In Year Five, the DEI plan was reimagined and expanded, shifted and redesigned in order to provide a world class legal education that meets the standards and expectations of the profession of law and the world we serve as lawyers and legal educators.  

Implementation Leads

Anna Schork, Natalie Bartolacci

Unit Strategic Plan

To learn more, contact: [email protected]

Visit here for more information about diversity, equity and inclusion programs and resources.

 

Unit Summary

2016-2021

Many of the LSI’s efforts toward building a more diverse, equitable and inclusive environment were catalyzed by the individuals and groups within the LSI that were already doing this important work. With the implementation of the five-year strategic plan by U-M, the LSI was able to learn from and collaborate with these individuals and groups to institutionalize, codify, and formalize DEI efforts. In addition, we  implemented larger-scale initiatives across the institution through the framework of DEI 1.0 and with the formal and informal contributions of members of the LSI community. We are proud to highlight the LSI’s DEI efforts below across time to help the LSI community understand what work has been done and to help our forward trajectory in DEI 2.0. While broad ranging, this list does not reflect all of our unit-level activities/outcomes and does not fully capture the important individual and group DEI efforts. We look forward to partnering with members of the LSI community to work toward meaningful efforts to create an LSI environment that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive. 

Year 1 

• Created inaugural LSI Diversity and Strategic Planning Team (DSPT), with volunteer members representing all groups in the LSI (faculty, administrative staff, lab staff, students, postdocs).
• Conducted first-ever LSI work climate survey with ADVANCE, including individuals from faculty, staff, graduate student, and postdoctoral fellow classifications. 
• Offered training opportunities to increase awareness and inclusion of different cultural groups and identities. Topics included disability awareness and the business case for diversity.
• Introduced new social and academic activities to promote collaboration and inclusion of all members of the LSI community (e.g., coffee hours, LSI Seminar Series).
• Launched the Aspirnaut Summer Research Internship Program to provide research experiences for students from under-resourced high schools. 
• Named the first Rosen Fellow within the new Rosen Fellows program, which provides need-based support to undergraduate students working in LSI labs, with a preference for students placed through the U-M Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP). 
• Instituted practice of also posting targeted faculty job ads on sites with a focus on underrepresented groups (e.g., Association for Women in Science, SACNAS, diversejobs.net).

Year 2 

• Conducted a survey of undergraduate researchers to learn more about the undergraduate population at the LSI, which would later lead to the formation of the Undergraduate Research Forum student group and creation of a Director of Undergraduate Training position to formalize support for undergraduate researchers.
• Hosted our first LSI-sponsored Diversity Summit event, with keynote speaker Dr. Raychelle Burks.
• Continued training efforts. Topics included bystander intervention training and intercultural awareness training. 
• Supported several recognized student organizations with their activities to foster scientific communities, including FEMMES on a Diversity Summit, AMS Science Career Day, the U-M Science Olympiad group for their Invitational Tournament, and the Innoworks science summer camp. These events were open to all interested students, 
• Launched a new LSI website in August 2018, with accessibility goals in mind. The new website improved accessibility for screen-readers and mobile devices. 

Year 3 

• Implemented standard operating procedures for faculty recruitment, faculty promotion and awards, to mitigate the influence of bias in regular processes. 
• Added a question to faculty and postdoctoral fellowship program applications to ask applicants to describe what opportunities they have had to engage in activities focused on advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• Continued training efforts. Topics for included sexual misconduct and conflict resolution.
• Hosted our second LSI-sponsored Diversity Summit event, with keynote speaker Dr. Baldomero “Toto” Olivera.
• Launched an LSI Outreach Award to demonstrate LSI’s support of outreach work and to reward those who go above and beyond in their efforts to share science with the community.
• Launched the annual Outstanding Administrative Staff Recognition Award, to recognize LSI administrative staff members who contribute in an extraordinary way to advancing the LSI’s mission. 
• Held a retreat for postdocs and graduate students geared toward community building, with discussions about mentoring and climate.
• Supported opportunities for English language practice to help improve the LSI environment for international members of the community.
• Formalized onboarding documentation for new lab members to provide an equitable onboarding experience for all new community members that enables them to feel included and incorporated in their new lab.

Year 4 

• Sent out a special email newsletter, “LSI Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Update,” to the LSI community in October 2019 to provide updates on our progress and goals, while also messaging the importance of this work in a stand-alone newsletter that raised its visibility, outside of other standard messaging.
• Conducted our second work climate survey within the LSI faculty, staff, graduate student, and postdoctoral fellow classifications with ADVANCE.
• Hosted our third LSI-sponsored Diversity Summit event, with keynote speaker Dr. Aseem Z. Ansari. 
• Continued training efforts. Topics included an overview of DEI and unconscious bias. 
• Promoted community awareness of gender-inclusive restrooms in the building.
• Surveyed the LSI community about next steps for the LSI in response to police brutality against the Black community and national-level actions to exclude international researchers, and hosted a follow-up town hall to respond to the main themes from the feedback survey. 
• Developed a values statement graphic to show the LSI’s support for the Black Lives Matter movement, gender identity and expression, international researchers, the LGBTQ community, and science. Added the graphic to regular rotation on the monitors positioned throughout the building for increased visibility and created an optional email signature template.
• Rolled out a new Statement of Community Values to the LSI community. The statement includes “Respect” as one of the LSI’s core values, upholding the right for all to have an environment free from discrimination and harassment. All current and new LSI community members review the statement online and attest to their understanding of and adherence to the values. 
• Accepted role as sponsoring campus unit and provided financial support for the U-M student organization U-MYScI, which was formed to encourage socioeconomically disadvantaged students to enter the fields of STEM2 by running a free week-long summer science camp, planned and run entirely by U-M undergraduate and graduate student volunteers. 
• Invited members of the LSI trainees committee to attend an LSI faculty meeting for inclusion in discussions on Covid-related return-to-research plans, safety concerns, and transparency in decision-making with lab access.

The text below will be a separate section between Year 4 and Year 5 in the final report

Examples of how the DEI lens influenced the LSI’s actions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic:

• Created various communication methods (e.g., monitor slides, email communications, signage, newsletters, Zoom meetings) for ensuring community-wide knowledge of new processes and requirements related to lab/building access, safety, U-M COVID testing, illness reporting, etc.
• Held regular and frequent meetings with core stakeholder groups to share timely information.
• Focused on equitable building/resource access within each faculty lab based on the ramp-down of research and eventual full re-engagement of research.
• Supported flexible work schedules and voluntary furloughs. 
• Procured health safety items (masks, gloves, hand sanitizer, cleaning tools) for the LSI community to ensure broad access to these protections.
• Offered closed captioning for virtual meetings.
• Provided one-time funding support for administrative staff whose roles required them to work onsite during the peak of the pandemic.
• Offered individual licenses for software to allow broader access to research resources in response to community feedback about needs.

Year 5 to present

• Partnered with the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology to host a lecture on “The Scientific Case Against Racism” with neuroscientist David Linden.
• Conducted regular check-ins with the LSI community via two town halls and an anonymous survey to gauge and respond to community concerns. 
• Continued training efforts. Topics included two Ally Development Training sessions for faculty, staff and trainees, led by staff at the U-M Spectrum Center. 
• Incorporated a DEI section into our regular monthly e-newsletters to the community, in addition to the annual stand-alone DEI e-newsletter, to keep the community regularly informed about our DEI work, goals, and actions they can take.
• Integrated a question asking about faculty engagement with diversity activities into annual faculty review with the LSI director.
• Implemented a new “Voices of the LSI” section of our external email newsletter. In this quarterly column, various members of the LSI community discuss their experiences with DEI work at the LSI, highlighting both these efforts and the diverse perspectives of our community members.
• Tasked each administrative unit to generate a list of tangible DEI actions to improve upon and integrate into our work practices. 
• Continued our focus on making LSI physical spaces more inclusive by formalizing use of personal rooms and sharing this information with the LSI community.
• Launched the LSI Anti-Racism Learning Spaces (later broadened to the Learning Spaces for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, covering a broad range of topics related to DEI.) This learning-centered discussion group helped advance our communal understanding of and action toward improving diversity, equity and inclusion. More than 50 unique individuals have participated in one or more of these discussions.
• Hosted an LSI Summer Inclusion Challenge where lab groups, centers or admin groups were invited to participate in discussions to learn about inclusion and discuss practices that can create a more inclusive environment at the lab/team level and across the LSI more broadly. 
• Integrated a DEI agenda item into standing meeting agendas for LSI faculty, lab managers, and administrative staff, which continues to put DEI in the forefront of conversations of these groups.
• Celebrated the naming of the building that houses the Life Sciences Institute to Mary Sue Coleman Hall, the first academic building on the Ann Arbor campus to be named for a woman.
• Hosted a facilitated mentorship training, Mentoring Others Results in Excellence (MORE), for our faculty. 
• Offered the LSI community the option to add pronouns to personal profiles on the LSI’s online directory, and developed resources to help community members who are interested in including pronouns in their email signature.
• Supported planning efforts for the STEM in Color Inclusive Leadership Virtual Symposium, which is open to all who are interested, with speaker Morgan DeBaun.
• Launched a process to send a welcome letter to all new members of the LSI community, to ensure timely and equitable sharing of information.
• Created a building tour video to replace in-person tours, enabling individuals to ‘tour’ the building at their own pace, regardless of physical ability status, and to revisit information as needed.
• Engaged with ADVANCE to plan for the next LSI climate survey in Winter 2023.
• Connected with enrollment planning unit for focused efforts on outreach and pipeline creation for the LSI high school summer internship for students from under-resourced schools.
• Hosted an LSI-focused post-event discussion for the annual U-M DEI Summit, “Parallel Pandemics: Addressing Structural Racism in the Age of Covid-19.”
• Raise awareness of the need to learn about and respect individuals’ correct pronouns at an International Pronouns Day event.
• Prepared for launch of a restructured DEI committee.

 

 

Implementation Lead

TBD

Unit Strategic Plan

Digital Poster

Visit here for more information about diversity, equity and inclusion programs and resources.

 

Unit Summary

Introduction

Matthaei Botanical Garden and Nichols Arboretum’s (MBGNA) DEI 1.0 journey encompassed rich nature-based experiences for students, faculty, staff, and the public. The DEI 1.0 Strategic Plan included four transformative goals within MBGNA:

1. Be the center for environmental field-based learning at the UM
2. Be a model for integrating landscapes and programs that inspire people to cherish the natural world and live sustainably
3. Reflect and fully engage the diverse population of SE Michigan and UM through our people, programs, and landscapes
4. Develop and sustain the financial, human, and infrastructure resources to meet our aspirations

Since the launch of the five-year DEI Strategic Plan in 2016, MBGNA included efforts for internal learning, reflection, and action; increased outreach across UM and SE Michigan; and strengthened relationships with external partnerships to advance community-centered projects. While most efforts resulted in positive impacts, MBGNA continues learning to center DEI in all facets of the organization while striving for mutually-beneficial relationships.

 

2021 MBGNA Climate

Staff Demographics

96.4% of invited and eligible staff members completed the 2017 and 2021 Climate Survey. Invited and eligible staff includes permanently employed staff at MBGNA. 

88.9% of staff identified as White	55.6% of staff identified as Women
66.7% of staff identified as Heterosexual	72.0% of staff identified as Liberal

While more than half of MBGNA staff feel satisfied or very satisfied with the campus climate and perceive the organization to be non-racist and non-homophobic, they also find the climate to be individualistic and competitive, homogenous, sexist, and ageist. The climate survey results indicated that men have a better experience of the general climate and DEI climate elements than women at MBGNA.

 

5-Year Highlights

Year 1 2016 – 2017	Goal mapping and planning for years 2 – 5 of the DEI 1.0 initiative for MBGNA. Held focus groups for student interns and staff to assess climate and plan for Year Two. Commitment to DEI professional training opportunities for staff members, starting with the Unconscious Bias training and Diversity Basics video at All Staff meetings. Embed DEI workshop in the Nature Academy program, a student summer experience. Installed an accessible ramp to connect the West Lobby, Staff Hallway, and Front Lobby to address barriers to using the inside of the building.
Year 2 2017 – 2018	Hosted six (6) professional development opportunities for staff to engage in DEI training such as confronting racism, cross-cultural difference, and bystander intervention. Incorporated DEI information to New Volunteer Orientation. Completed the B2B recreation trail with seven sponsors to connect the botanical gardens to call campuses. Several features such as accessible bridges and benches along the trails. Launched a new website with multiple changes such as, screened for color blindness and text size adjustments and options to translate pages to multiple languages Implemented a new transportation assistance rideshare program to address transportation support for student engagement. Supported Campus Farm in efforts to advance food justice within UM courses and collaborations with UM and external partners. Established a collaboration with Native communities, UM, and regional stakeholders to preserve and rematriate corn seeds through the Heritage Seeds Project. Planted a collaborative garden as an early step for a guided rematriation process.
Year 3 2018 – 2019	Established a Staff DEI Committee with input from all MBGNA staff. Hosted four (4) Unit-wide staff DEI experiences including unconscious bias, intergenerational workplaces, and live streamed UM DEI events. Continued collaboration with local Native communities, UM, and regional stakeholders through the Heritage Seeds Project, and celebrated the second year of a collaborative garden.
Year 4 2019 – 2020	Hosted virtual engagement and reflection sessions for the Washtenaw County United Way Equity Challenge, MLK Symposium, and Campus Involvement. Collaborated with Organizational Learning to develop climate surveys and provide insight on workplace climate and permissive environments, and identify group values. Reviewed hiring practices with UM Human Resources to implement best practices to increase diversity in hiring and retention.
Year 5 2020- 2021	Held monthly Staff Brown Bags for DEI Professional Development Opportunities. Rebranded to Staff Community Conversations in November 2021. Distributed Organizational Learning Climate Survey results with action items to improve the overall climate. Hired full-time Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Manager.

 

DEI 1.0 Efforts

Creating inclusive and safe spaces

Within the last year, MBGNA has expanded the restroom available to shared private spaces in the horticulture hall to assure that more than one person could go to the restroom. The MBGNA Facilities Manager led the creation of a personal room and multiple private gender-inclusive restroom facilities for MBGNA users. The personal room was created as a space for nursing mothers, prayer, and other private purposes for all staff and visitors. 

Room 23 now has 4 private rooms (23T1, 23T2, 23T3, and 23T4) with locks, a shared hand washing station, and 2 showers available for staff and volunteers. We have developed language to share with staff and volunteers to make them aware of these spaces. Access to free showers, hygiene products, soaps, and other personal care items has been made available to all who use this space.

 

Aanishinabek led partnerships: Mnomen Restoration and Seed Rematriation

Sustainable food production is an integral component of Indigenous cultural heritage around the Great Lakes. Some varieties of corn held in the U-M collection have unique and culturally significant preparation processes and associated tools and meals; gaining access to these varieties are important for reviving and sustaining native foodways.

Reconnecting the Anishinaabe people with native seeds initially involved Sydney Martin and representatives from the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians (the Gun Lake Tribe), the Bkejwanong Walpole Island First Nation, the Pokégnek Bodéwadmik (Pokagon Band of Potawatomi), the UM MBGNA, UMMAA, Ferris State University, the Intertribal Agriculture Council, and the United States Department of Agriculture. A collaborative effort between MBGNA and the Museum of Anthropological Archaeology (UMMAA). 

Mnomen is another culturally important seed intertwined with past and current Anishinaabek lives. The framework developed by the group can be used not only by communities here in the Great Lakes but by Native communities and museums around the world. The Collaborative Framework will be the umbrella for specific projects sparked by the seed collection. 

 

Food Justice through Campus Farm Collaborations

Throughout the last five years, Campus Farm has developed and grown to center collaborations across Southeast Michigan and throughout the University of Michigan. The farm has helped catalyze, co-develop, and put on several food justice-related programs and events with partners that include SFSI, MANNRS, UMSPF, LSA Play, the Food Recovery Network, Student Advocates for Nutrition, and Maize and Blue Cupboard.

 

The Urban Agriculture Internship Program

The Urban Agriculture Internship program operated in partnership with SFSI has been successful and has continued to grow. Campus Farm has connected with food-justice-centered community organizations to foster meaningful partnerships in order to leverage resources to further the mission and vision of the respective organizations while providing UM students hands-on experiences in urban agriculture and food justice.

 

The Farm Stand

The Farm Stand is a leading force that models for other institutions how students can engage more deeply with a university food system from field to fork. Entering its third year after two (2) years as a pilot. The current vision of the Farm Stand by UM Campus Farm and UMSFP leadership is to foster the development of a food system at the University of Michigan that provides all students with consistent access to healthy, local, and affordable food and high-impact experiential learning opportunities.

Implementation Leads

Nathan Hanke, Kristen Howard, Kali Lake, Ashli Wilson

Unit Strategic Plan

Digital Poster

To learn more, contact: [email protected], [email protected] or, [email protected].

Visit here for more information about diversity, equity and inclusion programs and resources.

 

Unit Summary

Highlighted below are some of the many accomplishments of the DEI 1.0 strategic plan at Michigan Medicine. 

Impact on Students 

SiMFest was a daylong event held for pre-medical and medical students (2017-2019) during the Student National Medical Association’s Annual Conference. SiMFest included information sessions and clinical simulations for 250 medical or pre-med students each year. The students met with specialists from 14 Michigan Medicine departments, giving them an inside look at the institution as a potential destination for their future medical school or residency programs. 

The Health Equity Visiting Clerkship is a 4-week experience sponsored by the Office for Health Equity and Inclusion at Michigan Medicine for M3 and M4 students. The aim of the clerkship is to diversify the pipeline and develop leadership skills to advance diversity, health equity, and inclusion. The clerkship has successfully matched participants into several of our residency programs. Participants in the clerkship said, “During this month-long rotation, I was challenged but at the same time supported academically, professionally, and personally. The experience solidified my decision to pursue an Otolaryngology residency at the best program in the country.” and “The positive support and involvement of the Office for Health Equity and Inclusion was such a key factor in my decision to come to University of Michigan. During my visiting clerkship, I had the opportunity to enhance my clinical skills as well as share my interests in health disparities and its overlap with OB/GYN.”  

Raising Anesthesiology Diversity and Antiracism (RADAR) is a partnership between the anesthesiology departments of the University of Michigan and Washington University St. Louis. Although open to all, regardless of race or ethnicity, RADAR’s goal is to increase the number of anesthesiologists from underrepresented and marginalized groups and focuses on attracting college and medical students to the field, providing mentorship, networking opportunities for early career anesthesiologists, and developing resources for department leadership to build inclusive and anti-racist communities.  

Race and Racism Course was developed in September 2021 with nine M3 and M4 students joining three co-instructors for the longitudinal course, History of Race and Racism in Medicine: Understanding the Intersection of Systemic Racism & Inequity in Healthcare. The impetus for the course was driven in large part by student activism. In a letter to University of Michigan Medical School leadership in July 2020, students articulated an action plan to redesign the M1 Scientific Truck curriculum asking for updated, longitudinal, and comprehensive anti-racism and health justice training for all students and all faculty that interface with students. The administration formed the Anti-racism Oversight Committee (AROC) in July 2020, and subsequently six sub-committees were formed, including the Education & Clinical Practice Sub-committee. A primary objective for this committee was to Design the Undergraduate Medical Education (UME), Graduate Medical Education (GME), and Continuing Medical Education (CME), and staff curricula. The course was outlined in December 2020, approved in January 2021, and then implemented as a 16-week longitudinal elective course for M3 & M4 students.  

 

Supporting Innovation 

The Phyllis M. Blackman Innovation Grants (also known as mini grants) honor the contributions of former Office for Health Equity and Inclusion Director, and Anti-Racism Oversight Committee co-chair, Phyllis M. Blackman. The mini grant program was created in 2017 as an opportunity to acknowledge, inform, reinvigorate, and refocus departmental and unit efforts on activities that promote respect for and learning about others. The mini grant program is funded by the Office of the Executive Vice-President for Medical Affairs and the Dean of the Medical School. The mini grants have provided over $200,000 of funding to projects such as a residential summer program to discuss health disparities, dermatology pipeline program for medical students, house officers, and faculty, and the Arab American Health Initiative that discusses challenging and stigmatized health topics in this community.   

The Internal Medicine Impower Council (Inspiring Medicine to Promote Opportunities for Well-Being, Equity and Diversity) was created to facilitate multidirectional communication and support initiatives to drive culture change around key strategic priorities, goals, and initiatives. It consists of initiatives related to developing people, improving the environment, building partnerships, and communicating results.  

 

Impact on MM community 

Anti-Racism Oversight Committee (AROC): In response to a nationwide call to stand in solidarity against racism, Michigan Medicine leadership formed the Anti-Racism Oversight Committee (AROC) and sought feedback from faculty, staff, nurses, and learners about how we can eliminate racism and inequities that may exist today at Michigan Medicine and identify approaches to that achieve an anti-racism culture. AROC established six subcommittees that developed action plans based on the feedback received from the Michigan Medicine community. Sub-committees include Speak Up/Show Solidarity, Opportunities for Conversations, Education and Clinical Practice, Diversify the Workforce, Community Work, and Advocacy and Professional Development.  

The Becoming Series began in 2019 as a novel way to introduce and promote DEI to foster engagement and commitment among staff. Created by the Michigan Institute for Clinical & Health Research (MICHR), the Becoming Series uses storytelling to connect staff to the myriad important aspects of DEI. Each one-hour Becoming session provided an opportunity for one staff member to share their personal story with colleagues and encourages self-reflection, honesty, and vulnerability. Using a Q&A interviewing approach, facilitators leverage various conversation starters to help interviewees speak to their personal DEI experiences and how DEI has shaped and impacted their lives. Significant time was dedicated to open conversation among all participants, stimulating meaningful connections. The goal of Becoming is to create brave spaces where individual voices are heard and elevated, while providing the broader group of participants with the opportunity to learn, reflect, and view DEI through different lenses. Since its inception, MICHR has hosted 14 Becoming sessions focused on diverse topics, including race, mental health, and (dis)abilities. The Becoming series has been an exemplar and other departments at the University of Michigan are adopting this model.     

Community Conversations are hosted by the Office for Health Equity and Inclusion and aim to (1) provide a space for community and connection, dialogue, support for one another, self-care, and resource sharing; and (2) address relevant and timely topics. Community Conversations occur two times per month and the focus aligns to the various priorities expressed by Michigan Medicine and aligns to Office for Health Equity and Inclusion’s overarching goal of promoting equity and inclusion.   

 

Impact on broader community  

Girls Who Code began at Michigan Medicine in 2017, with a student-led and department-sponsored chapter of the international Girls Who Code movement to close the gender gap in technology education and careers. As a part of Girls Who Code, which is open to students of any gender, students came to campus weekly for the program during the school year or met synchronously online. Additionally, they hold a two-week intensive summer experience program. University of Michigan graduate students developed a custom coding curriculum for this program, which was recently published in a peer-reviewed journal. Programming has included guest speakers that showcased a diverse representation of women in a variety of careers and a collaboration with the external organization, Michigan Council of Women in IT, for professional development. Girls Who Code also donated 16 Dell laptops for the high school students to use.   

Careers in Cardiovascular Science and Medicine Program is a collaboration with the Frankel Cardiovascular Center and Detroit Cody High School seeks to recruit and engage Cody High School students, many of whom are underrepresented, to learn about the variety of careers in healthcare. As a result, faculty and staff from Frankel Cardiovascular Center are building life-long relationships with these students to create a support network that will be imperative to help them with the college application process and academic achievement. 

Office for Health Equity and Inclusion (OHEI) Pathway Programs offers four summer programs that aim to help highly talented, broadly diverse individuals succeed in pursuing a career as a physician. The Science Pre-Exposure Program serves high school students and offers SAT prep and college application development. The Undergraduate Research Academy offers a research experience for undergraduates with a faculty mentor to develop their science identity. The Career Development Academy helps individuals who are applying to medical school with MCAT prep, professional development, and application development. The Leaders for Excellence in Academic Development helps accepted medical students who have yet to begin medical school and their future success as a medical student. All programs additionally focus on social determinants of health and cultural humility so as physicians they will have an inclusive practice and environment. Additionally, we have a year-round tiered mentoring program that develops learners as researchers and scholars.    

Implementation Leads

Briannon Cierpilowski, Isabel Engel, Neil Van Houten

Unit Strategic Plan

To learn more, contact: [email protected], [email protected] or, [email protected].

Visit here for more information about diversity, equity and inclusion programs and resources.

 

Unit Summary

The emphasis on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) at the University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA) has grown, strengthened, and evolved over the course of DEI 1.0. The Museum’s public and ongoing Commitment to Anti-Racist Action and a More Inclusive Museum guides much of what we do to advance DEI across every facet of UMMA’s operations. This document provides a brief overview of selected DEI 1.0 activities between 2016 and 2021 and initial plans for DEI 2.0 that will take the Museum into 2028. 

 

Year One – 2016-2017

During DEI 1.0, UMMA sought to expand upon and extend its previous successes in engaging U-M faculty, instructors, and GSIs to enable DEI-focused teaching and learning through class visits to the Museum. In Fall 2016 and Winter 2017, classes explicitly dealing with DEI topics constituted 26% of UMMA’s total university class visits (72 of a total 278). All discussion sections of the large lecture course Afroamerican and African Studies 111: Africa and Its Diaspora visited UMMA in both semesters. In the fall, the class visited UMMA’s temporary exhibition, Traces. In the winter term, they visited the Museum’s study rooms to discuss the history of racist caricatures in America and to examine art that works against that history. For the School of Social Work course Critical Intersectionality and Social Work Practice (SSW 510 009), UMMA staff collaborated with instructors to co-create an introductory class that utilized objects from the Museum’s collections to focus on DEI issues. 

The Museum continued its work to develop and prepare student leaders in the arts, creating a more diverse pipeline for careers in curatorial, education, registration, administration, communications, and fundraising careers. This was accomplished through the maintenance and expansion of opportunities for student interns, fellows, and volunteers as well as training and guided mentoring for students. In DEI Year One, UMMA worked with 27 departments and 31 student organizations across campus to recruit a diverse group of 32 undergraduate students for the Student Engagement Council (SEC).  This diversity included many of the U-M categories for DEI (race, religion, gender, sexual identity, economic, and national origin), as well as a broad range of fields of study and intellectual backgrounds. In 2016-2017, SEC students represented 29 majors and almost as many minors; members had wide ranging co-curricular affiliations such as, Michigan in Color, MUSIC Matters, EnspiRED, Black Leadership Council, and Spectrum Center, among others.

 

Year Two – 2017-2018

Among the Museum’s strategic goals for DEI 1.0 was to develop knowledge and training for UMMA staff that create a welcoming and inclusive climate for all. In Year Two, UMMA synthesized the results of the fall 2017 all-staff climate survey. These results, along with the arrival of a new Director in October 2017, resulted in immediate changes to address issues that impacted the Museum climate for staff, including institutional transparency. Changes implemented as a result of the survey aimed to create a more equitable and inclusive working environment that values the diverse experiences, knowledge, and skills of UMMA staff. These changes included more significant opportunities for professional growth, collaboration both between departments and across campus, transparency from leadership, and fair distribution of workload and resources.

An action item identified as a priority in Year Two was the development of new strategic partnerships across U-M, in the community, and with museum practitioners across the country to support a diverse exhibition program. In conjunction with the exhibition Power Contained: The Art of Authority in Central and West Africa, UMMA invited three leading practitioners to UMMA in late 2017 and early 2018 to investigate questions about what it means to exhibit African art in a western museum. Practitioners included: Mary (Polly) Nooter Roberts, UCLA Professor of World Arts and Cultures/Dance and Consulting Curator for African Art at Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA); Pamela McClusky, Curator of African and Oceanic Art at Seattle Art Museum; and Christa Clarke, Senior Curator Arts of Global Africa at Newark Museum. All three consulted on UMMA’s collection, guest taught the course Black Art/White Cube: Exhibiting Africa in the Art Museum, and delivered a public lecture. These residencies informed plans for the future reinstallation of UMMA’s African art gallery, and provided insight to this process for students, scholars, and the public. 

Additionally, the April 2018 program Building Contemporaries: Art and Economies in Detroit brought together art critic and curator Taylor Aldridge; Cézanne Charles, Director of Creative Industries at Creative Many; Everard Findlay, global brand strategist and Chief Innovation Officer for The Platform; Laura Mott, Curator of Contemporary Art and Design at the Cranbrook Art Museum; and Gina Reichert, co-founder of Power House Production to discuss the landscape of current efforts to center artists and communities within the larger context of economic viability in Detroit. This program was produced in conjunction with the exhibition Exercising the Eye: The Gertrude Kasle Collection and intentionally took on equity embedded in issues of development, gentrification, art-making and art markets.

 

Year Three – 2018-2019

In Year Three, UMMA continued to assess, evaluate, and adopt practices and resources to help achieve broader recruitment for a more diverse staff. This included the implementation of search committees for all open positions, which broadened the diversity of those reviewing applications and created a more inclusive and equitable process. The institution of search committees also increased internal transparency of processes and decision-making around hiring. UMMA leadership also encouraged feedback from staff on resources to post new positions and ways to reword job descriptions to be more inclusive and attract a qualified, diverse group of candidates for open positions.

UMMA focused significant research in Year Three on its newly acquired Inutit art collection. The Museum supported university teaching by creating a guide for instructors to connect with Inuit art and the Tillirnanngittuq​ exhibition from a variety of disciplines. Research for the exhibition and related programming also provided opportunities to engage with faculty in Native American Studies about issues of representation and inclusion, and the connection between Inuit culture and U-M Native American Studies. UMMA also helped promote faculty recruitment for Native American Studies and presented the Inuit collection as an exciting resource for research of Inuit scholarship at U-M. 

In K-12 and adult education, UMMA’s education department promoted Inuit art and artists by incorporating culturally-sensitive approaches to touring of Inuit art into Docent training and the development of an Inuit art teacher workshop for K-12 Michigan educators, who brought their classes for gallery tours. UMMA provided tours of the collection and Tillirnanngittuq​ exhibition to elementary and high school students, presented an introduction to Inuit art at Elderwise (continuing education program for seniors) along with a private tour in the exhibition gallery, and facilitated public and family programs on the art, history, and cultural context of UMMA’s Inuit collection, serving nearly 700 people.

 

Year Four – 2019-2020

In Year Four UMMA secured two endowment gifts to ensure that all Museum internships are paid positions. These donations ensure that the Museum will no longer utilize unpaid internships, which often lead to the exclusion of many qualified and enthusiastic candidates, and will expand access to experiential learning to all students. UMMA staff also undertook research to determine how U-M departments and other cultural institutions support the mentorship capacity of staff who supervise interns. This research will lead to the development of a template for structuring and reviewing Museum internships, which will allow for better coordination around department needs and requirements. The Museum also continued its work to develop management training and capacity-building for all intern supervisors. 

Nearly all exhibitions in Year Four included a DEI focus or component: Copies and Invention in East Asia (August 17, 2019 – January 5, 2020) examined art and artists of China, Korea, and Japan, who consider copying a valuable artistic and creative practice. Cullen Washington, Jr.: The Public Square (January 25, 2020 – March 14, 2020) was an expansive and in-depth exploration of the work of Cullen Washington, Jr., a contemporary African-American artist whose work is characterized as “a meditation on the practice of painting and a resistance to historical and contemporary readings of the black body.” Abstraction, Color, and Politics in the 60s and 70s (June 8, 2019 – March 14, 2020) featured works by women and artists of color that grapple with the political and cultural upheavals of the 1960s and ’70s. Mari Katayama (October 12, 2019 – January 26, 2020), a eponymous exhibition by a contemporary Japanese artist featured a provocative series of works combining photography, sculpture and textiles. The 2019-2020 Witt Artist in Residence Courtney McLellan in spring 2020, the artist created a “Witness Lab” – a courtroom installation in UMMA’s Irving Stenn, Jr. Gallery that was used as a venue for mock trials, staged readings, and other performances, documented via drawing, text, photography and video by U-M students. Reflections: An Ordinary Day (November 16, 2019 – January 17, 2021) featured works from the Power Family Program for Inuit art at UMMA that explored day-to-day activities found in mid-century to contemporary Inuit prints and sculptures. Take Your Pick: Collecting Found Photographs (September 21, 2019 – February 23, 2020) invited the Museum’s visitors to select photographs for our permanent collection, asking key questions including: What belongs in a permanent collection, and why? Who and what should be represented and how should we decide? The project Pan-African Pulp: A Commission by Meleko Mokgosi (summer 2019 – summer 2022) featured Botswana-born artist Meleko Mokgosi and explores the history of Pan-Africanism, the global movement to unite ethnic groups of sub-Saharan African descent. 

 

Year Five – 2020-2021

Following the institution of UMMA’s Commitment to Anti-Racist Action in summer 2020, a key action item included the development of anti-racism training for UMMA’s Docent Corps, SEC members, Museum Navigators, and UMMA Shop staff. In Year Five, more than 70 members of the UMMA Docent Volunteer Corps completed an “Anti-Racism Teaching in the Museum” course, mandatory for those who wish to guide tours when UMMA reopened following closures related to the COVID 19 pandemic. This year-long course included both asynchronous and synchronous elements that enabled the Docent Corps to gain a broad understanding of what anti-racism is, how to be anti-racist in museum education programs, and how to understand and work through biases when interacting with visitors and educating about Museum exhibitions and programs. The training was highly successful and helped docents develop a much deeper understanding of anti-racism and white supremacy. UMMA staff and project partners from the U-M School of Education designed the course to be flexible and allow for course corrections and adjustments that responded to the needs of the group; the course will be redesigned for UMMA staff in fall 2022. 

After securing funds to pay all student interns at UMMA, the Museum’s Public Experience and Learning (PEL) department enacted a plan to compensate Student Advisory Board (SAB) members with an honorarium. In Year Five, unallocated PEL funds were used to pay every member of the UMMA SAB an annual $500 stipend for their time and effort. This stipend helped to drive SAB engagement, resulting in more activity on the UMMA student blog and deeper participation in committees and advisory boards across the Museum. The stipend was also a key element of recruitment communications and resulted in one of the most competitive application pools in the history of the program and the largest and most diverse SAB to date. UMMA is working to identify donors to endow the SAB program to guarantee the student stipend and provide key support for student-led activities at UMMA.

Another important action item for Year Five was creating authentic partnerships with, among others, BIPOC artists and communities and utilizing academic research into themes/issues related to diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, and/or social justice to inform all UMMA exhibitions and programs. UMMA formed a working group to create a process to review all UMMA exhibitions, programs, and initiatives through a lens of diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, anti-racism, and social justice, and making those reviews publicly accessible on the UMMA website. In Year Five this group worked to identify: 1) what questions need to be asked as part of this review process, 2) when in the process of developing exhibitions or programs this review should take place, and 3) how to ensure that the review is conducted in an open, accessible, and transparent manner. As a result of this process, in DEI 2.0 all UMMA-generated large-scale projects will be advised by a committee of specialists and partners, including students, faculty, community members, and artists.

 

DEI 2.0 – 2023-2028

As we look forward to DEI 2.0, UMMA will follow the lead of our recent 2022-2027 Strategic Plan, which instills DEI principles into all of the Museum’s work. The new strategic plan also identifies UMMA’s core values as art, equity, collaboration, change, and care, and is built on the belief that art is a fundamental human right and equity must be central to everything that UMMA does. The Museum seeks to welcome, represent, and partner with diverse groups on campus, in the region, and beyond, by building authentic relationships that support co-creation. Through enacting this Strategic Plan and DEI 2.0 UMMA will become a more diverse and welcoming space where courageous and important conversations can take place and where empathy is encouraged by considering perspectives across time, culture, identity, and geography.

Implementation Leads

Renee Reiff-Schramm, Madison Smith

Unit Strategic Plan

To learn more, contact: [email protected] or [email protected].

Visit here for more information about diversity, equity and inclusion programs and resources.

 

Unit Summary

The Office of Budget and Planning (OBP) provides high-quality and comprehensive support for the informed decision-making, policy creation, and planning necessary for effective allocation of campus resources aligned with the academic mission. As the University’s central planning and institutional research unit, the Office of Budget and Planning actively partners with campus leadership in guiding strategic resource allocation and development, fostering new initiatives, and supporting dynamic decision-making that reflects U-M’s longstanding priorities of academic excellence, access and affordability, and fiscal discipline.

We are committed to enhancing the overall knowledge and understanding of faculty, staff, students, budget, finance, and other important activities of the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. We work closely with other data providers across campus, including Human Resource Records and Information Services, Financial Operations, Financial Aid, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, and the Registrar, to gather, analyze, and disseminate data that informs the larger U-M community, peer institutions, state and national government, current and prospective students, media and the general public.

The Office of Budget and Planning is committed to recruiting, selecting and retaining a diverse and highly engaged staff community. Our work is founded on a culture of relationships, transparency, trust, collaboration, and consistency. We strive to provide a working environment that promotes equity and inclusion for all staff members. 

 

DEI 1.0 Accomplishments

The Office of Budget and Planning accomplished the following strategic objectives during the first phase of implementation:

• Updated hiring policies and procedures
• Fostered a more inclusive and equitable climate in OBP
• Educated our community on sexual and gender-based misconduct prevention in an effort to provide a safe and supportive environment for all members to work, learn and thrive
• Increased professional development and learning opportunities
• Improved availability and accessibility of our online resources
• Expanded inventory of DEI reports and analyses
• Increased data for decision-making: Tableau dashboards, reporting and leadership analysis

We are committed to expanding on these accomplishments as we move into the second phase of implementation.

 

DEI Progress and Engagement

In 2021, the Office of Budget and Planning had 11 employees who were eligible to participate in the climate survey. Of those who responded, they reported the following:

• 55.6% of our respondents attended a DEI-related training or workshop session
• 90.0% of our respondents attended a DEI-related talk or seminar
• 55.6% of our respondents listened to a DEI-related podcast
• 50.0% of our respondents attended a DEI-related film series
• 80.0% of our respondents attended a DEI-related meeting or retreat in my unit
• 55.6% of our respondents read a book on a DEI-related topic
• 55.6% of our respondents attended a DEI-related event at the U-M level
• 90.0% of our respondents attended a DEI-related conversation with a colleague or peer

The Office of Budget and Planning is a small, but engaged, office that works diligently to increase our awareness and promote the University’s DEI strategic plan.

 

Community Member Quote

“We want to engage with passionate, enthusiastic guest speakers who make us feel like we can do this too!”

 

Strategic Plan Support

Madison Smith ([email protected]) is the Unit Lead and key contact for stewardship of the Office of Budget and Planning Diversity, Equity & Inclusion 1.0 Strategic Plan and Summary. The OBP Executive Director and Associate Directors assist in supporting the plan and implementation.

Implementation Leads

Sheri Samaha, Hector Galvan

Unit Strategic Plan

Digital Poster

To learn more, contact: [email protected] or [email protected].

Visit here for more information about diversity, equity and inclusion programs and resources.

 

Unit Plan Summary

BUSINESS OFFICE

The Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (ODEI) was officially formed in 2016 and includes the Center for Educational Outreach, Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives, and Wolverine Pathways program. Together with the central administration and strategic planning teams, these units have implemented and overseen DEI work campus-wide. In support of ODEI’s commitment to advancing DEI within its own offices, two high-priority areas emerged: developing ODEI-wide practices to cultivate an inclusive environment for staff, and an equity review of staff titles and salaries across the organization.

ODEI also recognized that a better onboarding practice for new employees would allow them to feel more invested in the organization. An implementation team developed a robust onboarding structure, which includes naming staff across ODEI who would assist with onboarding during the first year of employment. Additionally, the items traditionally included in an onboarding (such as keys, parking, computer, etc), the team added items that are necessary to make sure the employee feels included and an integral part of ODEI, including an in-depth orientation to ODEI and its units, socialization opportunities, tours of offices, review and agreement of job responsibilities, frequent check-ins and more.

To ensure that new staff was properly informed and included in ODEI processes, ODEI’s baseline climate survey showed concern by current staff related to equitable compensation and fair distribution of rewards for work performance. As a result, a team was established to complete an equity review for programming staff (representing approximately 66% of the ODEI workforce). The review produced a rubric summarizing the work performed by programming staff at all levels, as well as an analysis of all programming staff titles and salaries, and recommended changes. Over three years, changes occurred, resulting in staff titles and salaries that are equitable across the organization.

CENTER FOR EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH (CEO)

Delivering Direct Service to Schools and Students 

CEO provides service throughout Michigan with programs that impact K-12 communities, facilitating outreach opportunities for U-M students and alumni. The Michigan College Advising Corps (MCAC) guides recent U-M college graduates to serve as advisers in underserved high schools around the state. Since 2018, MCAC served 11,000+ high school seniors, with 170 enrolling at the University of Michigan and another 100+ students enrolling at U-M Dearborn and U-M Flint collectively. Currently, MCAC works with 16 high schools, having expanded into Southwest Detroit and Southfield.

Building Capacity and Consulting 

CEO focused on building institutional capacity for educational outreach and engagement. CEO’s consulting work involves 17 schools and colleges and 80+ departments. Project Inspire began working with nine student organizations, and now has formed five formal workshops and offers funding and training to 25+ student organizations. CEO piloted a consulting and funding program called the Faculty Structured Outreach Support Fellowship, which started with 3 faculty members and increased to 20 across 14 schools and colleges.

Fostering Communities of Practice 

CEO’s communities of practice support youth outreach and engagement, share best practices, and highlight U-M efforts. In 2018, the University Outreach Council had 100 community participants and hosted 6 events. By 2022, UOC had 375+ community members and hosts 10+ events per year. In 2017, the Faculty Forum on Outreach and Engagement launched with 5 events and inspired over 200 participants. Today, it has 750+ participants across 125 U-M units.

Developing Infrastructure and Tools to Support Outreach 

Launching in 2018 with 1000 registered users, Youth Hub is now the one-stop place for 13,000 registered users to explore over 150 pre-college programs. CEO has 25+ toolkits for outreach professionals. In response to COVID-19, CEO pivoted into the educational technology tool space, piloting and launching K-12 resources using Ecoach, Gradecraft, web videos and Google Sites.

OFFICE OF ACADEMIC MULTICULTURAL INITIATIVES (OAMI)

Academic Initiatives Development, Growth and Impact

SuccessConnects  

SuccessConnects serves undergraduate students by providing holistic one-on-one success coaching grounded in a student development-centered curriculum, tutoring, workshops, career and next-steps support, and community-strengthening activities.

MConnect

MConnect is designed to help community college students from six partner schools both before and after they transfer to U-M. A major emphasis is put on building community and facilitating the knowledge and utilization of campus resources to support students’ overall success. MConnect has expanded from one partner community ˇcollege to six. As a result, the number of participants has tripled.

Men of Color Leading in the Classroom (MCLIC)

The Men of Color Leading In the Classroom’s (M-CLIC) mission is to increase the number of African American, Latino, Native, and Asian males going into K-12 teaching. This program provides support for obtaining a teaching degree and certification. The number of participants has seen a growth of 50% over the past year.

First-Generation Student Gateway

The First-Generation Student Program supports the holistic development of first-generation students and their academic transition and connections to the first-generation community. A major emphasis is to implement cross-identity programming that reflects the diversity of the population. The University of Michigan has been nationally recognized as a First Gen Forward Advisory Institution. The program has grown to incorporate an actively engaged student advisory board and over 250 students participating in the 1st Gen Graduation Celebration.

Overall Impact

OAMI’s cultural and community impact can also be seen in the addition of programs and new components of existing programs that impact more than 12,000 individuals across multiple identities and internal and external communities – all contributing greatly to the University’s commitment to a diverse, equitable, and inclusive community.

WOLVERINE PATHWAYS

Launched in 2016, Wolverine Pathways (WP) established a college preparatory pipeline to the  University of Michigan and has been an asset in diversifying U-M’s undergraduate population. During the period of DEI 1.0, the program served 1,147 scholars in the 7-12 grades who resided in Detroit, Southfield and Ypsilanti. Four cohorts graduated high school between 2018 and 2021, totaling 415 graduates. Graduates have been admitted to selective colleges around the world. U-M Ann Arbor (U-M-AA) admissions, yield, retention and performance outcomes for WP graduates are especially compelling.

Admissions and Yield 

WP African American scholars are 3.0-3.7 times more likely to be admitted to U-M-AA and six times more likely to attend than their same-race peers in their high school. WP African American scholars matriculating to U-M-AA represent 20% of all African American in-state students matriculating as first-year students between fall of 2018 and 2020.

Belonging, Retention & Performance

• The first-year retention rate of WP U-M-AA matriculants is 98%.
• The second-year retention rate as of Spring 2021 is 94%.
• The median cumulative GPA of WP alumni attending U-M-AA is 3.3.

Campus-Wide Engagement

Since its inception, WP has partnered with 33 units, departments, schools or faculty to deliver a math literacy sequence, as well as pre-collegiate camps (14) and elective courses (8) that help ready scholars for the academic, cultural and social demands of U-M. WP also collaborates with academic and student services units to recruit WP graduates and provide the support that enables graduates to thrive on campus. Wolverine Pathways collaboration with SuccessConnects is of particular significance, which provides WP matriculants to U-M-AA with the support necessary for WP alumni to experience success on campus.

The program has also cultivated collaborations with community partners, including alumni, corporations, local businesses, and not-for-profit entities, which affords WP scholars and alumni career exploration.

Expanding Reach & Impact Beyond Southeastern Michigan

• WP implemented remote programming in FY20 and FY21 due to the pandemic.
• As a result, WP has converted its core program to a hybrid program (primarily synchronous online engagement in fall and winter with in-person opportunities; in-person during the summer with supplementary online opportunities).
• WP is also currently piloting a remote partnership with two Grand Rapids high schools to increase the accessibility of U-M to underserved students residing outside of southeastern Michigan.

DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION (DEI) STRATEGIC PLAN 

The Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Strategic Plan Unit at the University of Michigan leads and supports the implementation and evaluation of the DEI strategic plan in 50 units across campus (schools, colleges, Athletics, Michigan Medicine, and other administrative units). Our work is focused on University-wide and unit-based initiatives designed to recruit, develop and retain a diverse faculty, staff and student body, while fostering an inclusive and equitable University community. We strive to engage with campus partners and community stakeholders to identify and advance mission-focused, mutually beneficial initiatives and partnerships.

During AY 2021-22, ODEI supported the 5-year evaluation process, which occurred at the University level and within all 50 units. The evaluation report will be presented to the campus community in the Fall. Over the past five years, there has been a wide array of specific accomplishments and achievements of the DEI strategic plan. The following presents a high-level summary:

• DEI is pervasive around campus, and everyone knows what “DEI” is, with near universal recognition of DEI as an institutional priority.
• Created a common lexicon and ongoing conversation around DEI at the institution
• Widespread participation of students, faculty, and staff in DEI education and skill-building offerings (through Organizational Learning, Student Life, IGR).
• Achieved near 100% completion of mandatory sexual/gender-based misconduct training
• Incorporated DEI principles into core University processes such as budget, development and leadership hiring
• Incorporated DEI principles into search and hiring processes for faculty and staff (through STRIDE and Unconscious Bias in Hiring training)
• Created an infrastructure to drive institutional change enterprise-wide (e.g., DEI Leads, Liaisons for Inclusive Teaching, CDO role, DEI Plan itself etc.)
• Developed a reward structure that is consistent with valuing DEI (e.g., University Diversity and Social Transformation Professorships (UDSTP), etc.)
• Provided students and faculty who have historically been underrepresented greater access to U-M (through programs like Wolverine Pathways, Go Blue Guarantee, Collegiate Fellows, etc.)
• Reduced barriers to success and advancement at the University (e.g., SuccessConnects, First Generation Center, ADVANCE Launch Committees, Staff Ombuds, Accessibility Initiatives, etc.)
• With the DEI plan as a foundation, the University has launched several broad-reaching Anti-Racism initiatives through the Provost Office.
• The CDO and Deputy CDO play a pivotal role in supporting U-M’s national leadership and prominence in the realm of DEI. Many institutions have looked to us and consulted with us as the bellwether model for DEI structural and implementation considerations.

Planning for the next iteration of the DEI strategic plan process will commence in Fall 2022, with the formal DEI 2.0 plan launching in Fall 2023.

Campuswide Climate Survey

Through an ongoing partnership among ODEI, the Institute for Social Research (ISR) and the independent research firm SoundRocket, the University conducted its first-ever Campus Climate Survey on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in 2016-2017 to help us understand faculty, staff and student perspectives and experiences related to work and study at the University. As a complement to the strategic plan process, the resulting data was used to assess the present campus climate, guide current and future decisions, and provide a metric of accountability for change over time. The climate survey generated University- and unit-level data in a way that could be repeated to measure progress.

In keeping with our commitment to collect data at the start and finish of the five-year strategic planning process, we collected campuswide follow-up climate data in October 2021.

All schools, colleges and units received follow-up student, faculty and staff reports providing their planning unit with actionable climate data as they advance their unit-based DEI goals and initiatives and prepare to move into DEI 2.0.

Going forward, our intention is to continue providing broad access to University-level data. For example, we will continue to make University-level sampling climate survey data available through public-use data files, for access by the general public via direct download from the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR 37096) website or from the DEI website. Access does not require affiliation with an ICPSR member institution.

Liaisons for Inclusive Teaching

The Liaisons for Inclusive Teaching (LIT) aim to build faculty skills in, and commitment to, cultivating learning environments where students of all backgrounds and identities are welcomed, feel valued and are equitably supported in their academic success. In October 2015 and every year since, deans have appointed a faculty member or a senior staff member to be their unit’s Liaison for Inclusive Teaching (LIT). Over the years, additional units with teaching responsibilities have been added to the LITs (e.g., libraries, museum, etc.). To date, there are 24 schools/colleges/units and 41 Liaisons.

The Liaisons meet four-to-six times/academic year and represent the views of their respective unit, share information about the inclusive teaching initiative with their unit leadership and faculty, and assist with the development and implementation of a faculty professional development program around inclusive teaching in their unit that will meet the needs of their faculty. In addition, some units have been working to infuse diversity issues into their curricula. In DEI 2.0, the LITs will have the opportunity to continue working with their DEI strategic planning leads to ensure that inclusive teaching continues to be included in their unit’s diversity strategic plan.

Student IDEA Board

Disability and accessibility are key elements within the University’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) strategic framework. In March 2019, The Student IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility) Board was established by the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (ODEI) to assess the University’s current structures and culture for students with disabilities. The Board was charged with identifying areas for improvement and providing recommendations to enhance the lived experiences of disabled students at the University. In order to effectively tackle this broad charge, the Board formed eight sub-groups, each focused on specific elements of a student’s experience at the University. Recommendations were completed and a report was delivered to Robert Sellers, Vice Provost and Chief Diversity Officer, on December 15, 2019, for implementation of short-term actions to begin immediately thereafter. The full report and details can be found on the Student IDEA Board website. The work is ongoing. Since 2020-2021, actions have been taken with all 48 Student Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (IDEA) Board recommendations, with 14 that have been implemented or substantially achieved. One successful initiative that stemmed from the IDEA Board is the Toward An Anti-Ableist Academy Conference, a virtual colloquial series of events throughout Disability Community Month that invites the campus community to learn more about creating a welcoming University climate that actively works toward embracing disability culture and experiences. The conference was created to provide an update on the work of the Student IDEA Board, their recommendations, and the ongoing work to implement them.

Eight Sub-Groups of the IDEA Board:

• Physical Accessibility
• Digital Accessibility
• Pedagogy, Inclusive Teaching, and Accommodations
• Safety, Security, and Emergency Preparedness
• Intentional Recruitment
• Career Development Support
• Disability Culture, Community, and Climate
• Academic Program Development in Disability and Accessibility

National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity – Institutional Membership

The Office of the Vice Provost for Equity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer sponsors the University of Michigan’s institutional membership with the National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity (NCFDD). The NCFDD is an independent center that offers a wide range of resources to support the professional development and successful transitions of faculty, post-doctoral scholars, and doctoral students throughout their academic careers. The resources are broadly applicable across academic disciplines and include webinars/workshops on topics such as how to develop a daily writing plan, strategies for increasing research productivity, managing time, how to write grant proposals and maintaining work-life balance.

University Diversity & Social Transformation Professorship

In 2019, the University of Michigan established a program to acknowledge outstanding U-M senior faculty and to recruit senior faculty who have made significant contributions to diversity, equity and inclusion issues through their teaching, research and/or service, with an emphasis on cutting-edge and next-generation scholarship. Designated as University Diversity & Social Transformation Professors (UDSTP), these faculty members will be affiliated with the National Center for Institutional Diversity (NCID).

For the first five years of their appointment, UDSTPs receive an annual $20,000 research stipend. Through NCID’s Diversity Scholars Network, they also have opportunities to collaborate with other diversity scholars, along with access to special activities and resources for promoting and supporting their work. In addition, during the term of their NCID Fellow-in-Residence, UDSTPs present a public lecture on their work related to DEI as part of the annual UDSTP lecture series.

The inaugural cohort of UDSTPs included 9 faculty members from all disciplinary areas: arts and humanities, natural sciences and social sciences. As of September 2022, there have been 4 cohorts with a total of 27 UDSTPs.

James S. Jackson Distinguished Career Award for Diversity Scholarship

In 2017, the University of Michigan established a new career award administered biennially by the National Center for Institutional Diversity (NCID) and the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (ODEI) to celebrate and honor faculty members whose scholarship has contributed significantly to our understanding or appreciation of groups that have traditionally been understudied. The primary goals of this award are to build a more robust body of knowledge and teaching in these areas, elevate these research foci nationally, and provide important recognition to scholars whose work may have been undervalued in the past.

The James S. Jackson Distinguished Career Award for Diversity Scholarship is named for its first recipient—whose passing on September 1 of 2020 was a major loss to our community. Since 2017, a total of 3 recipients have been named.

• In 2017, the inaugural award was presented to James S. Jackson, the Daniel Katz Distinguished University Professor of Psychology and former director of the Institute for Social Research, in honor of his outstanding contributions to understanding diversity and addressing disparities in contemporary society.
• The 2019 award recipient was Patricia Gurin, the Nancy Cantor Distinguished University Professor Emerita of Psychology and Women’s Studies. A social psychologist, Dr. Gurin’s work has focused on social identity, the role of social identity in political attitudes and behavior, motivation and cognition in achievement settings, and the role of social structure in intergroup relations.
• In 2021, the award was bestowed upon Arline Geronimus, professor of health behavior & health education and associate director & research professor at the Population Studies Center in the Institute for Social Research. Dr. Geronimus has made unique and seminal contributions to theory, empirical research, methodology and practice as it relates to diversity in public health, medicine, economics, political science, critical race theory and applied anthropology.

Implementation Leads

Erica Sanders, Matthew Mueller

Unit Strategic Plan

Digital Poster

To learn more, contact: [email protected] or [email protected].

Visit here for more information about diversity, equity and inclusion programs and resources.

 

Unit Summary

The Office of Enrollment Management (OEM) is deeply committed to the campus-wide efforts to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion on our campus. (OEM) is composed of the Office of Undergraduate Admissions (OUA), the Office of Financial Aid (OFA), the Office of the Registrar (RO), the Office of New Student Programs (ONSP), and the central OEM Administration Office, and our units work together to meet the enrollment goals and initiatives of our campus.

During the period of DEI 1.0 – from 2016 – 2021, OEM engaged in many initiatives, with a strategic focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion. We developed many programs designed to enhance current practices from a DEI lens for students, staff, and our campus partners. What follows is a high-level summary of our efforts over the course of five years. 

 

Student Focus

Over the DEI 1.0 time period, there were many initiatives focused on students, both current and prospective. University priorities are focused on enrolling a more diverse student body, broadly defined, and supporting all students while they are here. What follows are just some of the initiatives undertaken with a focus on our students. 

• Recruitment programming for both admissions and financial aid was enhanced in order to attract and enroll and support a more diverse student body.
• Under-resourced prospective and admitted students were provided with application and orientation fee waivers, funding for travel to campus, and support through the undergraduate laptop program which provides students from low-income backgrounds access to a computer.
• Additional financial aid dollars were added to the university budget to support students and add to the socioeconomic diversity on our campus. 
• The Go Blue Guarantee (GBG) was initiated in order to communicate to students from low-income backgrounds within our state that a Michigan education is affordable.
• OEM and Student Life to lead a task force focused on student success, which resulted in many recommendations.   

 

Staff Focus

With a staff of nearly 200 regular employees, the effort to engage our team members in DEI initiatives was substantial. What follows are just some of the initiatives undertaken to focus on our staff. 

• We convened a DEI Committee that developed and leveraged campus programming for OEM staff to drive engagement and learning in DEI.
• We changed human resources practices including hiring procedures, DEI programming participation, and onboarding practices with DEI a core tenant.
• We conducted equity reviews for specific job classifications and used available funding to make some equity improvements.
• We implemented the practice of exit interviews for all staff departing our organization to gather information in order to learn and inform future employment practices.

 

Campus Focus

• We partnered with the campus during the pandemic to create more inclusive teaching practices by supporting course modality shifts.
• We worked with university leadership to implement grading policy changes
• We partnered with the campus to develop a process related to emergency relief funding during the pandemic

 

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Highlights

We are proud of our many accomplishments during the DEI 1.0 period. What follows are some initiatives we have chosen to highlight.

 

Veteran and Military-Connected Student Support

U-M views its military-affiliated members as a distinct population that broadens the diversity of campus life. Prospective and current military-connected students receive ongoing support through the Veteran and Military Services program (VMS), with services that include application assistance, help in accessing VA educational benefits, advocacy, referrals to local and campus resources, and a peer-to-peer mentoring program called PAVE (Peer Advising for Veteran Education) that matches current student veterans with incoming student veterans to provide support and guidance throughout the academic year. In October 2019, OEM changed its residency requirements for military-connected students to include Chapter 31 and the Montgomery GI Bill. Chapter 31 assists veterans with service-connected disabilities to find and retain jobs, while the GI Bill helps qualifying veterans and their family members access educational grants and other resources. In 2022, U-M added Chapter 35, a VA benefit that makes all qualified dependents and survivors eligible for in-state tuition rates. 

 

Federal Funding to Support Students During COVID-19

The Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) was implemented by the federal government to support students and universities with financial challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. In all, U-M distributed three rounds of HEERF funding for student emergency grants. Expediting and tracking the grant process in a timely way required a significant amount of resources, flexibility and cross-campus collaboration. The Office of Financial Aid (OFA) was responsible for distributing the funds, based on an application process created in collaboration with the university’s ITS department. Working in partnership with the Office of Research and Sponsored Projects, Sponsored Programs, Treasury and the Office of Budget and Planning, OFA distributed a total of $57.6M in grants to more than 28,500 students. Students enrolled in spring/summer 2021 also received block grants. The goal was to assist as many students as possible. Thus, when international students were deemed ineligible by the U.S. Department of Education, OFA used other institutional funding to provide support.

 

Low-income Enrollment Initiatives

OEM implemented several strategies in an effort to increase our application volume and enroll more low-income students. Initiatives such as the Go Blue Guarantee – a statewide marketing campaign, sought to communicate to low-income students that U-M is affordable, and thus encourage applications from qualified students. OEM partnered with Community-Based Organizations (CBO’s) to put U-M on the radar of more students from geographically diverse backgrounds. In addition, the Victors financial aid award focuses on low-income, non-resident students by giving them a four-year financial aid commitment.

 

Academic Enterprise Support During the Pandemic

OEM is a core unit that interfaces across campus in all of our units. During the pandemic, as our campus had to adjust many practices, procedures and policies, the Registrar’s Office played a crucial role in supporting campus-wide efforts related to course modality changes and grading policy changes. On our decentralized campus, this required strong communication, coordination, and fast action in order to support our students and create the safest learning environments possible under the circumstances. The change in grading policy was necessary in order to support all our students, understanding that the pandemic impact would be variable, and our students needed options related to their grades.

 

OEM DEI Committee & Staff Programming

At the start of DEI 1.0, OEM was a relatively new organization. In order to foster cross-organizational engagement, and build team and relationships we created a DEI committee that guided our efforts to bring DEI programming to our organization. Passionate, and committed team members conceptualized and implemented diverse programming including book clubs, guest speakers, and promotion of campus events.

 

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Climate Survey

OEM participated in the 2017 and 2021 climate surveys. It should be noted that due to turnover, which is not uncommon in many of our units, there may not be a great deal of overlap in those individuals who took both surveys. That said, we gained topline insights from a review of both climate surveys, and will continue to analyze our results.

 

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Next Steps and DEI 2.0

At the time of the writing of this summary document, OEM is in the process of taking the DEI 1.0 report, and the Climate survey results to our organization. In August 2022, we held our first all-staff meeting since the pandemic and provided a high-level overview of the report and initial findings. We are still awaiting specific climate survey results for our units and look forward to disseminating this information as it is made available.

When looking forward to DEI 2.0, OEM has identified the following areas where we plan to focus our initial attention:

• We will build upon and measure the effectiveness of our targeted programs intended to broadly diversify our undergraduate student body.
• We will build upon our efforts to continue broader outreach and recruitment for staff and develop consistency in hiring practices and onboarding.
• We will develop tailored professional development opportunities specific to job type / role.
• We will develop a revised staffing model for DEI efforts which creates greater organizational stability and the opportunity for additional engagement of more staff.
• OEM will remain dedicated to staff pay equity reviews and adjustments. We will also adjust for lessons learned and communicate expectations with staff only after we secure the ability to execute the adjustments.
• We will align our organizational structure in a way that better allows us to articulate and achieve campus goals. 
• We will revisit recommendations provided by the Student Success Task Force in 2019, completing work that was sidelined by the pandemic, in an effort to improve the student experience.

Implementation Lead(s)

Sabrina Ervin, Trachette Jackson

Unit Strategic Plan

To learn more, contact: [email protected] or [email protected].

Visit here for more information about diversity, equity and inclusion programs and resources.

 

Unit Summary

The University of Michigan Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) advances the excellence of research scholarship and creative activity across all three campuses by fostering new research and providing central services. OVPR believes diversity, equity, and inclusion is critical to its mission of catalyzing, supporting, and safeguarding research to serve the world.

OVPR’s DEI Strategic Plan began with transforming our workforce and workplace practices and policies. The initial goal of DEI 1.0 was to make our processes for recruitment, retention, and development of our research faculty, staff, and community of scholars fairer and more inclusive and promote an equitable and welcoming climate and culture within our units.

Over the 5-year implementation period, DEI 1.0 evolved to consider how OVPR can contribute positively to DEI in the University of Michigan’s broader research enterprise. In years 4 and 5, the DEI 1.0 strategic plan began outlining the first steps towards addressing DEI issues in the research pipeline (who participates, barriers to participation, and advancement), as well as supporting, catalyzing, and promoting critical scholarship on DEI issues for societal impact.

 

DEI 1.0 HIGHLIGHTS 

OVPR is assessed as a whole but consists of 27 units and initiatives, ranging from as few as 4 to as many as 60 employees. Several of our units have transitioned to new leadership or have undergone structural reorganization, which in some cases led to new momentum related to DEI.

 

OVPR DEI Infrastructure

In January 2020, the newly formed UMOR DEI Unit Contacts Committee was launched. This was a particularly important step forward for DEI 1.0 given that OVPR is made up of a wide range of units with different sizes, foci, staff composition, and locations on campus. The work of this committee is intended to help advance our DEI strategic plan by serving as an umbrella entity for unit representation, as well as for soliciting input, feedback, and idea exchange across units. The committee also is intended to help integrate innovative and effective practices created and enacted within specific units into a broader guiding framework that all units could use to develop and adapt practices for their specific unit missions. 

In November 2021, we created a position of DEI Program Manager to support and lead various efforts related to our internal OVPR DEI planning and implementation. Around that time, we also formally assigned DEI as an area of focus on the OVPR leadership team and in the fall of 2021, we established a new leadership position (Assistant Vice President for Research – DEI Initiatives) to oversee our internal planning and integration across subunits, but also to play a more active leadership role in catalyzing and supporting DEI scholarship and best practices in research across U-M. This inaugural AVP began in April 2022.

 

Expanding research on anti-racism and racial inequalities 

The OVPR Anti-Racism Grants aim to catalyze innovative research and scholarship efforts that will advance knowledge and understanding around complex societal racial inequalities that can inform actions to achieve equity and justice.  These grants were developed in partnership with the Provost’s Anti-Racism Initiative and are jointly administered and advanced in partnership with the National Center for Institutional Diversity’s Anti-Racism Collaborative. 

There was an overwhelming response to the launch of the anti-racism grants program; 41 proposals from across our campus demonstrated our faculty’s expertise and capacity to address a variety of critical issues including: technology and police surveillance among Black communities; redlining impacts on noise and environmental disparities; enhancing anti-racism and cultural competence in health care systems; anti-Asian xenophobia and activism emerging during the COVID pandemic; social and structural determinants of birth challenges among Black mothers; academic and mental health impacts of institutional and interpersonal racism in educational settings; racist and transphobic legal barriers experienced by transgender women of color; and strengths-based strategies for coping with racism among ethnic minority youth and families; among many other themes and topics.

Learn more about the new research focus areas: OVPR anti-racism grants awarded to eight research teams

 

Managing internal nomination and peer review processes to reduce bias

Peer review in its many incarnations is essential to the functioning of the research enterprise, yet it is not without weaknesses. Various forms of bias, for example, threaten the integrity and effectiveness of peer review at journals, funding agencies, and even for programs within institutions. Recent innovations and scholarly research on peer review can help program administrators, reviewers, and award committees improve practices and mitigate bias. The Office of the Vice President for Research developed a new online resource with strategies to reduce bias in peer review, with a focus on internal award nominations and funding programs. The intention of the information is to help educate the research community on ways to mitigate bias and ensure internal review practices are equitable and transparent. 

Resource Link: https://research.umich.edu/peer-review-bias 

 

Supporting DEI in proposal development

Supporting proposals requires specialized and dedicated staff time, often working in collaboration with staff and faculty from many units across U-M. Based on OVPR’s unique position serving faculty across many units, we have a particularly important role in grants/scholarship that spans traditional disciplinary boundaries. OVPR has been ramping up its support of proposal development across our subunits over the past couple of years and we expect to see a significant return on this investment as grants continue to move through the submission process.

The Research Development and Proposal Services (RDPS) team in OVPR has supported the development of several proposals that are DEI-focused, including the $22.3M NIH FIRST proposal (July 2021 and Sept 2021) that brought together 11 units on campus to recruit 30 faculty with a demonstrated commitment to DEI, many of whom may themselves come from underrepresented groups. RDPS also hosted a UM-wide event for faculty and staff on NSF’s criteria for “Broader Impacts”, highlighting 9 campus-wide units that provide proposal services to researchers around community engagement, student engagement & other DEI activities. Finally, RDPS annually runs a workshop with ADVANCE providing guidance on proposal development including diversity of teams and broader impacts. In the course of their missions, our subunits like IRWG, MICDE, and MIDAS have staff dedicated to increasing the competitiveness of other faculty proposals related to diversity in their disciplines–both in terms of direct scholarship and the overall breadth of the diversity of researchers supported. These subunits also have directly received grants to support DEI work from training to pipeline development to active DEI scholarship, including a $1.2M NIH grant to IRWG and a $759k NSF grant to MIDAS on building a framework for integrative data equity systems.

 

DEI Community Newsletters

In FY21, in an effort to connect with the broader OVPR community, the DEI Unit Contacts committee (now OVPR Unit DEI Leads) published a series of bi-monthly DEI community newsletters which offered a deeper dive into DEI strategies and effective practices, provides information on DEI learning opportunities, and spotlights DEI efforts within OVPR and DEI-related engagement opportunities across the university community.

DEI Community Newsletters: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1K5dinH6Emx8T8_kBnzHAmiLYZStQM7DJ/view?usp=sharing 

 

Efforts to Address COVID-19 Researcher Disparities and Inequalities

Given the inequalities induced and exacerbated by COVID-19 (across gender, racial/ethnic, parent status, and discipline/field lines, among other areas) that quickly became apparent and documented in the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the OVPR created and charged a COVID-19 Research Disparities Committee in August 2020 to outline critical challenges to researchers and to recommended short-term, low-cost strategies for immediate relief. The committee, made up of faculty and postdoctoral fellows across school/college/discipline and who represented diverse demographic backgrounds, submitted recommendations to OVPR in Fall 2020 that were shared with central leadership, school/college leadership, and other policy and governance focused groups (e.g., ADVANCE, SACUA, President’s Chairs Roundtable, etc.). 

OVPR’s institutional analysis unit (RADIO), led by Jason Owen-Smith produced reports illustrating the differential impacts of COVID-19 on external and internal funds spending, showing racial, gender, and discipline/field disparities in these areas. These data analyses and findings contributed to the COVID-19 Disparities Committee work and was also presented to a variety of central and unit leadership groups, which helped raise awareness and inform decision making around supporting researchers and mitigating COVID impacts. RADIO continues ongoing examination of these institutional data, which will allow for consideration of short term and long term and continued impacts of COVID-19 on researchers. 

OVPR also successfully submitted for publication an essay in PNAS (Lumeng, et al., 2020) outlining a framework for human research policy during COVID-19, which included consideration of critical DEI issues [Lumeng, J., Chavous, T., Lok, A., Sen, S., Wigginton, N., & Cunningham, R. (2020). Opinion: A risk–benefit framework for human research during the COVID-19 pandemic. PNAS, 117(5), 27749-27753. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2020507117.]

 

EVOLUTION OF ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE

During DEI 1.0, several policies, practices, and standard operating procedures across 4 DEI domains (Inclusive and Equitable Climate; Recruitment and Retention; Innovative and Inclusive Teaching Scholarship & Research; Service Provision) were formalized within OVPR and its units. Below are descriptions of the ways that these policies, practices, and/or standard operating procedures have been operationalized since the DEI 1.0 plan launch.

 

INCLUSIVE AND EQUITABLE CLIMATE

Accessibility / Accommodations

Several OVPR subunits have also taken steps to ensure accessibility of their materials–as well as events. An example is IRWG’s Online Event Accessibility Protocol, implemented in FY21, which provides a comprehensive “beginning-to-end” guide for addressing possible accessibility and accommodation concerns for attendees of online events. This is complementary to IRWG’s “Striving Towards Inclusive & Accessible In-Person Events” guidance, which was implemented in FY19. 

 

DEI Skills Training

As evidenced by our 2021 Climate Survey results, nearly every OVPR subunit has reported increased staff engagement in routine local and/or campus-wide DEI training or discussion-based events. Engagement events ranged from discussions around the Inclusion Insights series by Dr. Steve Robbins; DEI-focused webinar, film, and film series viewings; DEI-focused book discussions, and more. Several larger units have also established internal DEI committees within their unit infrastructure to help focus on climate issues and employee well-being. 

 

Enhanced Communications & Feedback

OVPR made concerted efforts to improve accessibility and representation in communications materials, including OVPR-wide and within individual units. We began actively monitoring our OVPR-wide social media account (@UMichResearch), newsletters, and videos for gender representation, and worked with our subunits to distribute best practices for representation in their marketing materials and social media content. We also updated the OVPR website which greatly improved accessibility, and ensured subunits had access to tools to test/improve the accessibility of their websites as well. Finally, we collaborated actively with the Office of the Vice President for Communications to increase representation in institution-wide communications about research, including broadly diversifying faculty available for talking to the press via Michigan Experts, and working with the Public Engagement team to highlight International Day of Women and Girls in Science, and other broad communication campaigns. Many OVPR subunits also improved representation in their materials or events, and increased promotion of DEI-related stories.

 

Recognition / Awards 

Recognizing that U-M has thousands of research staff, in a variety of positions, OVPR sought to revamp the Research Staff Awards Program to be more inclusive of all of the roles that staff play in the research enterprise. In FY22, we unveiled 10 new award categories and a more inclusive review/scoring process, resulting in a diverse slate of award winners from over 40 nominations across a wide range of schools and colleges.  Several OVPR subunits also manage awards, including the Distinguished University Innovator award, managed by Innovation Partnerships. Their award process was revised to include a more inclusive nomination process and more broadly diverse selection committee to better align with best practices.  In FY19, the award recipient was a woman, a first for this program,.

 

RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION

 

DEI in Staff Annual Review Process

OVPR Human Resources incorporated an open-ended DEI-specific question as part of the standard annual review process for all staff, and in FY22 implemented a ranking scale for the question with specific guidance/examples for staff and managers. The question is designed as a place for staff to reflect on the way(s) that DEI has become an expected part of the way that work is done on an individual level.  As a more definitive practice within an OVPR subunit, the Animal Care & Use Office has added an annual requirement for all staff to participate in at least 3 DEI-focused activities, with a reported result of a positive shift in overall unit climate and a perceived increase in staff’s understanding of the importance of DEI. 

 

Fair / Unbiased Hiring

In FY22, OVPR has drafted an Inclusive Hiring Guidance Process, in partnership with UHR, aimed at providing guidance around inclusive recruiting and hiring across all OVPR.  The guidance outlines best practices for each step of the recruiting and hiring process and is currently being piloted within several subunits.  Once finalized, the process will become part of a comprehensive “beginning-to-end” hiring doctrine designed for use by OVPR and its units. The guidance has also proven successful when applied to other selection processes, such as the FY22 Research Staff Awards.

 

INNOVATIVE AND INCLUSIVE TEACHING SCHOLARSHIP & RESEARCH

 

Assessment Practice

Historically OVPR had very little capacity for quantitative assessment of our internal practices or of the research enterprise at U-M. To address this gap, OVPR launched a new unit, the Research Analysis and Data Integration Office (RADIO). Since launching, RADIO has analyzed many types of data to serve, support and strengthen the University of Michigan’s research, scholarly and creative enterprise–including measures of DEI (e.g., COVID disparities, impact of foundation-sponsored research by race and gender, and equity of research funding across faculty tracks). OVPR also has proactively sought to address equity issues related to access to information across the research enterprise, from releasing guidance for how to mitigate bias during peer review, to making internal funding opportunities and prize nominations more transparent and accessible, to issuing a roadmap for how faculty across all disciplines can be more competitive for large-scale external research opportunities.

 

Community-Engaged Practice 

Healthy Flint Research Coordinating Center (HFRCC)

Many of our subunits host events that often include and explicitly engage community members, alongside addition to a wide range of researchers at U-M and other institutions. For example, OVPR oversees the Healthy Flint Research Coordinating Center (HFRCC), which is a community-academic partnership with a goal of establishing equitable relationships between community and academia. HFRCC is a collaboration between Flint community partners; Community Based Organization Partners – Community Ethics Review Board (CBOP-CERB) and the National Center for African American Health Consciousness (NCAAHC), with the support of Michigan State University, the University of Michigan – Flint and the University of Michigan.

 

InPACT at Home Program

Also of note, in spring of 2020, Professor Rebecca Hasson, the Director of the ESSI Active Schools and Communities Core Unit, was contacted by the Michigan State Board of Education and Superintendent because they were concerned about how to keep children physically active while they were sheltering in place during COVID-19. Kids were not receiving PE or recess and were not able to play on public playground equipment or participate on sports teams. In response, Professor Hasson created InPACT (Interrupting Prolonged sitting with physical ACTivity) at Home, an evidence-informed, home-based physical activity program that enables K-12 students to engage in physical activity and physical education during COVID-19 and beyond. Moreover, the InPACT at Home program was included in Governor Whitmer’s MI Comprehensive Student Recovery in the Wellness section. Through InPACT at Home, children are able to engage in cardio, strength training, sport skills, and mindfulness activities, among others. 

 

SERVICE PROVISION

 

ADA Compliance

As part of rebuilding the central U-M research webpage, our OVPR communications team worked to ensure that ADA compliance was built into the contract with the vendor (the accessibility score has vastly improved and now meets all federal accessibility requirements).  Other subunits including IRWG and ESSI proactively worked with the U-M web accessibility coordinator to assess whether their website was ADA compliant and, subsequently, implemented ADA recommendations when feasible. Additionally, OVPR developed comprehensive guidance for OVPR subunits and others across campus to improve accessibility in marketing and communications materials. 

 

Civic Engagement / Underserved Group Focus

Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act Project (NAGPRA Project) 

The University has made substantial progress on NAGPRA compliance since UMOR initiated the project.  To date, the University has transferred approximately 164 site collections to the appropriate Tribes.  This included Native American human remains from a minimum of over 800 individuals and any associated funerary objects.  As a result, the University has developed an outstanding reputation for compliance with the National NAGPRA Office and has developed excellent working relationships with many Tribes.

The successful work and building of relationships within the NAGPRA Project has translated into other partnerships with Tribes and Native American communities 

 

Empowerment / Acknowledging Power

OVPR has sought to bring more equity and transparency to the committees and working groups it charges, seeking to leverage diversity as a strength. We have prioritized seeking broadly diverse perspectives in membership, more regularly posted committee charges and reports publicly, and explicitly acknowledged contributions of committee members to their managers and/or unit leadership (especially for staff). Many of our subunits have also sought out mechanisms to improve equity and empowerment across their staff and proactively ensured representation of staff and leadership/management on their subunit DEI committee.

Implementation Leads

Kat Hart, Devon Redmond, Beth Brow

Unit Strategic Plan

To learn more, contact: [email protected], [email protected] or, [email protected].

Visit here for more information about diversity, equity and inclusion programs and resources.

 

Unit Summary

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are deeply held values by The Offices of the President, and the Vice President and Secretary of the University, and we seek to promote those values across the breadth of our work through hiring a broadly diverse staff and allowing each team member an equitable opportunity to succeed and thrive. We are committed to an inclusive and welcoming office; one that treats each member with respect and professionalism. We strive to support each other’s contributions and build trust by being honest, transparent brokers, while supporting each other in our triumphs and adversity.

Strategic Objectives Accomplished by the Office of the President, and the Office of the Vice President and Secretary

Five years into the University’s DEI 1.0 plan, the Offices of the President, and Vice President and Secretary of the University have taken the following actions to execute our strategic plan and ensure the unit is an inclusive work environment that uses equitable hiring practices and encourages staff, students, and faculty to broaden their perspectives:

• Developed and implemented an effective strategy to recruit/attract a more diverse pool of applicants by advertising postings more broadly and to provide career advancement and growth opportunities to current employees. 
• Improved civility and sensitivity with diversity training and dispute resolution resources.
• Increased community outreach and utilized staff networks to assist us in developing a better understanding of different perspectives on a variety of topics/issues related to DEI.
• Tracked internal perceptions of the inclusivity in the Office of the President, and Vice President and Secretary of the University.
• Increased cultural awareness of diverse groups and identities.
• Educated our community on sexual and gender-based misconduct prevention.
• Maintained outstanding customer service.
• Encouraged staff to identify, register, and attend Learning & Professional Development (formerly HRD) courses, and events to improve staff diversity and cultural awareness competencies, cultivate individual skill sets for personal and professional growth, and elevate staff core job capabilities. 
• Developed regent meeting agendas that include diverse speakers and topics, including reports of progress on the institutional DEI plans. The vice president and secretary also participated in DEI presentations at professional meetings with other universities in Michigan and around the country.
• Supported the president and the other executive officers in the implementation of their respective DEI plans, and worked with the board and others on governance and senior leadership matters such as bylaw amendments, personnel appointments, and recruitment/retention efforts.
• Worked collaboratively with the president, vice president and secretary, and other executive offices to organize DEI focused educational presentations that addressed a variety of relevant issues to all our offices. 
• Evaluated the Board of Regents’ monthly meetings to determine potential accessibility issues related to audio and visual configurations and alter them to improve the meeting experience for all meeting attendees, including public comment participants and students.  Assured a respectful and welcoming gateway to UM, the Board of Regents, and the monthly board meetings.  
• Provided staff support and coordination for regent involvement in DEI events in its broadest forms, including in regard to current topics such as BLM, racism and others.  Staff will also provide support and coordination for regents’ work on the newly formed Flint and Dearborn Committee that has a mission to improve outcomes on both campuses.
• Supported the diverse university community through the VP&S’s service on the residency appeals committee, ABIA, the honorary degree committee, leadership searches and search committees, and COVID Leadership Group.  The VP&S attends fundraising events, including support for student scholarships and Student Life programs, as well as events supporting external programs such as the Alumni Association LEAD Scholars program, etc., that benefit university students.  The staff develops dossiers of broadly diverse potential honorary degree recipients for consideration by the honorary degree committee.  

In addition to the actions above, The Offices of the President and Vice President and Secretary of the University held numerous discussions for all staff facilitated by the implementation lead on topics such as Robin DeAngelo’s White Fragility, John Lewis’ documentary Good Trouble, our MLK symposium, racist monuments, Some Old Black Man theatre production, Tribes short film, identities, and other related DEI topics. Two building wide events were held virtually in 2021 on behalf of the Fleming DEI Committee. The first was a discussion with Professor Maren Oberman about the book White Fragility. The second was a keynote and panel discussion about sexual and gender-based misconduct. Both events served all staff and students in the Fleming building. The Fleming (now Ruthven) website continues to have a DEI section that the committee created and monitors. Numerous resources were shared regarding COVID-19, racism, and xenophobia, along with information on committee events.

*While these updates reflect many of the central actions listed in U-M plan, university efforts on these topics also include hundreds of initiatives outlined by the 50 planning units all across campus. For more information, the campuswide and all 50 unit-level plans are located at: http://diversity.umich.edu/strategic-plan/ 

 

Climate Survey

Background

The U-M Campus Climate Survey on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) was designed as both a scientific sample (designed to provide institution level estimates), as well as a census of students, faculty, and staff at the U-M Ann Arbor campus. While some questions included in the survey related to the overall U-M community, the main study objective was to provide respondents with the opportunity to share their perspectives, opinions, and experiences associated with DEI topics as they relate to U-M overall, as well as the units where the community spend most of their time. The Campus Climate Survey was taken in 2017, and again in 2021. This summary will focus on examining the changes that have taken place in between the two surveys within the Office of the President, and the Vice President and Secretary of the University.

The Offices of the President, and Vice President and Secretary of the University (hereby referred to as “the Unit”) are small offices that, combined, represent 15 staff members that were eligible to complete the survey. Out of 15 eligible staff members, 12 individuals completed the survey. Because of the small sample size, much of the demographic data was withheld to protect the identities of respondents, however there is still a significant amount of information that can be gleaned from the responses that were gathered.

 

Perceptions of the Ann Arbor Campus Climate Overall

More than half of respondents said they were satisfied/very satisfied with the campus climate (58.3%), although between 2017 and 2021, there was a modest decline in perceptions of satisfaction among those identifying as white. 

Overall, the perceptions of the Ann Arbor campus climate improved slightly.

 

Perceptions of Unit Climate

Half of the respondents said that they were satisfied/very satisfied with the climate in their work unit (50%). There has been a pronounced decline in the number of respondents who said they were satisfied/very satisfied with their work climate between the 2017 and 2021 surveys. Within that timeframe, a number of major events occurred that effected the climate, such as the pandemic in which staff pivoted to remote work for nearly two years.  There was also multiple staffing changes and a presidential transition.

Overall, the satisfaction with the work climate of the Office of the President, and Vice President and Secretary declined. However, it’s difficult to determine with the small number of surveyed participants if this decline is the result of broader trends within the unit or if it was more localized to specific individuals.

 

Dimensions of Campus Climate Within the Work Unit 

Respondents rated their work unit on several factors related to general climate on a five-point scale. Across the Office of the President, and Vice President and Secretary, staff experienced their primary work unit as friendly, respectful, collegial, collaborative, supporting, and welcoming.

When respondents rated their work unit on several factors related to diversity climate on the same five-point scale. Staff responded that they experience their units as non-racist, more diverse than not, non-sexist, non-homophobic, non-transphobic, and non-ageist.

Although there was a slight decline in dimensions related to diversity, the work unit climate remains positive overall.  

Implementation Leads

Tyne Lucas, Kimberly Brown, Mikalia Dennis

Unit Strategic Plan

To learn more, contact: [email protected] or [email protected].

Visit here for more information about diversity, equity and inclusion programs and resources.

 

Unit Summary

Year One Planning Process Summary

Information was gathered from the Human Resources Database and open office hours held for staff. These included three wide-ranging discussions with groups of staff that explored diversity, equity, and inclusion, and several informal interviews.  Team members reviewed information, analyzed data, and developed the 2016-17 diversity strategic plan based on what they learned from the sources. 

Through the planning process, the 2015-16 team learned that staff members find it difficult to add meetings or other conversations to their calendars. (Schedules are highly responsive to unanticipated urgent needs.)  Going forward, the Office of the Provost diversity planning team will work to create different kinds of opportunities to provide input into DEI activities.  These include the planned survey and greater use of standing meetings.  The 2016-17 diversity leads will consult colleagues in other units to learn about additional alternatives.

 

Year One Implementation Summary

Year one was a year of learning for the 2016-2017 DEI leads.  The challenges that were identified during the planning process proved to be barriers to completing the planned action items.  Time constraints for the leads made it difficult to develop extensive communication strategies and plan unit level events.  Similarly, staff had difficulty finding time to participate in DEI related events and activities.  The siloed approach to staff meetings was also identified as a barrier.  Leadership and support staff meet separately and the DEI leads do not have access to leadership meetings.  This made it difficult to engage all levels of the staff.

Given the many challenges, there were things that did work well.  Having a small staff made it easy to communicate and encourage participation.  The leads used this to their advantage by speaking face-to-face with each member of the staff to encourage attendance at the DEI Strategic Plan Launch event to encourage participation in the All Staff Climate Survey.  This proved successful with approximately 60-70% staff attendance at the DEI Plan Launch and 82.3% participation in the All Staff Climate Survey.  Hosting unit level events over the lunch hour also worked well, particularly with support staff.  The DEI leads met with other DEI leads and joined the Fleming Building DEI Committee, which was established to collaborate, share best practices, and produce DEI events aimed at building community across units within the building.  Because many of the leads on the Fleming DEI Committee are in units much like the Office of the Provost – small in size and staff centric – ideas shared within this group translate well and can be easily replicated.

Moving forward, the leads will focus on developing communication strategies that are consistent, effective, and that reach all levels of staff.  Identifying a DEI champion within the leadership team that can carry information to leadership will also be a goal.  Having support and buy-in from leadership will be critical.  A new Provost will start in the fall of 2017.  This is an opportunity to educate him about the Office of the Provost DEI Plan and outline how leadership can support the work of the DEI leads.  Planning and creating a budget for 2017-18 unit level DEI events and activities will increase success and support from leadership.

 

Year Two Implementation Summary

In year one of implementation, we identified several challenges that impeded engagement of staff within our office.  Primary to those challenges was the lack of a strong connection of leadership to the unit’s DEI plan and related activities.  Therefore, in year two we specifically focused on reaching out to leadership and stressing the importance of having their support and visibility connected to our DEI efforts.  It was particularly important for leadership to encourage participation and engagement of senior level staff.  Having two key leadership positions filled was key to activating leadership and developing deeper engagement.  Although this was positive progress during year two, it happened late in the year given the timing of hiring.  Despite this stalling of efforts in the early part of the year, the impact of leadership support was immediately evident and allowed us to gain great traction and momentum in the latter part of the year.

Engagement of senior level staff and time constraints for all staff continue to present some barriers.  However, we are encouraged by having leadership at the table to brainstorm ideas for how to address these barriers and increase participation in DEI related events at the unit level and across campus.

The establishment of the Office of the Provost DEI newsletter has also given us another avenue to communicate with staff and create awareness about DEI events happening across campus and within our unit.  Also, the establishment of weekly DEI lead touch base meetings and monthly touch base meetings with leadership creates dedicated time to review implemented progress, plan engagement activities, and develop ideas to address challenges and barriers.

Year two implementation had a slow start but is closing out very strong.  We hope to carry this momentum forward for a stellar year three.

 

Year Three Implementation Summary

Year three of implementation was the first year we had the benefit of an entire year of structured meetings with leadership.  We found this helpful in keeping leadership apprised of our progress and checking in on action items that are owned by leadership.  Leadership support is necessary in moving forward on action items that require procedural/structural changes.  It also continues to be a key factor in the engagement of staff at all levels.

In year three, we had three major focuses: 1) addressing findings in our unit climate survey results; 2) offering a wide array of DEI activities at a regular cadence; and 3) increasing participation in DEI activities, particularly with Vice Provosts and Associate/Assistant Vice Provost level staff.  We were able to begin addressing our climate survey results and we more than doubled the number of DEI learning opportunities by offering or promoting a DEI event every month during the academic year.  Overall, engagement is still a struggle; however, it was encouraging to have greater participation from the Associate/Assistant Vice Provosts and a slight increase in participation amongst all staff.

In our efforts to engage staff, we scheduled most events during the lunch hour, which has had some success in the past; we sent email “save-the-dates” and formal invitations with several follow-up reminders, and we scheduled some events during our senior leadership meeting times to increase the likelihood of their availability.  While we did experience a slight increase in staff participation, there is still opportunity for improvement.

To address the need for improving participation, we plan to focus year four on facilitating a deeper level of commitment by the Provost, Vice Provosts, Special Counsel to the Provost, and Chief of Staff/HR Director.  There must be a paradigm shift in the prioritization and expectations connected to the DEI initiative in order to make meaningful changes to the culture within the Office of the Provost.  That shift should begin with leadership.

 

Year Four Implementation Summary

Year four began with a focus on the need for improving engagement across all levels of staff, which was fostered and prioritized by the provost.  Leadership addressed participation in DEI programming specifically with vice provost level staff.  A clear expectation was communicated, setting the tone for engagement in year four.

Our engagement began positively with robust participation from provost office staff.  However, early in the year, a number of circumstances derailed planned programming: a medical leave for the provost postponed a planned DEI themed retreat in November; in January, an acting and subsequently interim provost was named because of an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct by the provost; and in March, the onslaught of the coronavirus across the country necessitated a state mandated stay-at-home order.  This forced the cancellation of the rescheduled staff retreat and all other in-person training, programs and events, most notably a workshop on culture change developed by Organizational Learning specifically for the Office of the Provost.

These challenges inspired the development of DEI ALIVE: Active Learning in (a) Virtual Environment, which was intended to continue staff engagement with DEI related content and conversation.  These sessions have proven to be a huge success, with an average of 30 participants in each session.  The culture change workshop, Creating the Climate We Desire, was also presented virtually with a majority of the office participating.  Both of these programs will continue and expand in year five with guest facilitators, the formation of internal working groups for culture change, and deeper collaboration with other units.

Recent events involving police brutality and the disparate impact of COVID-19 on communities of color have highlighted the need for dismantling systems of oppression.  In year five, in addition to examining our office culture, we plan to interrogate the ways in which systemic racism may show up in the Office of the Provost, how we can address this and what it means to be anti-racist.  

 

DEI 1.0 Reflections and Initial Priorities for DEI 2.0

• We need to ensure that our recruiting, hiring, and retention processes always include efforts to mitigate bias to attract a diverse talent pool and ultimately diversify our staff. Developing a diverse community requires serious attention to addressing issues related to social justice, systemic racism, sexism and classism. Examples of implementation include: a reimagined interview process that includes staff at all levels, requiring Unconscious Bias in Recruitment and Hiring and Behavioral Interview training for all staff. 
• Continued work with Angela Benke and the Talent Acquisition Team for Interview Processes has taught us more about bias, both explicit and implicit. Also highlighted was the importance of a well-crafted position description, which can significantly broaden and diversify applicant pools.
• There is a need for more meaningful training in climate work, and clearer pathways to conflict resolution and difficult conversations for staff.
• It is important that we both continue to celebrate the opportunities for professional growth these positions provide, while also wrestling with the reality of turnover. We need to expand efforts to track both  recruitment and retention.
• Standardized onboarding helps new staff become acclimated to our unit culture and feel a sense of belonging. Introduction of a mentoring program for new hires has been a great way to retain staff and should continue. For example: a standardized (living) onboarding document that is housed/available on our website, along with other resources for new and current staff.
• It would be useful to conduct a workload and pay equity study for our unit, and make the merit and equity review process more transparent for all staff.
• We are hopeful that the office will continue to offer flexible work arrangements for all staff, and be mindful to schedule DEI engagement opportunities for when most staff are in the office. 
• Bringing staff together regularly helps to cultivate an inclusive climate and creates a space to have conversations about climate issues. During the COVID-19 Pandemic we were able to pivot to a learning platform that allowed us to keep our staff engaged around DEI-related topics (DEI ALIVE – Diversity, Equity & Inclusion: Active Learning in a Virtual Environment).
• we will continue to offer DEI learning opportunities that cover a broad spectrum of diversity, equity & inclusion topics. People come to the table with different levels of comfort and we should create multiple mechanisms that allow staff to contribute in a way that feels comfortable to them.
• Naming leadership (Provost, Vice Provosts, Chief of Staff & Special Counsel) as champions of DEI is key, as leadership should be present at engagement opportunities and encourage staff participation. Collaboration with other units within university administration will also be beneficial.
• Having a more collective approach to the responsibility of advancing DEI in our unit (e.g. a broader DEI committee, apart from the DEI Leads) is important. Make sure we allow staff to fully participate in the development, revising, and implementation of our DEI plan; we want everyone to feel like this is their DEI plan. 
• DEI engagement/event planning process must include properly vetting speakers and partnering with relevant experts, including individuals from marginalized communities, especially when we plan to host engagement opportunities about that community. We must be sure we are offering a broad swath of topics related to DEI to engage all interests of our staff.
• We plan to ensure representation of all staff levels on office policy-making committees or initiatives put in place by the provost, and adopt a transparent and clear misconduct policy/process for internal reporting for all employees. 
• We will create greater understanding around the significance of provost-initiated priorities, and acknowledge the far-reaching heft these initiatives have on our campus.
• We will continue to embed DEI into the processes and information that we provide in service to the campus community (e.g. new deans’ orientation, the All Chairs meeting, the annual budget planning process, promotion & tenure, etc).
• As a unit, we will look for opportunities to participate in more service activities.

Implementation Lead

Henry Jackowski

Unit Strategic Plan

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Visit here for more information about diversity, equity and inclusion programs and resources.

 

Unit Summary

Over the past five years, EGI actively improved its practices and policies

in DEI as part of efforts within equitable economic growth. Below is an overview of best practices that emerged as a result of these initiatives.

 

PEOPLE

Reviews and Hiring – EGI has made equity adjustments several times over

the last five years to ensure appropriate salary relationships, ultimately improving employee retention. Further, EGI created a hiring rubric to help eliminate bias when evaluating new candidates for hire.

 

PROCESS

Strategic Planning – EGI uses a strategic planning methodology that works to ensure decisions are made in an equitable manner and align with the overall strategy. This methodology uses a consensus-driven process including all EGI staff, fostering inclusivity and working to remove unconscious bias.

 

PRODUCT

Decision Making – EGI trains others, outside of its organization, to use the same decision-making methodology as certified decision coaches. Decision coaches work in companies and communities across Michigan, utilizing their skills to support equitable economic growth.

 

MOVING FORWARD

EGI’s updated strategic plan, expected to be released in October of 2023, aims to ensure that projects will continue to foster equitable economic growth in the companies and communities EGI supports within the state of Michigan.

If you’re interested in more information about our efforts and future goals, please reach out to Brooke Sweeney, [email protected] or Sarah Crane, [email protected].

Implementation Lead

Ethriam Brammer

Unit Strategic Plan

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Unit Summary

As demonstrated in Rackham Graduate School’s annual Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Strategic Plans and update reports, over the course of the last five years (2017-2022), Rackham successfully instituted an extensive array of more than 60 action items in order to advance DEI within the graduate education community at the University of Michigan (U-M).

In partnership with the graduate faculty and graduate program leadership, Rackham was also able to implement a comprehensive set of DEI recruitment, retention, and student success strategies, resulting in noteworthy increases in the number and percentage of domestic underrepresented minority (URM) students enrolled in both doctoral (19.1% to 22.1%) and master’s degree (16.6% to 18.4%) programs. These same strategies, which were reviewed by the U-M Office of General Counsel (OGC), also led to increases in the number and percentage of domestic women enrolled in doctoral (32.5% to 33.6%) and master’s (23.1% to 29.0%) degree programs, as well.

Beyond the DEI 1.0 process, “inclusive excellence” is one of Rackham’s core values as articulated in its Strategic Vision. DEI concepts and frameworks are embedded and woven throughout the graduate school’s Strategic Vision; and, “Strengthened Diversity” is named as one of four (4) strategic goals, bolstered by five (5) strategic objectives, which will help to sustain Rackham’s efforts to continue to advance DEI for many years to come.

Rackham remains committed to advancing DEI and accessibility for all of its constituencies, including graduate students, graduate school staff, graduate faculty, and Rackham alumni. This can be seen in the way its annual DEI strategic plans have introduced actions to support each of these constituency groups, consistent with Rackham’s mission and values. 

 

Students Success Initiatives

Rackham’s success in advancing DEI stems from its ability to employ inclusive practices that engage and empower all constituencies of the graduate education community–students, staff, faculty, and alumni–in all phases of planning and implementation.

Through various standing bodies established during DEI 1.0, such as the Rackham Diversity Advisory Council (RACDAC) and the Strategic Action Leadership Team (SALT), this approach has elevated the voices of the entire community and leveraged their collective knowledge and expertise to crowd-source creativity and innovation, leading to a number important new programs implemented over the past five (5) years, including the Rackham Minority Serving Institutions (MSI) initiative, which offered MSI Outreach and Collaboration Grants to graduate programs seeking to build relationships with MSIs across the country.  

During the same period, Rackham created the Professional Development DEI Certificate program for graduate students, impacting graduate students across various disciplines at U-M. It was one of the first DEI Certificates on campus and the first to serve graduate students. By 2021, 374 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows had successfully completed the program, with a growing number of participants enrolling each year.

Similarly, Rackham also led the creation of “Engendering Respectful Communities: Sexual Misconduct Prevention for Graduate Students” workshop, in collaboration with the Office of Institutional Equity (OIE), Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center (SAPAC), Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (CRLT), the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LSA), and the Educational Theatre Company (ETC).  This important effort is now being sustained through SAPAC’s Graduate Research, Outreach, Workshops, and Evaluation (GROWE) Volunteer Program.

In collaboration with ADVANCE and a research team comprised of graduate students and faculty focusing on disabilities studies, Rackham published the first-in-the-nation study, entitled “Rackham Graduate Students with Disabilities Needs Assessment Study” (U-M IRB HUM00176376), resulting in the subsequent publication of “Graduate Students with Disabilities: A Case Study” in A Practitioner’s Guide to Supporting Graduate and Professional Students (Routledge Press, 2022).

Additionally, Rackham partnered with the National Center for Institutional Diversity (NCID) to fund Anti-Racism Research Fellowships for Graduate Students. In its first year, 21 anti-racism graduate student research fellows were awarded.  Now in its second year, the fellowship program has grown through an additional partnership with the Ford School’s Center for Racial Justice.

Finally, motivated by Rackham’s ongoing commitment to holistic admissions practices in order to recruit, admit, and foster the success of students in Ph.D. programs at U-M, Rackham announced that it will discontinue the use of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) general test in doctoral admissions, beginning with the 2022–2023 admissions cycle.  

 

Staff Climate & Culture Initiatives

Rackham is committed to creating a workplace where all of its staff feel valued, included, and a strong sense of belonging. To achieve this goal, the graduate school cultivates a culture of trust, integrity, transparency, accountability, and respect.

Prior to the launch of the U-M Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion’s (ODEI) DEI 1.0, Rackham partnered with the ADVANCE Program on campus to conduct a staff climate assessment in 2016. This early climate survey helped inform many of the staff DEI initiatives implemented between 2017 and 2022.

Rackham again partnered with the ADVANCE Program to conduct a second climate assessment during Fall 2020 in order to assess improvements in the way that graduate school staff experienced their workplace climate and culture, by comparing survey results of 2016 with the results of the 2020 survey when identical items were asked in both surveys.

According to the ADVANCE report, on the whole, Rackham saw significant improvements in the way staff experienced their workplace climate.  

One action contributing to the improved climate was the creation of the Rackham Inclusive Spaces Committee, which was instituted to promote inclusive and universal design principles in order to establish more welcoming and inclusive physical spaces and environments to enhance accessibility, team-building, and collaboration across Rackham units.

Similarly, many of the DEI action items implemented over the course of DEI 1.0 were developed and initiated by Rackham‘s SALT team, including efforts to formalize the annual campus wide celebration of Juneteenth.  

Beginning with a presentation by SALT during Rackham’s monthly Staff Forum in 2020, designed to educate graduate school staff about the history of Juneteenth, Rackham enhanced its previous celebration by partnering with various campus units and the Ann Arbor Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to establish the first campus wide observation of Juneteenth in 2021. 

Subsequently, the U-M Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives (OAMI) within ODEI has now begun to lead the planning for this important annual celebration for the campus and border Ann Arbor communities. 

 

Faculty Engagement & Partnership Initiatives

Rackham understands the importance of the graduate faculty for cultivating and maintaining diverse and inclusive climates and cultures within graduate programs.

However, traditional tenure-track faculty do not have their tenure homes within Rackham; as a result, the graduate school has limited opportunities to directly support faculty scholarship, teaching, and research. Nevertheless, Rackham has developed programs which support inclusive pedagogy and mentoring, such as Rackham’s Faculty Committee on Mentoring (MORE) as well as the Faculty Allies for Diversity in Education program.

Faculty Allies serve as key contacts for DEI issues in graduate education within their respective departments—participating in DEI workshops, mentoring graduate students, and playing a vital role in raising awareness and marshaling resources to address issues of inclusion and climate within their programs.

Rackham successfully expanded the Faculty Allies program over the course of DEI 1.0. Since 2017, the graduate school has increased the number of departments and graduate programs participating from 81 to 107. In addition, the number of faculty members serving as allies from 89 to 139. This represents an increase of more than 50% over the last five (5) years. 

Finally, during the final three years of DEI 1.0, Rackham provided a total of $992,043 for Faculty Allies grants and $306,650 for complementary Student Allies grants to 113 Rackham and non-Rackham graduate programs.

 

Alumni Engagement & Partnership Initiatives 

In an effort to engage and empower all of its constituencies, Rackham has intentionally partnered with its alumni to advance DEI and accessibility efforts through the graduate education community on campus.

Beginning with the creation of RACDAC in 2018, Rackham has learned a great deal from its alumni members about the historical trajectory of efforts to increase diversity and promote inclusion at U-M, leading to the establishment of online Rackham alumni communities and efforts to provide alumni mentoring to current Rackham students.

In addition, the growth in interest on behalf of our alumni has led to the recent creation of the Rackham Alumni Diversity Council (RADC), which brings together alumni and friends of the graduate school to share their knowledge, perspective, and connections to develop, promote, and sustain DEI efforts across Rackham’s local, national, and global communities through strategic action. 

For example, in 2021, the Alumni M-Pact Certificate Program welcomed its inaugural cohort of 61 U-M alumni participants, who received their degrees in years spanning from 1969 to 2021. Program participants engaged in readings, videos, and discussions around race and other areas of diversity. Additionally, cohort members developed their own DEI projects with support and guidance through small group conversations and individually matched coaches.

Implementation Leads

Lauren Davis, Vanesa Jackson, Rebecca Hardin

Unit Strategic Plan

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Visit here for more information about diversity, equity and inclusion programs and resources.

 

Unit Summary

In the fall of 2015, the University of Michigan renewed its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). After a yearlong period of planning, 49 units across campus developed strategic goals and objectives. The process launched in fall 2016 with the creation of a five- year DEI strategic plan, now referred to as DEI 1.0, which took place from 2016-2021.

In alignment with this process, the School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) – then known as the School of Natural Resources and the Environment, appointed a faculty DEI Director and formed a DEI Committee. Engaging in activities between September 2015 to March 2016, from data collection, town halls, focus groups, and climate surveys, they gathered extensive community input to develop the initial SEAS DEI Strategic Plan. The DEI team maintained an iterative process for future activities, and subsequent plans continued to evolve based on priority needs of the school and feedback from students, staff, and faculty. DEI 1.0 was a period of deep-rooted work towards substantive change to weave DEI throughout the fabric of SEAS, including our organizational policies, programming, research, service, and the lens from which we approach our everyday practices.

In July 2021, the first five years of the University’s Strategic Planning process concluded and led into the DEI 1.0 evaluation phase for the 2021-2022 academic year. This was an opportunity to reflect on the journey from where SEAS began in 2016. This report provides a brief summary of the data and findings from the evaluation process, including a snapshot of demographic data, key highlights, climate survey findings, and where we are headed for the next five years of DEI at SEAS.

 

SEAS Equity and Justice Initiative

Acknowledging that the environmental movement has roots in racist ideologies and practices, as well as the need for reform, SEAS launched the Equity and Justice Initiative (EJI) in Fall 2020. The goal of this initiative is to foster a culture at SEAS and within society that advances equal rights for all; combats racist ideologies and practices within the environmental movement; and recognizes the intersectionality between issues of race, identity, gender, socioeconomic status, religion, and background.

SEAS leadership, in collaboration with the SEAS Black Student Body and the SEAS DEI Committee, developed an EJI plan in which they identified immediate and long-term actionable goals for creating transformative change within the school, particularly for Black, marginalized, Indigenous, and underrepresented peoples. Major outcomes to date include:

• Creation of a restructured DEI Office, including 3 full- time DEI professional staff members and an expanded Faculty JEDI Director role
• DEI Requirement for Faculty Development – requiring participation in one or more SEAS-DEI approved professional development opportunity per semester and assessed on the Faculty Annual Review
• New annual performance measures for SEAS faculty and staff that leads to documented achievement of internal or external DEI outcomes.
• Commitment to at least two new faculty hires focused on equity and justice and the intersection of environment and sustainability

Decolonizing SEAS Curriculum Initiative

The Decolonizing SEAS Curriculum Initiative emerged out of student activism and support from the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and SEAS DEI Office. DSI aims to: (1) elevate the scholarly contributions by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color authors (2) address the harmful impacts of colonialism and systemic racism contributing to environmental problems within historically marginalized communities, and (3) assess the implementation of BIPOC knowledge in curricula and decolonized pedagogies in the classroom. The pilot DSI program tasked students and professors to collaborate to revise course syllabi. The next iteration of DSI includes ongoing educational events, specialization breakouts, and DEI metrics included in teaching evaluations.

The initiative has succeeded thus far in:

• Adding justice and equity knowledge and practices to courses
• Creating a more inclusive and robust academic environment
• Providing meaningful learning experiences for student researchers
• Co-creating a class on radical urban planning and environmental equity

Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Program

The Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Program (DDCSP) which ran from 2016-2020 under the guidance of Dr. Dorceta Taylor and Program Manager, Meg Daupan, was a two-year experiential learning national summer program for undergraduate students from broadly diverse backgrounds. Each scholar spent two consecutive summers at the University of Michigan performing environmental research (year 1) and participating in an internship (year 2) relating to the environmental field. Placement sites included small grassroots organizations, big greens, academia, government, and foundation experiences.

Lessons learned from DDCSP include:

The existence of the DDCSP program, by representation and intentional recruitment, increased the diversity of the environmental sciences field.

Students gained professional and career experience in environmental organizations.

A high level of DDCSP fellows applied to graduate school.

We also found that many of the students from DDCSP applied as masters students to SEAS, broadly increasing the diversity pool of qualified incoming applicants. Since this program was directly connected to the work of the previous SEAS Faculty DEI Director, Dr. Dorceta Taylor who left U-M for another university in 2021, it no longer resides at SEAS.

 

Salary Equity Reviews & Compensation Analysis

The SEAS Human Resources (HR) department annually conducts a thorough review of SEAS staff and faculty full- time salary rates during the Performance Management Process to ensure that the school maintains an effort to offer competitive salaries and to assess for equity across all positions.

In addition to the annual equity reviews, during hiring processes, managers must share their salary ranges with SEAS HR prior to posting and before making a final offer so that a salary analysis can be completed. This analysis pulls from several data sources, to help mitigate any potential biases and to have data-driven decisions when making salary offers.

 

DEI in the Annual Review Process

To better assess contributions towards developing an inclusive school environment, SEAS incorporated DEI and culture related questions into the staff and faculty annual review processes.

Staff are asked to reflect on how they cultivate relationships to promote collaboration in the workplace while embracing diverse perspectives, how they engage in activities that support the school’s mission and culture, and actively seek opportunities that will add to a workplace culture that contributes to a more inclusive, equitable, and diverse community. Several items were added to the faculty annual review requirements, including reporting on progress to decolonize courses, engagement towards the DEI professional development requirement, and reporting on their grant proposals to fund summer fellowships and assistantships for JEDI students.

Reducing Barriers in the Admissions Process

Since 2020, the SEAS Student Center has eliminated the application fee for all graduate program applications to help reduce the financial barriers to applying for graduate school. The GRE requirement was also eliminated to remove the unnecessary, costly, inaccurate, and biased evaluation of academic potential. SEAS additionally developed and emphasized holistic practices for admission and funding reviews, including the removal of a GPA cut-off to ensure that all applications receive full and equitable consideration.

 

DEI Champion Award

To recognize and reward the dedication and labor to advance the SEAS justice and DEI goals, the DEI Committee established the DEI Champion Award in 2021 to honor the contributions of SEAS students who are actively working to weave DEI into the fabric of our school and enhance the success of students during their time at SEAS. This recognition comes with a financial award and is offered annually in the Winter.

 

Race & Equity Chats

In response to the national and international anti-racism and Black Lives Matter movements, the SEAS DEI Office facilitated weekly Race and Equity chats for students, staff, and faculty to come together to learn about systemic racism, bias, how our actions may perpetuate and uphold racism, and ways we can change behavior. The chats highlighted that our community is committed and vested in moving to be anti-racist and provided a space for participants to share where they are at individually in their learning.

 

Looking Ahead: DEI 2.0

As we move into DEI 2.0, we recognize that we still have much more to accomplish to achieve our aspirational goals of diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice, and will use all that we have learned from the previous five years to develop a more strategic and collaborative DEI plan. While our new strategic plan will evolve over time, below are some initial priorities identified for DEI 2.0 at SEAS.

 

Recruiting, Retaining, and Developing a Diverse Community

• Establish more affinity spaces that, while open to all, focus on the needs and experiences of our underrepresented and marginalized students, staff, and faculty, foster connections across these groups, and provide opportunities to build supportive networks
• Develop a DEI Hiring Plan, starting with an analysis of our current practices and creating a plan to increase the diversity of staff and faculty, focusing on recruitment and retention
• Funding remains a major barrier for making SEAS and the University of Michigan an accessible educational option for many potential students. Student financial support will continue to remain a top priority to better assist the students who attend SEAS, and to diversify the community of learners who will ultimately go out and make an impact in addressing environmental challenges across the globe
• As our student body has increased and become more diverse, we recognize that we must provide additional services and programs to meet the diverse range of learning needs and to create a sense of belonging. We have launched a Student Success Program that focuses on developing professional skills, wellness, and connects students with a strong support system

 

Creating an Inclusive and Equitable Campus Climate

• Utilize the data from our DEI Climate surveys to address key areas outlined around our school climate
• Create mechanisms for transparent communication of progress of DEI goals and have a way for all units in SEAS to develop specific DEI goals for their teams
• Connect DEI Skills training with more practical avenues to practice the skills in an ongoing way, that builds on itself and is tied to broader values and school priorities
• Build synergy across DEI efforts and increase connections with other schools and departments, and create alignment between the U-M Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion’s vision of DEI 2.0 and SEAS
• Focus on community building and develop a better understanding and process for community engagement in a hybrid/virtual environment, and more intentionally create opportunities to connect across students, staff, and faculty. Resume holding regular staff meetings that are designed to meet the needs of staff and build trust and communication across functional areas
• While continuing to work with existing central University reporting mechanisms, explore ways to clarify and enhance internal support mechanisms for grievances, bias, and DEI related concerns, with a focus on prevention and restorative approaches
• Analyze relevant DEI information gaps, and establish metrics, incentives, and accountability mechanisms regarding DEI initiatives

 

Supporting Innovative and Inclusive Scholarship, Teaching, Research, and Service

• Increase access to DEI metrics and resources
• Better evaluate DEI progress in future years and consider the creation of a centralized reporting structure for SEAS DEI initiatives to increase efficiency in the data collection process
• Connect DEI stakeholders to one another for future collaborations and to seek feedback about their initiatives
• Secure funding for SEAS Master’s and PhD students who would like to conduct research or participate in service
• Expand on the Decolonizing SEAS Curriculum Initiative to include ongoing educational events, specialization breakouts, and DEI metrics included in teaching evaluations

Implementation Leads

Todd Vincent Ester, Shanté Galloway

Unit Strategic Plan

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Unit Summary

 

2016

A ROAD WELL TRAVELED – DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION

1. 1973 -1996: Office of Minority Affairs established, Dr. Lee Jones, Director
2. 1994-1995: Cultural Audit, Multicultural Affairs, Committee (MAC)
3. 1999 – 2006: Office of Multicultural Affairs, Dr. Todd V. Ester, Director
4. 2006-2007: Cultural Audit
5. 2007- 2013: Office of Multicultural Affairs & Recruitment Initiatives, Dr. Ken May, Director
6. 2014: Office of Diversity and Inclusion, Dr. Todd V. Ester, Director, 2014
7. 2014-2015: Climate Study

HISTORICAL COMMITMENT

For over a century, the University of Michigan School of Dentistry (UMSD) has been a ‘leader and best’ in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, including successful recruitment, matriculation, and professional development activities.

• In 1890 graduated the first female African-American dentist in the United States of America, Dr. Ida Gray.
• UMSD has graduated more African-American dentists (400+) than any other U.S. dental school with the exception of those at the historically black colleges and universities (HBCU), Howard and Meharry.
• The school has also graduated 140 Latino dentists and 25 Native American dentists, including the first American Indian female dentist, Dr. Jessica Rickert, DDS 1975 (Potawatomi). Her graduation placed Dr. Rickert in history as the third American Indian dentist in the nation to come from a federally recognized tribe.

 

RECOMMENDATIONS

Increase Resources that Foster an Inclusive Environment (inclusion and equity):

R1. Implement cultural sensitivity training.

R2. Provide internal cultural sensitivity training.

Create Structures to Improve Communication across the School (inclusion):

R3. Create think tanks made up of students, faculty and staff.

R4. Create a clear, safe place to report incidents of micro-aggressions.

Increase Diversity (diversity):

R5. Increase diversity of staff, faculty and students.

 

DEVELOPING, ASSESSING, TRACKING

Cultural Competency training for students, staff and faculty

Growing and continuing a vibrant and dynamic MAC

Track the number of students, staff and faculty engaged in DEI efforts

Review and revise the Communication and Conflict Resolution Program Strategies

Regular meetings of the MAC Implementation Committee

Updates twice a year to the UMSD leadership team

Monthly updates to Associate Dean Murdoch-Kinch and Dean McCauley

Annual update to the UMSD Executive Committee

Annual update to UMSD community (faculty, staff, students) via town hall

Expand Profile for Success summer program and Pipeline building efforts

 

Team

UMSD DEI Planning Teams:

Multicultural Affairs Committee (MAC)

Strategic Planning Committee (People Domain)

Climate Study Steering Committee (CSSC)

Climate Study Advisory Committee (CSAC)

Climate Study Implementation Committee (CIC)

 

MAC IMPLEMENTATION COMMITTEE:

Todd V. Ester, DDS & Tina L. Pryor, MSHRM, Co-Chairs

 

Faculty/Administration:

Professor Martha Mccomas, Drs: Rogerio Castilho, Renee Duff, Elliott Hill, Marita Inglehart, Elisabeta Karl, Kyriaki Marti, Raymond Maturo, Kenneth May, Helena Ritchie, Henry Temple

Staff:  Judy Craft, Bonnie Dawson, Mary Jo Gray, Cindi Hartman, Kim Huner, Gail Oljace, Brandonn Perry, Cheryl Quiney, Kimberly Smith, John Squires

 

Students:

Luke Aiura, Zahraa Allohaibi, Amir Aryaan, Assal Aslani, Wassim El Awadi, Dan Blair, Stephen Cheung, Vanessa Donastorg, Jae Young Han, Patrick Johnson, Milad Karim.

Peter Liang, Sara Safdari-Sadaloo, Ubonwan Sae-Ung, Alexandria Schulz, Rachael Vasquez,Deangelo Webster, Emily Yanca, My Yang

2017

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Year One Highlights

University of Michigan School of Dentistry (UMSD)

Dean Laurie K. McCauley, DDS, MS, PhD

Todd V. Ester, DDS and Tina L. Pryor, MSHRM

Presenters and Co-Chairs

 

MULTICULTURAL AFFAIRS (MAC) IMPLEMENTATION COMMITTEE

The UMSD MAC/ MAC Implementation Committee was established and charged with the development of the campus Diversity Strategic Plan document for the UMSD and will address the recommendations from our 2014 Climate Study and the Strategic Plan People Domain.

 

PUBLICATION

“Climate Study of the Learning Environment for Faculty, Staff, and Students at a U.S. Dental School: Foundation for Culture Change”.

Journal of Dental Education, 81.10 ( 2017): 1153-1163.

 

DIVERSITY IS IN OUR DNA

For over a century, the University of Michigan School of Dentistry (UMSD) has been a ‘leader and best’ in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, including successful recruitment, matriculation and professional development activities.

 

• In 1890 graduated the first female African-American dentist in the United States of America, Dr. Ida Gray.
• The school has also graduated 140 Latino dentists and 25 Native American dentists, including the first American Indian female dentist, Dr. Jessica Rickert, DDS 1975 (Potawatomi).
• UMSD has graduated more African-American dentists (400+) than any other U.S. dental school with the exception of those at the historically black colleges and universities (HBCU), Howard and Meharry.  
• Building a Pipeline to Dentistry: Profile for Success is a successful 23-year summer program for disadvantaged students. Sixty percent (60%) of its 433 graduates are currently in dental school or dentists.

 

BIAS IN DECISION-MAKING ASSESSMENT RESULTS

“Our ability to increase the consciousness of our decision-making begins with a recognition that we all have bias and a willingness to identify ours.” Cook Ross, Inc.

TEAM

Dean Laurie McCauley & Dental School Leadership

 

DEI ADVISORY TEAM

Todd Ester, DDS, MA, Director of Diversity and Inclusion

Tina Pryor, BBA, MSHRM, Director of Human Resources

Carol Anne Murdoch-Kinch, DDS, PhD, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs

Lynn Johnson, MA, PhD, Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs & Institutional Effectiveness

Renee Duff, DDS, MS, Assistant Dean for Student Services

Michael Fox, Director of Budget and Financial Planning

Vidya Ramaswamy, PhD, Associate Director of Curriculum and Program Evaluation

 

OFFICE OF DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

Todd Ester, DDS, MA, Director

Ken May, DDS, MS, Associate Professor and Recruitment Officer

Dinella Crosby, MUP, Program Coordinator

 

DEI CO-LEADS

Todd Ester, DDS, MA, Director of Diversity and Inclusion

Tina Pryor, BBA, MSHRM, Director of Human Resources

• 2018

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) 

University of Michigan School of Dentistry (UMSD)

Dean Laurie K. McCauley, DDS, MS, PhD

Todd V. Ester, DDS and Tina L. Pryor, MSHRM

Presenters and Co-Chairs

 

• Diversity statement requested of all faculty search candidates. A template providing an overview of how a diversity statement should be constructed was developed. 
• Career Chat for Staff and Faculty Annual Review (FAR) process developed to capture Dental School faculty and staff involvement in diversity, equity, and inclusion activities. Working with our Dean, Department Chairs, and Leadership Team our Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and our Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. The Department Chairs and Executive Committee approved the DEI FAR template which is now a part of our annual faculty review process. Initial feedback is very positive from faculty.
• Career Chats was developed and approved for our staff DEI annual review. Cultural intelligence and competence are essential to our unit as we seek to achieve a humanistic learning environment for all staff, faculty and students.

 

The faculty annual review and Career Chats are mechanisms that allow faculty and staff to communicate to their department chairs and administrators their work in research, teaching, service and administrative responsibilities as it relates to our DEI goals. We believe engagement in these training sessions, DEI-MAC activities, and workshops fosters responsible growth and sustainability.

• 2019

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) 

University of Michigan School of Dentistry (UMSD)

Dean Laurie K. McCauley, DDS, MS, PhD

Todd V. Ester, DDS and Tina L. Pryor, MSHRM

Presenters and Co-Chairs

• The 2019 American Dental Association GIES Award recognized UMSD’s history and commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. The 2019 U-M Harold R. Johnson Diversity Service Award to Dr. Marita Inglehart. 
• Twenty-five (25) Years of PFS and increased fundraising for endowment-In 2019 the UMSD received its 25th cohort of our PFS program. This is a significant milestone in our program’s history and further underscores the power of sustainability. For example, seven of our 2018 program participants are D1 students at UMSD.
• Launched an inspirational student newsletter initiative called Buoy. This newsletter brings together the four constituent groups within our school-Dental Hygiene, Internationally Trained Dentists, DDS students and Graduate Students. The monthly newsletter highlights students from each group and shares unique inspirational stories from their dental and life journeys.
• UBT 2.0 for Departments-An effort to bring together grad students, staff, faculty and researchers within our five academic and other departments. UBT 2.0 incorporates aspects of the previous Unconscious Bias Training sessions with a deeper dive into learning how unconscious bias may impact daily work environments and professional decision-making. UBT 2.0 can be beneficial to people who have or have not participated in previous UBT sessions. This effort gave us an opportunity to collaborative with Michigan Medicine facilitator, Dr. Denise Williams. The departments were brought together for a 3.5-hour session which included lunch, table hosts, and engagement. Assigned seating required individuals to sit with colleagues with whom they may not have had much previous interaction. Departments designed their own session agenda with the assistance of the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

• 2020

DEI Engagement – 2020 at a Glance

Pre COVID and Past COVID

 

Face-to-Face and In-Person Gathering

Pre-COVID 

In-Person Events:

“The (Mis) Education of US-MLK Symposium and MILK Health Sciences Lecture Livestream Watch at UMSD”

 

103 people attended the DEI Day and Ida Gray Award

 

125 people attended to “Sexual Harassment and Gender Misconduct Plenary”

245 people attended “Getting to Know Education Brown Bags”

60: people attended “Profile for Success, an online application, the process implemented”

 

Learning and working remotely

Post-COVID

 

• Women’s Virtual CommuniTEA: Honoring positive, resilient, inspirational, women in our lives
• Rising D2, D3, and 4 students participate in virtual orientation: ” Health Providers Managing Stress in the New COVID World: Inclusive Excellence, Faculty: Dr. Larry Salzmann, Pediatric Dentistry Survive of Thrive? Can We Do Both?
• Taste Fest:  Celebrating our Diverse New Year’s Food Traditions
• Veteran’s Day Celebration: Honoring Those Who Served
• Multicultural Mirror: 3 Issues of the Multicultural Mirror
• Race, Anti-Racism and Racial Healing Sessions: Three Race, Anti-Racism and Racial Healing Sessions
• Safe Space Dialogue: Safe Space Dialogue for students, staff and faculty
• Charting Our Path Forward To Respect In Our Community: Students, staff and faculty attended the post-election session “Charting Our Path Forward To Respect In Our Community”
• 2020 Profile for Success: Twenty students participated in the 2020 Profile for Success virtual experiences

• 2021

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) 

University of Michigan School of Dentistry (UMSD)

Dean Laurie K. McCauley, DDS, MS, PhD

Todd V. Ester, DDS and Tina L. Pryor, MSHRM

Presenters and Co-Chairs

 

• The DEI-MAC became intentional on “How to keep our Community Connected in this New Virtual World. We began our meetings with a personal and professional check-in “How are you and your family doing.” We shared best practices and resources that could be helpful and shared key information from our leadership messaging with each other. We found as a DEI-MAC team that the Zoom platform allowed a great level of engagement.
• Profile for Success has been one of our most successful recruitment and pipeline programs for over 25 years. Our twenty-sixth cohort of PFS was a virtual program for twenty learners. The six-week program was very successful and allowed for a great deal of engagement using our Zoom platform. We were able to provide critical learning of the opportunities which are the Kaplan educational services for DAT preparation. academic and educational advising sessions, Peer, dental student and alumni mentorship programming, clinical foundations and dental anatomy instruction, admissions counseling and a mock interview patterned after our multiple mini-interview formatting. One intentional planning objective this year was to connect our dental student mentors, alumni, faculty, staff with our PFS learner community virtually.

Implementation Lead

Deborah Rivas-Drake

Unit Strategic Plan

Digital Poster

To learn more, contact: [email protected]

Visit here for more information about diversity, equity and inclusion programs and resources.

 

Unit Summary

dije is part of our identity 

“Our mission is to generate, study, and teach strategies, practices, and tools for addressing educational problems and to prepare practitioners, policy-makers, and researchers who can develop equitable and just educational opportunities.”

dije is how we can best achieve our mission: 

We engage in this work inwardly—looking at our own strategies, practices, and tools—to be able to fulfill our mission authentically and with integrity.

What do we mean when we say dije?

We commit to

• Increasing diversity, which is expressed in myriad forms, including race and ethnicity, gender and gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, language, culture, national origin, religious commitments, age, (dis)ability status, and political perspective. 
• Advancing equity, which entails challenging and responding to bias, harassment, and discrimination and creating equal opportunity for all people.
• Ensuring inclusion, which means creating a space where differences are welcomed, different perspectives are respectfully heard, and where every individual feels a sense of belonging and can fully participate in our community. 
• Promoting justice, which means the provision of equal respect, institutional access, and inclusive learning and work environments. Promoting justice means that we may have to take extraordinary measures or distribute resources differently than in the past as we seek to redress unjust practices that may result from structural barriers or institutional practices.

Implementation Leads

Judy Schabel, Devon Keen

Unit Strategic Plan

Digital Poster

To learn more, contact: [email protected] or [email protected].

Visit here for more information about diversity, equity and inclusion programs and resources.

 

Unit Summary

While DEI work at UMSI and the broader university was underway long before the DEI 1.0 Strategic Plan, this timeline highlights the DEI 1.0 plan creation and  implementation year by year.

 

DEI 1.0 Planning Year: 2015 – 2016

A DEI strategic planning task force of faculty, students and staff dedicated themselves to listening and talking with the UMSI Community, evaluating climate survey data and identifying needs and priorities. This intensive process laid the foundation for our first 5-year DEI Strategic Plan (DEI 1.0).

 

Year 1: 2016-2017

Description: UMSI DEI Strategic plan is launched. The plan started with over 20 action items across three focus areas: recruitment and retention, education and scholarship and cultivating an equitable and inclusive community. The overarching goal was to weave DEI into the fabric of everything we do.

Highlights:

• The plan was socialized through bulletin boards, emails, newsletters and presentations. Meetings were held to ensure those with responsibility for each action item had a plan for moving forward.
• The BSI Undergraduate program begins accepting external transfer students and the Community College Summer Institute is launched to increase awareness of and access to UMSI and the field of Information Science.

 

Year 2: 2017-2018

Description:  In Year 2, we focused on translating DEI goals into impactful DEI policies, initiatives, procedures and practices.

Highlights:

• The GRE was removed from admissions criteria in the MSI (and later, was removed from the MHI and the PhD).
• The crucial role of student leadership in furthering DEI strategy at UMSI was recognized with the creation of a .5 DEI Graduate Student Staff position.
• Community gatherings continued to provide forums for discussion, learning and support.

 

Year 3: 2018-2019

Description: Year 3, We engaged more deeply in understanding the social climate at UMSI demonstrating our ongoing commitment to assess and understand our climate and the needs of all community members.

Highlights:

• Conducted a school climate survey, continuing a four-year schedule begun in 2011
• Held focus groups, open to all with interest in the topics, on the needs and concerns of  Latinx and Hispanic students and International students.
• Engaged faculty, staff and students in the first school-wide DEI strategic planning retreat, using design thinking methods to generate priorities and action plans.

 

Year 4: 2019-2020

Description: Year 4, amidst a pandemic that started during winter term 2020 and global reckoning with racism, UMSI Black students and alumni invited UMSI leadership to sharpen our focus and set anti-racism as an institutional goal.

Highlights:

• Multiple meetings and discussions resulted in an expansion of the action items in the DEI Strategic plan with a focus on antiracism.
• The Race & Tech Reading group launched, supported by faculty and students.
• Increased student support including need based aid, conference funding and access to emergency funding.
• UMSI Faculty set up a fund for staff setting up home offices for remote work as the pandemic unfolded. Online interest groups created to foster faculty, staff and student connections.

 

Year 5: 2020-2021

Description: Year 5, The DEI Office was established and the DEI committee expanded to work towards embedding anti-racism in the UMSI curriculum. Significant strides were made in faculty diversity through the recruitment strategies noted below. Educational workshops to support our renewed anti-racism focus were organized.

Highlights:

• Dr. Whitney Peoples conducts a 3-part workshop on Developing an Anti-Racist Pedagogy.
• UMSI receives the Rhetaugh G. Dumas Progress in Diversifying Faculty Award.

Evaluation Year 2021

Evaluating DEI 1.0

While continuing our DEI efforts, we focused on gathering and reviewing data and reports to evaluate the progress we made in DEI 1.0. This involved reviewing climate survey reports, past year DEI progress reports, focus group reports and demographic data. This website shares key results of our evaluation including our collective progress and reflections as we prepare to build on DEI 1.0 with a new strategic plan, DEI 2.0.

Planning Year 2022

Planning for DEI 2.0

The UMSI DEI Committee, in collaboration with the DEI Office, will lead development of UMSI’s DEI 2.0 strategic plan, holding listening sessions with faculty, staff and students to gather input on strategic priorities and ideas for continuing and new actions.

Year 1 2023

DEI 2.0 Launches!

Who is involved in DEI?

At UMSI, everyone plays a role and has a responsibility to further our DEI goals. Learn how we’ve worked to weave DEI into our organizational culture. In addition to faculty and staff, students play a critical role in advancing DEI through their interactions with one another, in class projects and through research related to DEI issues, as leaders of student organizations and through student-led activism at the UMSI and campus level.

 

DEI work at UMSI has four main components:

1) DEI Office:  UMSI established a DEI Office in 2021 that now includes an assistant dean for DEI, a director of inclusion, equity and outreach, an outreach coordinator and two .50 DEI graduate student staff assistants (GSSAs.). This team provides DEI leadership, vision and infrastructure, from advising school leaders and collaborating with colleagues to organizing, implementing, tracking, documenting, communicating and evaluating DEI efforts.

2) DEI Committee:  Launched in 2013, the DEI Committee includes student, staff and faculty members. Each year the committee is given a “charge” or set of things to work on, and each year they write a report on their efforts, which informs the next year’s activity. The committee has played a central role in advancing DEI and serves as an advisory board to the DEI Office.

3) Academic Program Committees:  Each of UMSI’s academic programs has a committee that guides academic policies and curriculum. The Associate Dean for Academic Affairs includes DEI-related efforts as part of the annual charge to each committee, such as addressing DEI in course proposal forms and course reviews, creating template content for syllabi on accommodations and mental health and coordinating with the DEI committee on efforts to create an antiracist curriculum.

4) Each functional unit director in UMSI (such as admissions and student affairs, human resources, and research administration) takes responsibility for some of the actions included in the DEI strategic plan, and otherwise develops DEI-related goals for their unit’s work in support of the strategic plan and our DEI values. This means DEI work is spread throughout the school’s operations including facilities, IT, business & finance, human resources and more.

An overarching component of DEI infrastructure at UMSI is the UMSI Leadership Team, which includes the Dean, Associate Deans, Chief of Staff and Assistant Dean for DEI. This team has continued high-level support and commitment to achieving the school’s DEI goals.

 

What did we do?

We structured our DEI plan around three strategic objectives: recruitment and retention, education and scholarship and building a more inclusive and equitable community.

Recruitment and Retention
While many efforts had been made over many years and with some success, there is more to do to promote broad diversity across UMSI.

Greater diversity within our community helps *everyone* feel that they belong. Though we have more work to do, we made progress in diversifying our faculty and student cohorts on some dimensions. We asked “How can we do more to recruit and retain a more diverse community of students, faculty and staff?”

 

Faculty diversity recruitment

As part of the UM Presidential Postdoctoral Fellows Program, a diversity recruitment initiative, UMSI was approved to hire 11 Fellows between 2013 and 2022 – the most of any unit on campus. All 11 fellows have been retained, and to date, eight Presidential Postdocs have transitioned to the tenure track.

UMSI requires the U-M ADVANCE Program “Strategies and Tactics for Recruiting to Improve Diversity and Excellence (STRIDE)” training for UMSI faculty members serving on faculty search committees, and encourages all faculty to attend the training. Since 2014, 61% of UMSI’s instructional faculty have had STRIDE training. During the DEI Plan, strategies recommended in the STRIDE training were integrated into UMSI’s hiring and selection processes.

Mentoring was strengthened for all assistant and associate professors in the school. Launch committees offer a team approach to faculty development for first-year faculty. Mentors provide feedback on grant proposals, papers, and promotion materials, help faculty to build their professional networks, and provide advice on professional matters.

In 2020, UMSI received the esteemed Rhetaugh Dumas Diversifying Faculty Award from the UM Center for Education of Women (CEW+).

In 2021 UMSI led two proposals selected as part of the University of Michigan Anti-Racism Faculty Hiring Initiative. The Racial Justice in Technology proposal supports hiring a cluster of three faculty members who will be appointed in the School of Information, the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and the Penny W. Stamps School of Art and Design, while the Racial Justice in Healthcare: Informatics and Data-Driven Approaches proposal supports hiring a cluster of five faculty members, to be appointed in the schools of Information, Nursing, and Public Health, College of Pharmacy and Medical School. The three-year university hiring initiative will ultimately add at least 20 new tenured or tenure-track faculty members with scholarly expertise in racial inequality and structural racism to schools and colleges across campus.

While we still have much work yet to do, UMSI made notable gains in faculty diversity between 2015 and 2021.

Specifically, compared to the baseline year of 2014-15:

• The proportion of non-white tenure track faculty in 2020-21 is 29% (n=16) compared to 23% (n=10) at baseline
• The proportion of women tenure track faculty in 2020-21 is 39.2% (n=22) compared to 37.2% (n=16) at baseline
• The proportion of Black tenure track faculty in 2020-21 is 8.9% (n=5) compared to 7.0% (n=3) at baseline
• The proportion of Asian tenure track faculty in 2020-21 is 12.5% (n=7) compared to 9.3% (n=4) at baseline In terms of faculty representation — compared to the baseline year of 2014-15
• UMSI grew the tenure track faculty 30%
• The number of women faculty increased 37.5%
• The number of Black faculty increased 67%
• The number of Asian or Asian-American faculty increased 75%
• UMSI hired our first three Hispanic/LatinX faculty members

 

Student Diversity Recruitment

UMSI has continued efforts to advance our student recruitment efforts, within legal parameters, to support student diversity in all academic programs. These efforts include events, advertising, recruitment outreach, web site marketing and the work of professional staff, paid student staff and faculty as well as student and alumni volunteers.

During DEI 1.0, the largest gains in African American, Hispanic and Native American (AHN*) applicants and enrollments came the years that application barriers were removed such as:

• The GRE can create a financial barrier and research supports that it is not a predictor of academic success. The GRE was removed from admissions criteria for MSI in 2018; removed from MHI in 2019 and PhD in 2020.
• Opening enrollment to undergraduate transfer students with particular emphasis on Community College students and simplifying the credit transfer process.

For example, following GRE removal:

• In the Master of Science in Information (MSI) Program:
  •  The number of applications from African-American, Hispanic and Native American (AHN) students increased by 3.65%  in one year
  • The incoming cohort increased 5.2%.
• In the PhD Program:
  • AHN applications increased 3.6% (from 15.63% the previous year to 19.23%)
  • AHN enrollment reached 31% in the incoming cohort, a record high. UMSI community members can view a summary report on five year trends for AHN enrollment here. Additional data is available upon request.

*The full definition of AHN: Includes domestic students who identify as African American/Black, Hispanic/Latino(a), and/or Native American/Alaskan Native/Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander; or multiracial including one of these racial or ethnic groups (count is unique individuals).

In 2021 a group including student leaders, UMSI Admissions staff, the Assistant Dean for DEI and leaders from the DEI Committee met to discuss ways to advance student diversity recruitment efforts. This dialogue informed a number of new actions, including:

• Securing approval for a new full time staff position focusing on student diversity recruitment.
• Providing information about UMSI’s DEI values and efforts in recruitment information sessions
• Expanding the number and range of diversity and identity focused organizations included in UMSI recruitment marketing and conference attendance
• Confirming that students enrolled in Historically Black Colleges/Universities and Minority Serving Institutions meet the criteria for the SI Achievement Fellowship, a full tuition scholarship that is modeled after the Rackham Merit Fellowship.
• Increasing outreach to and relationship building with campus identity focused student groups.
• Increasing funding for student attendance and involvement with recruiting at diversity oriented conferences.

iSuccess transfer student support and retention

UMSI iSuccess includes a series of activities and programs to support transfer students in their transition to the University of Michigan and the School of Information. The program emphasizes cohort-building to create connections among students while also providing space for transfer students to address the unique opportunities and challenges they are likely to encounter.

A 2018-19 evaluation of iSuccess found that:

• 100% of on-campus, enrolled transfer students had either an academic advising or iSuccess coaching appointment.
• 65% (24) scheduled both an academic advising and iSuccess coaching appointment at some point during the year.
• 100% (35) of on-campus, enrolled transfer students engaged with the BSI academic advising/iSuccess canvas site.

Outreach

The Community College Summer Institute (CCSI), is the first of its kind within a school or college at the University of Michigan. Community college students often view the University of Michigan as an “out-of-reach” institution for transfer. UMSI sought to change this in 2017, when we launched the first CCSI with funding from the Office of the Provost. As the school’s flagship outreach program, the Institute creates a low-barrier point of entry for community college students to learn more about UMSI and the University of Michigan. Using a high-touch, participant-centered approach, this three-day event offers intensive exposure to the field of information, application and admissions advising, professional development, transportation assistance, housing, and a travel stipend. CCSI has reached 175 community college students, of whom:

• 33.5% were from historically excluded student populations
• 32% applied to and/or were admitted to U-M
• 26% applied to and/or were admitted to UMSI

Since the Institute’s inception, UMSI has collaborated and consulted with multiple other campus units – including the Center for Educational Outreach and Wolverine Pathways – in support of expanding community college outreach and access at UMSI and campus wide.

 

Education and scholarship

Social justice-oriented research strengthened, while a new commitment to create an anti-racist curriculum and co-curriculum galvanized faculty, staff and students to change the status quo.

 

Inclusive teaching and anti-racist curriculum

Since 2013, UMSI has continued to provide annual inclusive teaching training in different forms to faculty including customized workshops facilitated by UM experts and external consultants.  In addition, UMSI has supported an inclusive teaching liaison as a faculty service role, which involves attending campus meetings and connecting UMSI faculty with resources and training opportunities. In 2017-19, we collaborated with the UM Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (CRLT) for a two-year initiative when nearly all faculty participated in an individual consultation focused on inclusive teaching pedagogy.

When our students engaged in activism following George Floyd’s murder in 2020, UMSI prioritized creating an antiracist curriculum. An anti-racist curriculum task force was embedded into the UMSI DEI Committee. In the first year, consultants were hired to provide anti-racism education for faculty (as well as for staff and students). Upon reviewing external resources and reviewing dozens of syllabi across UMSI, the DEI Committee’s anti-racist curriculum subcommittee synthesized the practices identified and developed a “Good Practices” document. This living document provides inclusive teaching practices including course content, pedagogy, supplementary course materials, and course policies and procedures.

In its second year, the antiracist curriculum initiative more clearly connected the work of the DEI committee with academic program committees. Program committees engaged in a process of building antiracism into statements of program competencies and developing antiracist content into a core course such that all students would have exposure to this content during their program at UMSI. These efforts continue and include building assessment and accountability practices.

 

Research supporting diverse communities

UMSI has a long tradition of community based, equity focused and community impact research. With our explicit commitment to DEI and with an increase in the scholarly diversity of faculty joining UMSI, we have seen this strength grow further and faster.

A number of UMSI’s research teams include a focus on addressing inequity and understanding and impacting historically underserved communities, and many guest speakers sponsored by faculty research groups shared scholarship that addressed inequity with a DEI and social justice lens.

Implementation Leads

Ketra L. Armstrong, PhD , Elena Simpkins

Unit Strategic Plan

Digital Poster

To learn more, contact: [email protected] or [email protected].

Visit here for more information about diversity, equity and inclusion programs and resources.

 

Unit Summary

The U-M School of Kinesiology celebrates and is committed to the ideals of diversity, equity, and inclusion and believes that they enrich the learning environment and enhance the school’s innovation and overall productivity. Through its programs, policies and practices, Kinesiology is dedicated to creating a positive and supportive climate for all individuals. We proudly launched the following diversity initiatives in 2014-15.

 

HBCU Alliance

Four faculty from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) were invited to participate in a U-M Kinesiology Diversity Alliance. To kick off the Alliance, Kinesiology hosted a Diversity in Kinesiology Symposium focused on the ways in which race, ethnicity, and culture impacts Kinesiology research, teaching, and service. The endeavor concluded with a reception followed by a working dinner between Kinesiology and HBCU faculty, where they discussed research and teaching collaborations. Kinesiology Dialogue on Diversity initiative sponsored by a Rackham Enhancing Diversity in Graduate Education Grant.

 

Latinas, Sport, and the Media

ESPN Desportes, ESPNews, and Telemundo reporter Michele LaFountain discussed her career as a sports reporter, the challenges of being a Latina in sport media, and the

intersection of race/ethnicity and gender. Kinesiology Dialogue on Diversity initiative co- sponsored by U-M LSA.

 

Diversity Student Recruitment Fairs

Kinesiology faculty and staff participated in various recruitment fairs/events, including several featuring students of color, talking with them about opportunities for undergraduate and graduate study at our school.

 

HBCU Students Visitation

Kinesiology hosted four students from the HBCU Alliance universities.

 

Kinesiology Diversity Council

To engage and empower students to be champions of diversity and inclusion, Kinesiology launched a Student Diversity Council.

 

Inclusive Teaching Seminar

Kinesiology faculty participated in an inclusive teaching seminar, offered in partnership with the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching, in winter 2014.

Implementation Lead

Juan Florencia

Unit Strategic Plan

To learn more, contact: [email protected]

Visit here for more information about diversity, equity and inclusion programs and resources.

 

Unit Summary Report

Year 1 Highlights

• • The Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer (CDIO) position was newly created and made a part of SMTD’s Senior Administration Team. This restructuring has enabled the CDIO to report directly to the Dean of SMTD and be entrusted to make many of the time-sensitive and critical decisions necessary to implement the DEI plan objectives. The Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer started their role in July 2016
  • Five (5) distinct DEI subcommittees of undergraduate, graduates, faculty, and staff met three times each over the course of the winter term, and each was charged with assessing the key findings of the climate survey and arriving at a set of recommendations to further inform the unit’s five-year strategic plan for year two. The subcommittees did not have limited membership, but were made open to all for participation every time. This approach was to broadly promote diversity with respect to perspective, degree programs, and professorial rank, among other dimensions. As a result of the input collected during subcommittee meetings, formal and informal meetings, and workshops throughout the year, SMTD incorporated new action items for year two of the DEI strategic plan
  • Funding was available through the SMTD Office for DEI to pilot and support a variety of projects this year

• Challenges

• • Limited DEI staff capacity to manage the implementation of the strategic plan action items and the myriad of other issues and events that took priority throughout the year
  • Faculty concerns about how to be involved in DE&I effectively and without spreading themselves too thin
  • Scheduling challenges for training and events to enable a sufficient number of people to attend, especially for students and faculty
  • The separation of disciplines (dance, music, and theatre) in three different buildings affected the sense of community and access to DEI events
  • Funding was available through the SMTD Office for DEI to pilot and support a variety of projects this year, but the funding is limited so the scale of what can be done was kept small

Year 2 Highlights

• • Piloted the “DEI Ambassadors” program in which approximately 80 students from different disciplines and backgrounds participated. This encouraged students to get involved and address their personal DEI interests and connect with issues outside of their comfort zone
  • SMTD Office for DEI hired a DEI Coordinator to support logistics and support the implementation of programs and projects being organized by the Office for DEI
  • New Associate Dean for Student and Academic was appointed

• Challenges 

• • There were external incidents that affected the SMTD community
  • Beginning the year with a dean transition but a consultant was hired to prepare SMTD for an incoming dean

Year 3 Highlights 

• • Due to specific incidents that came to our constituencies’ attention, SMTD focused on several activities to promote sexual and gender-based misconduct awareness and prevention. There were multiple information sessions for faculty, students, staff to clarify reporting and allow for spaces for constituencies to voice concerns and make their own recommendations for change
  • The issue of sexual misconduct prevention became a priority for the dean and senior administration. Training and events were focused on educating and informing people as much as possible on the issues within the performing arts and what resources or options were available to combat the problem within the school and in the field. Overall, there was greater recognition that sexual and gender-based misconduct results from a lack of equity, inclusion, and diversity at all levels of academia and the performing arts.
  • Staff and faculty came together and organized the Faculty & Staff Allies Network (FASAN). FASAN decided to host a symposium consisting of a panel and performances that brought awareness to sexual misconduct in the performing arts and fostered empowerment
  • This year included a variety of performance-based events organized by students
  • and faculty to bring attention to issues of diversity and inclusion. The following are a few of the performance-based activities that reached students, staff, and faculty: Daring Dances and Skeleton Architecture Design Workshop, Women Organ Conference, Imani Winds Residency, “One Family Concert”: Religious and Philosophical Diversity, Dean’s North Campus MLK Spirit Awards with Tania Leon, and ImpactXhange: Voting Registration with Ruby Sales as Keynote
  • Students were also engaged by the Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer (CDIO) through town halls, DEI student ambassador meetings, and focus group conversations addressing issues of race, gender, sexual misconduct prevention, and disability
  • The Michigan Marching Band Diversity & Inclusion Committee (students) met with the CDIO to determine strategic objectives and action items to specifically address the unique culture of the marching band
  • The SMTD Staff Representatives Meeting (SRM) group officially started in June 2018. It is open to all full-time, part-time, and seasonal SMTD Staff. The group’s mission is to establish communication, encourage collaboration among Staff, Faculty, and Upper Administration, assess and address the SMTD climate in relation to Staff, and foster initiatives as appropriate to the group. In its infancy, it has elected Board members, established a Peer-to-Peer Recognition Program and a Staff Appreciation Program, secured Staff representation in the Senior Administrators Meeting (SAM), contributed to changes in the Staff evaluation process and SMTD website, and met with the Dean to discuss Staff climate
  • David Gier joined SMTD as dean (and is the current dean of SMTD). Dean Gier assessed the leadership structure and began to leverage the particular strengths of faculty and staff to ensure we were serving our constituents to the best of our abilities
  • In addition, the Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer was tasked to take on more of the Title IX and accommodation-related needs of the students, in collaboration with the Associate Dean of Student and Academic Affairs
  • SMTD staff members continued to move forward with their own initiatives to promote positivity and bolster morale. Incremental changes took shape at the supervisor and front-line staff level to policy and practice. There was an aim for a higher level of accountability from everyone
  • Students (re)discovered the benefits of University and SMTD resources that may have been taken for granted and expected more transparency and clarity to ensure everyone has access to resources when it is needed
  • Among faculty, there appeared to be a greater acceptance that the pursuit of diversity, equity, and inclusion is a natural part of all our decisions, processes, and interactions. As long as faculty can provide input and somewhat control of the rate that changes affect their everyday activities, there seemed to be less open resistance to suggestions of changes that are tied to DEI

• Challenges

• • SMTD was faced with the challenge of dealing with sexual misconduct allegations and a rise in OIE reporting overall, as students became more familiar with the OIE reporting process. This resulted in senior administration needing to organize, provide greater clarity on processes, and be more available to students, faculty, and staff.

Year 4 Highlights

• • Despite the ongoing pandemic, the SMTD DEI Office was given financial support from the SMTD Dean’s Office, and new staff leadership joined the current Senior Advisory group to the Dean that were pivotal to the success of SMTD’s DEI efforts during the 2019-2020 Academic Year
  • SMTD launched an SMTD DEI Student Advisory Board and SMTD DEI Faculty and Staff Action Teams to continue supporting and scaling DEI efforts throughout the School.
  • Moreover, the SMTD Climate Survey conducted by Giffen & Kaminski, LLC highlighted specific relevant issues with data that propelled our work forward
  • Leadership/Staffing Changes
    • During Summer 2019, the position of Chief Diversity Officer was promoted and combined with the Office of Student Affairs to create the role of Assistant Dean of Student Affairs and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. Previously, there had been an Associate Dean of Academic and Student Affairs, but this division of job responsibilities was intended to improve services to SMTD students and to the broader SMTD community. By combining Student Affairs and DEI, the ways in which students’ backgrounds and identities may affect their experiences at U-M were better considered, and student services were centralized. This was especially crucial for students who came to report or confide in the SMTD Office for DEI staff over the past few years
    • Hired two (2) student employees this year, which helped us advance two key areas: (1) communication and (2) international student support. A student assistant helped design a DEI monthly newsletter that was sent to the entire SMTD community. This helped gain more visibility to SMTD’s DEI efforts, promote the work of individuals in our community, and advertise upcoming DEI-related events. The SMTD Office for DEI still sends out a monthly newsletter. The second student assistant supported the development of international student programming, and served as a liaison between many international students and the SMTD DEI Office
    • In December 2019 the role of Chief Administrative Officer transitioned into a Director of Budget and Finance position. Once SMTD leadership determined that there would no longer be a Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) position, the Office of Budget and Finance and Office of Human Resources separated. In Summer 2020, Assistant Dean of Student Affairs, Human Resources, and DEI began oversight of the Office of Human Resources
    • During Summer 2019, the Office of Development and External Relations took on the new title of Office of Advancement, and restructured its leadership team to report to one individual instead of two. The head of the Office of Advancement took on the title of Chief Advancement Officer
    • In March 2020, the DEI Coordinator was promoted to DEI Program Manager
  • Transparency and Communication: Starting in March 2020, our leadership team communicated school-wide updates on a weekly basis and continues to do so. The response to this change has been overwhelmingly positive
  • An Equitable Approach to the Budget: Historically the budget in SMTD was primarily determined by the Office of Budget and Finance, and left little room for units to make specific requests for the following fiscal year. Now, each unit will have the opportunity to submit requests to the SMTD Senior Advisory Group to the Dean for consideration in order to provide a more equitable approach to budget planning and allocation
  • Anti-Racism Actions
    • During Summer 2020, SMTD leadership addressed anti-racism in SMTD with a list of actionable items that will be worked on within the next academic year and continuing forward. Three (3) key areas were determined for improvement: (1) Elevating voices and expanding representation of BIPOC in the performing arts, (2) Anti-Racism and Inclusivity in Curriculum and Teaching, and (3) Education and Professional Development

• Challenges

• • Marching Band: Due to both capacity and the COVID-19 pandemic during the 2019-2020 academic year, the new Michigan Marching Band (MMB) strategic objectives and action items were minimally advanced. All MMB DEI initiatives were completed in collaboration with the Assistant Dean of Student Affairs and DEI at SMTD, but this position became vacant a few weeks into the academic year, and was not refilled until the end of January 2020. A majority of working groups in the MMB only convened during the Winter semester, and ceased meeting once U-M entered into a virtual state. As we readdressed the strategic objectives and action items for the MMB going into Year 5, we chose to narrow the scope of work and direct the items mainly towards faculty and staff development as well as updates to policy and operational practices. Previously there had not been clarity behind who in the organization would take primary responsibility for this work, which ultimately resulted in the expectation that students were leading the work. In hopes of creating systemic change, much of the work was spearheaded by MMB faculty and staff in collaboration with the SMTD DEI Office in order to maintain long-term accountability and sustainability.
  • Budget and Funding Limitations: Spending on DEI-related efforts was curtailed due to budgetary constraints put in place by U-M in May 2020. Funding provided for programs and projects were limited during Winter 2020 to what could be done virtually with minimal preparation
  • Space Limitations Due to COVID/health and safety guidelines: Due to U-M’s COVID-19 related health and safety guidelines, we were unable to hold in-person events after the second week of March 2020. This resulted in canceling student events, training workshops, end of year gatherings as well as community engagement activities
  • In October 2019, the newly appointed Assistant Dean of Student Affairs and DEI (and previously Chief Diversity Officer for three years) left the University of Michigan. During this interim period, the Dean of SMTD appointed four (4) faculty DEI liaisons to support students during the transition. The DEI Coordinator remained in their role and continued to manage DEI-related programming as well as refer students, faculty, and staff to appropriate resources on campus

Year 5 Highlights

• • Provided guidance and best practices to equip our faculty and staff to tackle systemic issues of racism, inequality, and injustice should they arise in their departments and offices
  • Offered mandatory bias mitigation training to faculty and staff that included unconscious/implicit bias awareness training as well as harassment and discrimination prevention training
  • Shared anti-racism learning resources (e.g., web-based resources, and monthly reading and discussion groups) and required anti-racism training for faculty and staff (e.g., racial microaggression workshop offered during faculty and staff meetings)
  • Offered intercultural learning opportunities to faculty and staff that encouraged global, inclusive, and growth mindsets around difference
  • The DEI Student Advisory Board and DEI Faculty and Staff Action Teams had strong representation from units across the School, and had between 12-20 members. The student and staff groups met monthly, and the faculty group met bi-weekly. Feedback from these groups led to a required anti-racism workshop being offered to faculty in the Winter 2021 semester
  • Staff in the SMTD Office for DEI worked collaboratively with members of the Faculty and Staff Allies Network (FASAN), SAPAC, OIE, OSCR and additional units to create an SMTD-specific toolkit on sexual misconduct in the performing arts. Areas covered include: definitions and expectations, boundaries and power dynamics, the reporting process, training offered on campus, and additional resources on campus. Specific scenarios that are SMTD-specific are offered throughout, as well as syllabus language on physical touch in the classroom (as physical touch is common in the performing arts). The toolkit was presented to all faculty and staff, used as a template for other units on campus, and will continue to be updated on an annual basis. This resource does not take the place of live or online-based training, but rather is designed as a supplement to ongoing training and educational efforts
  • Rackham Graduate School’s support allowed us to hire a Graduate Student Staff Assistant for the year, and due the cost savings from limitations on in-person events, we were able to hire additional graduate and undergraduate student staff. With the support of three graduate students and two undergraduate students, we were able to fully implement the Inclusive Teaching for Graduate Student Instructors Pilot Program, educate our community on DEI events and other learning opportunities via social media platforms, establish a consistent newsletter, and offer more events than past years
  • SMTD’s Dean provided resources for anti-racism and other DEI-focused professional development for faculty and staff this year. We brought in multiple guest speakers and trainers, and offered SMTD’s first ever required anti-racism training for SMTD faculty
  • With the support of staff across SMTD, the DEI Office was able to offer SMTD staff a monthly anti-racism discussion group
  • SMTD’s organizational culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion evolved with a focus on addressing systemic issues in and outside of the classroom to further foster an inclusive organizational climate and culture. These initiatives include inclusive teaching practices, inclusive faculty and staff hiring and promotion practices, and improving a sense of belonging for the entire SMTD community
  • New reporting processes have allowed for more community voices to reach the senior leadership level. This is in part due to a change in organizational structure, the elevation of the DEI Office’s importance in the School, and the newly formed DEI Faculty and Staff Action Teams and DEI Student Advisory Board
  • Communication from senior leadership became more transparent with regular updates from the Dean and more opportunities for community-based conversations
  • Due to the financial effects the COVID-19 pandemic had on many of our students, SMTD established an Emergency Fund through the Dean’s Office that was available beginning in Winter 2020
  • Technology needs were at an all time high, particularly for high quality music recording equipment as the majority of SMTD courses occurred remotely during the 2020-21 Academic Year. The school provided technical support to students, faculty, and staff, in many cases purchasing new equipment and safely delivering the equipment to those who were in need
  • Additionally, students, faculty and staff were offered different methods of engagement (remote, hybrid, etc) that focused on improving safety and accessibility
  • Many departments encouraged students to perform repertoire by BIPOC composers and commissioned works that could elucidate the BIPOC experience, including work by BIPOC composers, in order to diversify the canon. More works were commissioned by individual faculty and departments by BIPOC composers or relating to BIPOC experiences than ever before
  • A committee of faculty across the School was established to begin to propose the creation of a U-M Center for Racial Justice in the Performing Arts
  • A ten-year program was initiated to commission composers to write new works exploring the African diaspora and Black experience for orchestra and soloists, with a new 75-minute work being performed each year
  • A new Race and Ethnicity requirement was added to nearly all SMTD academic departments that resulted in new courses that meet the requirement being added
  • GSI Inclusive Teaching workshops and resources were developed and piloted
  • DEI Faculty and Staff Action Teams sharing best practices with units across the school.
  • A new database of anti-racism resources for costume professionals was created by faculty
  • EXCEL supported 11 guests for Professor Antonio Cuyler’s classes, all of which advanced anti-racism and/or DEI themes/content in his arts leadership classes. EXCEL also worked to bring in a diverse array of guests from various backgrounds and disciplines to speak to students. Excel facilitated the Disruption. Action. Change.Symposium in collaboration with the Eastman School of Music that focused on the role of disruption as an essential force in pursuit of a more just and equitable arts ecosystem. EXCEL also hosted The Young Creatives book club featuring Kimberly Drew and her book, “What I Know About Art” that explored racial injustice and oppression within the U.S. arts infrastructure
  • Prof. Danielle Belen worked with DMA string students to create the first Database for the String Department that focuses on works by BIPOC composers.
  • Implemented an Intersectionality in the Performing Arts workshop in partnership with several campus units
  • Discussion regarding SMTD’s DEI efforts at “See Better, Hear Better, Know Better: A Two Day Online Event on Deconstructing Race and Gender Biases in Music” Symposium (national level conference)
  • Trotter Multicultural Center facilitated workshops with the Faculty and Staff DEI Action Teams that focused on Cultural Intelligence assessment and inclusive leadership skill development
  • MESA facilitated several DEI-related workshops for multiple departments within SMTD.

• Challenges

• • The COVID-19 pandemic delayed progress to many items in our Year Five Action Plan
  • The FY21 budget restrictions set by the U-M Office of Budget and Planning also impacted progress on some of our financial-based items in our Year Five Action Plan. The demand for support by the DEI for departments and individuals across the School shined a light on the need for more staff capacity in the SMTD Office for DEI Office
  • There have been numerous leadership transitions since the start of Year One of SMTD’s DEI Plan, including three different Deans, several transitions in Associate and Assistant Deanships (both in title and personnel), and expansion of the SMTD Office for DEI and programmatic and resource offerings. providing more time for the Program Manager to address other needs of the DEI Office

Implementation Leads

Rushika Patel, Patricia Coleman-Burns, Patricia Hurn

Unit Strategic Plan

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To learn more, contact: [email protected], [email protected] or, [email protected].

Visit here for more information about diversity, equity and inclusion programs and resources.

 

Unit Summary

The University of Michigan School of Nursing mission is “to advance health for all by educating and developing nurses and other professionals as leaders, generating and applying knowledge, and serving individuals, communities and populations.” This mission guides our activity and is embedded in a vision “to be the worlds leading source of high-impact research, evidence and education that will develop the knowledge and nurses necessary to address healthcare’s biggest challenges and provide health for all.” 

Our community dares to aspire to ‘health for all,’ well knowing we live in times when there is a rising segregation low and no-income families and individuals, wherein racial, cultural, ethnic, gender and other minority populations disproportionately bear the burden of poverty. Indeed, the impoverishment of large sectors of the population has left millions in need and without access to adequate health care or other basic life sustaining resources. Given our “health for all” mission – and the UMSN’s moral, ethical and professional expectations in diversity, equity and inclusion – we have a mighty task ahead of us. 

In healthcare, nursing, and nursing education we are aware that we are up against many forms of oppression. We are even more aware of the nature of these challenges now at the UMSN, as we’ve reached the end of our first “DEI 1.0” plan and intensive 5-year period of DEI efforts. Racism, gender, and sexual oppression are a few forces we have yet to fully address as a nation. Yet, these forces continue to be amongst the most difficult social phenomena to even see and comprehend. Study after study finds that US nurses, nursing faculty, nursing students and other healthcare practitioners and researchers for example have the presence of implicit bias. Attitudes of nurses, known as amongst the most trusted of US professionals, continue to be steeped in unconscious stereotypes and biased beliefs about human differences. Beliefs and implicit biases which unintentionally reproduce unequal outcomes.

Given this context, and in mobilizing the strength of our School, students, faculty and staff in the interest of “health for all”, this summary document provides a discussion of our DEI 1.0 strategic plan efforts. It is organized according to the four priority DEI strategic domains that we share with other schools and colleges across the University of Michigan. 

 

DEI Domain #1 – Recruitment, Retention and Development 

Inequality or social exclusion within healthcare and nursing can never be effectively eradicated without the ability to see and comprehend it. This makes the implicit nature of implicit bias particularly challenging with respect to fully seeing its pervasiveness and eliminating its underlying structural and cultural roots. As a School of Nursing, we understand now more than ever that diversity within our community of students, faculty, and staff, as well a climate wherein diverse members of our community can share experiences, insights, expertise, interests, and viewpoints freely, is a primary enabler of building a mutual appreciation for the complexity of implicit bias in society and healthcare. Diversity in our community positions each of us to be able to address implicit bias in a more effective way. Quite simply, we cannot address the monumental challenges related to diversity, equity, and inclusion in healthcare, if we are not diverse ourselves as a community of learners, nurses, and nurse leaders.

This is why during our DEI 1.0 strategic plan, UMSN leaders took a closer look at student, faculty, and staff recruitment, using data-based approaches to identify key patterns and areas of focus. The specific strategies we used are described further in our strategic plans.

However, during DEI 1.0, and across our students, staff and faculty, the UMSN diversified further by race, ethnicity, and gender and with incremental progress each year. We achieved greater diversity using evidence-based, legally aligned methods including faculty and staff unconscious bias and STRIDE training, “blinding” applicant reviews of demographic information, holisitic evaluations of applicant pools to align with our mission, engaging our networks in applicant recruitment, and marketing strategies that appeal to diverse and digitally-engaged audiences.  The racial and ethnic diversity of our undergraduate BSN students, early career clinical and tenure track faculty, and staff showed greatest improvement.  In other areas or priority, such as increasing gender diversity amongst our students (males are a demographic minority amongst nurses), margins of improvement were certain, but lower, and much more challenging to attain. We are aware that the sustainable recruitment of men into nursing schools must begin in primary and secondary education with increased opportunities for young men to develop a critical awareness and consciousness around gender and so called “prescribed” gender roles. As we move into DEI 2.0, we expect to put continued focus on gender diversity, as well as diversifying our graduate students and senior faculty by race, ethnicity and culture. Pipelines from amongst our increasingly diverse undergraduates, early career clinical and tenure track faculty, as well as staff are in place, and carry the promise of sustainably increasing diversity, retention, and opportunities across UMSN for years to come.   

 

DEI Doman #2 – Education and Scholarship 

While increasing diversity is a crucial reality for DEI progress, we must understand that all people, regardless of identity and including from diverse communities, are been similarly conditioned through life and educational experiences to perpetuate implicit bias. That is, having a more diverse student, faculty and staff doesn’t in and of itself guarantee our ability to meet our “health for all” mission. In addition to diversity, all of us require a deeper understanding of the pervasiveness of health inequities that are caused by poverty, racism, homophobia, sexism, ableism, xenophobia, and other forms of oppression. This deeper appreciation and understanding is unlikely to reach nursing schools across the country until nursing education, research, and scholarship embrace a more historical and sociocultural view of nursing in both clinical and non-clinical educational and research learning spaces and environments.

Paths forward and towards a contemporary approach to nursing education are written into the new American Association of Colleges of Nursing DEI Essentials, National Academy of Medicine Future of Nursing Report, and landmark American Nurses Association National Commission to Address Racism in Nursing Racial Reckoning Statement and Racism in Nursing Report. These documents argue that challenges to DEI ethics within society have always spilled over into nursing and nursing education, and indeed across the sciences and academy itself. They argue that healthcare, and nursing, are not optimized to address social injustices, and in fact can function to further perpetuate and deepen them. In nursing education, for example, a false dichotomy can separate clinical competency from the ability of nurses to also become deeply and socio-culturally self-reflective in their practice, and this false dichotomy has partially enabled inequities from within nursing. 

Therefore, during DEI 1.0, our faculty and faculty leaders placed great focus on developing our health equity curriculum to support nursing students to move from hearing about inequities to leading and reshaping a healthcare system that is optimized for addressing the structural and cultural determinants of health. The efforts of our academic leadership in partnership with our faculty at large, supported as well by our inclusive teaching liaisons, toward building our curriculum for health equity included the robust development of internal inclusive teaching resources, the availability of curricular resources, the highlighting of programmatic objectives related to health equity and social justice, and retreats, trainings, events and other opportunities for faculty to generate new ideas related to health equity content within their courses.  Health equity learning opportunities were in turn offered more consistently to students. Indeed, student voices played a key role in providing feedback and re-shaping the curriculum in key UMSN courses toward more inclusive curriculum. 

Moreover, with the increase in diversity as well as the leadership emphasis on health equity and health for all, within our school many nursing educators, researchers and theorists are developing scholarship that helps our faculty, students as well as staff, within the school and beyond, achieve a deeper understanding of the specific way issues of inequality related to culture, race, gender, sexuality, immigration, class, disabilities, age, the environment, and geography manifest cross the country and globe within nursing science, practice and leadership as it is practiced in diverse national and global contexts. Our researchers have also been concerned about the ways in which nursing science can perpetuate, resist, or transform these inequities. Finally, as a result of our DEI 1.0 plan, researchers who may not identify as “health equity researchers” as such, are more intentional in highlighting the impact of their work on equity and the impact of equity on their scholarship. 

Given the sheer breadth and intellectual diversity of our faculty and researchers collective interests in equity, and that we will continue to grow in this area, and our access to health equity collaborators across the University, we have a unique opportunity for not only impacting health equity (our #1 priority), but also for developing a uniquely broad and encompassing conceptual lens that distinguishes the DEI and health equity scholarship that will be developed in our School during the DEI 2.0 period. Moreover, as our researchers are moving forward to collaborate and critically engage one another’s’ research through a DEI and health equity lens they are identifying how the equity principles which are emerging speak broadly across all our collective research interests and areas of expertise.

 

DEI Domain #3 – Promoting an Equitable and Inclusive Community

Inclusive teaching is analytically and pragmatically distinct from the health equity curriculum. Where the curriculum describes the content we are teaching, inclusive teaching describes the actual, lived practice of our curriculum. Through the curriculum we share knowledge, through inclusive teaching we cultivate an ethical standpoints amongst future nurses and faculty that is essential for building a sustainable and effective ethics of nursing education and community care. 

Our DEI 1.0 plan aimed to support UMSN faculty efforts to connect their teaching to a larger project of diversity, equity, inclusion and well-being. At the same time, our approach to inclusive teaching during DEI 1.0 aimed to appreciate the way our students already come to us with a strong ethical and moral compass, whether they are undergrads or grads, how they already come to us with serious concerns about equity. 

In addition to a focus on inclusive teaching, DEI 1.0 provided training and professional development opportunities for all faculty, staff and students, and participation in these activities was consistent and growing throughout the DEI 1.0 period. We also created opportunities for students, faculty and staff to participate in creating the culture we want to have through the development of various working groups, committees, and organizations that were faculty, staff and student led opportunities to engage in decision making within our School. Faculty and staff had further opportunities to develop and share progress on their individual DEI professional development goals through annual evaluation processes that recognized their efforts and contributions towards matching their DEI values with DEI behaviors and orientations to their roles and work.  

 

DEI Domain #4 – Service

Given the nature of DEI and health equity work, health equity focused researchers and clinical faculty scholars, in addition to student, faculty and staff from underrepresented communities, tend to do most of the heavy lifting for DEI service to our community. This includes service to mentor equity interested students, demographic minority students, and to diversify working groups and committees that are working to have more DEI-conscious conversations. Health equity researchers, faculty of color, LGBTQ faculty, and women faculty in particular are providing expertise for curricular and training enhancements related to race, culture, class, gender and sexuality, providing expertise for inclusive teaching, and participating in all the different ways that one can possibly express a contribution to DEI in the school. As we move into DEI 2.0, our leadership is prioritizing making DEI service for faculty and staff more visible. This will help us ensure we can retain our best talent and remain on a trajectory in DEI progress. 

 

Conclusion and Next Steps

DEI 1.0 has required our students, faculty, and staff to constantly work, as individuals and as a community, to cultivate coherence in our DEI and health for all mission, so that the gap between the words we speak in our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and health for all, and the actions we take in DEI, become less and less each day. 

As a community, we have been working through our DEI plan for 6 years. Today we all have a clearer understanding of what each of us, working within our diverse realms of influence within and beyond our school, can do to push our community forward. And we’ve learned by listening closely to one another, caring earnestly for the quality of the lives of others. Caring for others through DEI and culture initiatives has been more than about helping others, but a way of exercising our own humanity, dignity and self-respect.  

But despite how far we have come, we know we have much more to do. DEI 1.0 has laid bare and brought to the fore a deeper appreciation of our social conditions as well as the realities facing healthcare and nursing education. Over the next year, we will be prioritizing what we want to work on together to accomplish during the following 5-year DEI 2.0 period. Inclusive teaching, advancing health equity in the curriculum and research, and our health for all mission will remain keen areas of priority for the future of DEI in our school along with integrating DEI mindsets and goals more evenly within all the structures that make up the UMSN, including all our programs, offices, and departments. DEI 2.0 promises to help us have a deeper impact on the day to day, and thereby help us increase our national and global impact towards achieving health for all. 

Implementation Leads

Enrique Neblett, Marie O’Neill, Whitney Peoples, Mateen Zafer

Unit Strategic Plan

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Visit here for more information about diversity, equity and inclusion programs and resources.

 

Unit Summary

As one of the top schools of public health in the United States, the mission, vision, and values of the U-M School of Public Health demonstrate a long-standing commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). We work toward creating an environment within the school that allows for positive contributions from all those engaged in public health and that maximizes equity and inclusion among our stakeholders. The University of Michigan School of Public Health (SPH) is pursuing a healthier world with compassion, innovation, and inclusion to create meaningful, lasting impact.

• We believe in compassion. Our work is born from compassion, leading to knowledge, research, and action.
• We believe in innovation. We’ve seen a better future, it’s why we are driven to help. Through creative problem-solving and innovative thinking, we lay the groundwork for a healthier world.
• We believe in inclusion. We work with diverse talents across campus and across the world to bring more than ideas. We partner to create lasting solutions.
• We pursue impact. The ultimate goal of our work is to create positive change and have a lasting effect on the health of the world.

 

Our Values

SPH is committed to the following core values:

• Improved health for populations and individuals worldwide;
• Health equity for all people;
• Diversity and inclusion in education, research, and service;
• Ethical principles of teaching, learning, research, and practice;
• Excellence and innovation;
• Equitable partnerships with individuals, communities, and practitioners.

Diversity: We commit to increasing diversity, which is expressed in myriad forms, including race and ethnicity, gender and gender identity, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, language, culture, national origin, religious commitments, age, (dis)ability status, and political perspective.

Equity: We commit to working actively to challenge and respond to bias, harassment, and discrimination. We are committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all persons and do not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, color, national origin, age, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, religion, height, weight, or veteran status.

Inclusion: We commit to pursuing deliberate efforts to ensure that our campus is a place where differences are welcomed, different perspectives are respectfully heard, and where every individual feels a sense of belonging and inclusion. We know that by building a critical mass of diverse groups on campus and creating a vibrant climate of inclusiveness, we can more effectively leverage the resources of diversity to advance our collective capabilities.

Drawing on our core values and mission, the SPH launched its first five year DEI strategic plan in 2016. The plan included 12 primary objectives organized across 4 main areas: school-wide objectives; faculty-focused objectives; staff-focused objectives; and student-focused objectives. The twelve objectives that made up the first five year DEI strategic plan were as follows:

 

School-Wide Objectives

1. Create an elected and empowered DEI Committee to help the school in developing, evaluating, and prioritizing actions to reflect our commitment  
2. Develop a system for sharing and responding to individual concerns
3. Educate our community on sexual and gender-based misconduct prevention in an effort to promote a safe and supportive environment for all members to work, learn, and thrive.

 

Faculty Objectives

1. Recruit and retain a diverse faculty
2. Improve faculty’s ability to teach and mentor a diverse graduate and undergraduate student body
3. Create a Continuing Professional Education system for faculty focused on the leadership, communication, and supervision skills needed to develop and maintain a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment.

 

Staff Objectives

1. Recruit and retain a diverse research and administrative staff
2. Promote an inclusive and supportive staff environment 
3. Create a Continuing Professional Education system for staff focused on the leadership, communication, and supervision skills needed to develop and maintain a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment.

 

Student Objectives

1. Recruit and retain a diverse student body
2. Improve student-student interactions in the classroom
3. Increase student’s understanding of the role of DEI in Public Health by incorporating ASPPH diversity and inclusion into classes. 

The plan was ambitious and aimed to improve the experiences of the faculty, staff, and students who make up our school community. In spring 2021, we passed the five year mark with our plan and turned toward a year long evaluation of our efforts. Over the course of our evaluation, we identified some important successes and progress markers as well as areas for continued growth and improvement. 

We made concrete progress on many of the objectives and below is a list of highlights of demonstrating the impact and progress of the DEI 1.0 strategic plan:

• Created not only an empowered school-wide DEI committee, but also created a cascading DEI Committee Structure with departmental DEI committees and subcommittees in each of the School’s six academic departments. 
• Created a Continuing Professional Education (CPE) requirement for faculty and staff requiring 8 hours of DEI-focused professional development each year.
  • The School increased the budget dedicated to bring in relevant and impactful professional development programming.
  • The CPE requirement shows high faculty & staff completion rates. 
• Eliminated GRE in MPH/MHSA/MS admissions
• Created two anonymous feedback submission systems that deliver messages directly to the School Dean and to the Director of DEI and the Director of Human Resources.
• Updated two faculty policies with a focus on equity and inclusion.  
  • Updated the governing faculty policy so that all faculty – including research and clinical tracks – are now governing faculty. 
  • Updated our chair policy to extend chair terms and allow any governing faculty at the associate level or higher to be considered. 
• Updated the faculty hiring process to include:
  • U-M ADVANCE STRIDE training for all search committee chairs.
  • Search committee meetings with the Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs to review standard hiring guidelines and equity-focused practices.
• Created the Pathways to Public Health Program
  • Developed robust partnership with Spelman College for Accelerated Master’s Degree Program
  • Building a partnership with Morehouse College to create an Accelerated Master’s Degree Program.
  • Supported and coordinated efforts to broadly diversify the student body across all departments, including via department-specific programs and relationships with minority serving institutions.
• Expanded School’s DEI leadership and staffing
  • Created a new Director of DEI position and successfully filled the position in fall 2021
  • Filled vacated DEI Program Manager position in summer, 2022
  • Dedicated funding to hire for two student positions annually.

The above examples of success and progress are the result of consistent engagement over the course of the DEI 1.0 strategic plan period. That engagement included not only school-wide programs and initiatives, but also individual and collective departmental efforts, as well as the work of student organizations, and student leaders were also critical to our overall success. Some examples of student and department-led DEI initiatives over the last 5 years include:

• The Department of Health Behavior and Health Education coordinated the Race Equity Institute at New Student Orientation for the entire SPH community.   
• The Departments of Health Behavior and Health Education and Health Management and Policy piloted a program for a more in-depth review of syllabi, utilizing tools from the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching.
• The Departments of Biostatistics, Nutritional Science, and Environmental Health Science held a collaborative screening and discussion event focused on gender-based harassment featuring the documentary Picture A Scientist.
• The Department of Health Management and Policy created a series called the “Talk Back” series, which aimed to help establish authentic relationships between students in the department by increasing cultural awareness, knowledge, and communication. 
• The Department of Epidemiology offered a facilitator training series to empower faculty, staff, and students to lead DEI conversations. Each facilitator designed one session per month. Event topics included “Trauma Informed Care: Working With Sexual Assault Survivors” and “Building an Understanding of Racism and the Impacts on Our Work.” The Environmental Health Sciences Department hosted “How to lead a conversation between people who disagree,” “Race as a Common Denominator in our Everyday Interactions,” and “Moving Towards Gender Equality in the Workplace.”
• In partnership with the SPH Dean’s Office, the department of Health Behavior and Health Education hosted a DEI Summer Movie & Discussion Series that was open to all staff in the School. 
• In addition, all SPH departments offer opportunities for staff to connect with each other. For example, Biostatistics hosted a research staff symposium; Environmental Health Sciences and Health Management and Policy hosted a cultural potluck; Epidemiology trained staff to lead DEI conversations within the departments; Health Behavior and Health Education hosted a book club; and Nutritional Sciences offered a weight bias series.

The evaluation of DEI 1.0 and the School’s climate also revealed new and ongoing opportunities for intervention and development: 

• Cultivate a culture of belonging and substantive inclusion, particularly for the most marginalized and alienated faculty, staff, and students.
• Increase consistent evaluation for all DEI efforts by developing a mechanism for these evaluations.
• Increase connection among DEI initiatives, their outcomes, and the School’s larger strategic objectives.
• Strengthen CPE requirement by more clearly linking it to annual review processes and goal setting.
• Build on awareness campaigns by increasing efforts aimed at structural change.
• Increase collaboration between school-wide DEI efforts and departmental initiatives.
• Develop stronger recruitment and retention tools to support the hiring or matriculation and career-long success of a broadly diverse faculty, staff, and student population.

Implementation Leads

Abigail Eiler, Keyshawn McMiller, Daicia Price

Unit Strategic Plan

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To learn more, contact: [email protected], [email protected] or, [email protected].

Visit here for more information about diversity, equity and inclusion programs and resources.

 

Unit Summary

Throughout the five-year implementation of the DEI 1.0 Strategic Plan, the SSW demonstrated its commitment to reimagining the ways in which diversity, equity and inclusion modalities were practiced, taught and integrated into the institutional and cultural fabric of the school. This document provides a brief but detailed overview of some of the main deliverables and outcomes outlined in the DEI 1.0 Strategic Plan.

 

Primary DEI Goals of SSW Units

Faculty Affairs:

• Increase the diversity of faculty from underrepresented groups, including racial and ethnic minorities, and people with disabilities, diverse sexual identities and gender expressions.
• Ensure consistent support for career development of all junior faculty.
• Improve upon hiring and promotion practices to attract, retain, reward and inspire LEO and Governing Faculty to continually hone their ability to facilitate transformational learning via inclusive teaching methods.
• Faculty will acquire greater skill and ability to participate, lead and respond to and facilitate transformational learning via inclusive teaching methods.
• Faculty will engage in more purposeful and organized engagement related to populations that are currently, and have historically, been shut off from opportunities.
• SSW will make public an informed social work discourse related to current events and social justice matters deemed important and part of our responsibility as a school of social work.
• Increase cultural humility regarding community knowledge and involvement and increase faculty involvement in community activities/partnerships with social work-related organizations.

 

Administration and Operations:

• Increase the diversity of staff from underrepresented groups, including racial and ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, diverse sexual identities and gender expressions.
• Ensure consistency for supportive career development and professionally rewarding work experiences.
• Staff will have expanded opportunities to participate and engage in career development activities in general and particularly in discussions about Privilege, Oppression, Diversity and Social Justice (PODS) to understand the application and implications of PODS within the school and the curriculum.

 

Educational Programs:

• Increase the diversity of students from underrepresented groups, including racial and ethnic minorities, and people with disabilities, diverse sexual identities and gender expressions.
• Increase the diversity of LEO faculty from underrepresented groups, including racial and ethnic minorities, and people with disabilities, diverse sexual identities and gender expressions.
• Improve upon hiring and promotion practices (working with HR/Academic HR and/or OGC) to attract, retain, reward and inspire LEO and governing faculty to continually hone their ability to facilitate transformational learning via inclusive teaching methods.
• Increase DEI focus of offices dealing with outside communities such as the Program Evaluation Group, Office of Global Activities, Continuing Education Program, Community Action and Social Change undergraduate minor and Office of Field Education.
• Students will develop greater skills and abilities to participate, lead and respond in transformational conversations.
• Increase cultural humility regarding community knowledge and involvement and increase faculty involvement in community activities/partnerships and with social work-related organizations.

 

Research:

• Increase DEI focus of offices dealing with outside communities such as the Program Evaluation Group, Office of Global Activities, Continuing Education Program, Community Action and Social Change undergraduate minor and Office of Field Education.
• Identify ways by which more financial integration can occur with the external community. There is a need to identify funding streams and aim toward sustainability.

 

Contributions to the SSW DEI Strategic Plan

1. Development and presentation of the SSW Anti-Racism Statement
   https://ssw.umich.edu/assets/anti-racism-statement/
   1. The purpose of the particular design and format of the Anti-Racism Statement was in part to:
      1. Create the sensibility of the statement as an enduring expression of commitment by the School of Social Work;
      2. Provide a time frame for periodic revisions and new ideas to the statement by the School of Social Work’s signature stakeholders, including current active and engaged faculty, staff and students;
      3.  Provide an “inward-facing forum” for discussion, dialogue and ideas for forward-thinking revision to this statement.
   2. A future goal of this statement is to identify a location for an outward-facing SSW Anti-Racism Statement to the general external communities (e.g. potential students, family members and alumni ), which will also allow viewers access to leaving questions, comments and perspectives concerning the statement in a public comment section below. 
2. Willingness to help lead and facilitate discussions and solutions toward difficult issues facing the SSW in the immediate future
   1. The impacts of structural financial challenges to higher education to the goals of DEI, including:
      1. Decades-long substantial decreases in state aid to higher education, with no end in sight;
      2. Decades-long increases in tuition as a financial resource to educational units (e.g. SSW);
      3. Increasing expenses (e.g., salaries, equipment, building maintenance) essential to SSW operations;
      4. Generating competitive salaries and compensation for new faculty hires (both junior and senior) and retention/recruitment of established senior faculty.
   2. The challenges faced by broadly diverse student populations currently attending or considering attending the SSW, including:
      1. Substantial financial assistance for tuition, with a preference for grants over loans;
      2. Supportive financial assistance for housing, medical needs and transportation.
3. The usefulness of the Senior Management Team has been an essential component to the facilitation of DEI-based principles, thinking and activity since its creation in 2021 and should be a topic of review and assessment — and continued for at least another round of DEI initiatives (2023-2028). 

 

Programs, interventions and Strategies Implemented in DEI 1.0

Anti-Racism Fund: https://ssw.umich.edu/about/diversity-equity-inclusion/initiatives/antiracism-budget-advisory-group  

“In 2020, the School of Social Work created an Anti-Racism Fund in response to concerns brought forth by student groups including the Association of Black Social Work Students, Black Radical Healing Pathways, and the broader student body to address concerns related to institutional racism within our school of social work. This student-led Anti-Racism Fund invites MSW and PhD students to submit individual or student group proposals for anti-racism projects with a specific focus on confronting and combatting: Anti-Blackness; Racism against Indigenous Peoples; and White Supremacy. If SSW and/or the Anti-Racism Budget Advisory Group  (AR-BAC )is uncertain of the legality/permissibility of any proposals, SSW and/or AR-BAC will check with OGC before making the award.”

Undoing Racism: https://ssw.umich.edu/offices/diversity-equity-inclusion/initiatives/undoing-racism  

“Undoing Racism is a community collective of students, staff, and faculty in the School of Social Work dedicated to fighting white supremacy at the individual, school, and structural levels.  This workgroup was established in 2019 after students, staff, and faculty took part in the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond Undoing Racism© workshops. Since then, the Undoing Racism workgroup has been working to implement the People’s Institute anti-racist community organizing model — recognizing that community organizing within our school is critical to move toward an anti-racist and anti-oppressive program to bring along all members of the community.”

Common Roots: https://ssw.umich.edu/offices/diversity-equity-inclusion/initiatives/common-roots  

“Common Roots is a committee consisting of representatives from the SSW’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, the LatinX Social Work Coalition, Black Radical Healing Pathways, Association of Black Social Workers, the Office of Student Services, the Asian Pacific Islander Coalition and other SSW students. Through collaboration, community support and affirmation, Common Roots hopes to build healing spaces for and to nurture the flourishment and empowerment of communities of color including faculty, staff and students at the School of Social Work, through programming that is open to all who share its mission.” 

Community Conversations: 

https://ssw.umich.edu/student-life/community-conversations    

“Communication is a key social work skill. Sometimes written communication is great, while other times, verbal communication is more effective.  At the SSW, anyone can call us together for a Community Conversation — about any topic impacting students that they think lends itself best to verbal communication. We take these conversations seriously, so thought has been given to the format and process.”

PRAXIS: 

https://ssw.umich.edu/offices/diversity-equity-inclusion/initiatives/praxis   

“The Promoting Action for Intersectional Social Justice (PRAXIS) committee seeks to act for justice by articulating definitions of social justice in micro, mezzo and macro contexts by developing and recommending goals for the School of Social Work. PRAXIS furthers justice and prevents and ameliorates injustice by identifying and applying emerging knowledge related to relevant justice goals and developing strategies that illuminate and alter/eliminate assumptions and practices that contribute to different mechanisms of oppression.”

Faculty Allies for Diversity Committee: https://ssw.umich.edu/offices/diversity-equity-inclusion/initiatives/faculty-allies-for-diversity 

“The Faculty Allies for Diversity Committee (FADC) is a group of faculty members who work within the University of Michigan School of Social Work in collaboration with Rackham’s diversity initiatives. Over the last decade, FADC has actively engaged with doctoral students, including those from under-represented groups, to provide informational, instrumental and emotional support. FADC believes diversity matters and there is a need for equitable and inclusive diversity. FADC plays an important leadership role in the School of Social Work and, as a collective, moves forward the broader university mission around promoting diversity, equity and inclusion.”

 

Curricular innovation: MSW Program Pathways

https://ssw.umich.edu/programs/msw/pathways 

The School’s view of pathways is based on the idea that rapidly changing policies, emerging evidence-based practices, and dramatic changes in service delivery patterns and structures require a graduate to be well-grounded in the methodologies of change as well as the contexts of practice. The curriculum builds on a generalist essential curriculum and provides students the choice of eight specialized pathways.

Specialized pathways focus on theories and interventions related to practice with individuals, families, groups, organizations, communities and/or society. Pathways also provide an opportunity to apply this knowledge, focusing on selected contexts and domains of practice, with particular attention given to specific policies, procedures and practices. Each pathway serves to broaden and deepen foundation knowledge and skills, and enhance the specialized skills needed for students to know the hows and whys of their interventions.

 

Diversified Recruitment and Matriculation Strategies

The items below this description serve as examples of the ways in which the School of Social Work responded to the need for a differentiated and accessible approach to the recruitment of MSW candidates from broadly diverse backgrounds. The creation of two 4 + 1 MSW programs on the UM-Ann Arbor and UM-Dearborn campuses allow undergraduate students pursuing degrees in Sociology and Health & Human Services, respectively, the opportunity to take foundation-level social work courses during their final years of college, so that they may begin taking the advanced coursework upon starting the MSW program. Similarly, the MasterTrack Online MSW allows students and/or professionals to take the foundation-level courses in social work online, and to take advanced courses upon beginning the MSW program. Given that the cost of higher education continues to rise throughout the country, these programs provide students an opportunity to attain graduate degrees at a lower economic cost, compared to students who have not completed the foundation courses/attained BSWs ahead of time. Lastly, the creation of the Online MSW program offers students from near and far to obtain a graduate degree while also working full-time/attending to their individual life circumstances.

• 4+1 Masters Program, UM-Dearborn: https://ssw.umich.edu/programs/undergraduate-social-work-options/dearborn    ‘
• 4+1 Masters Program, UM-Ann Arbor: https://ssw.umich.edu/programs/undergraduate-social-work-options/sociology-and-social-work    
• MasterTrack Online MSW: https://ssw.umich.edu/programs/msw/online/mastertrack     
• Online MSW: https://ssw.umich.edu/programs/msw/online 

 

Highlights from 2021-2022:

1. The Undoing Racism Working Group successfully facilitated community conversations throughout the 2021-2022 academic year. The conversations centered on theories and social work practices related to anti-racism as well as the impact of political ideology on social work practice. Participants included faculty, staff and students.
2. COVID-19 emergency funds continued to be disbursed to students in need.
3. DEI co-hosted the Admitted Black Student Virtual Event, which was open to the general SSW student community, in the winter of 2022.
4. Funding support and structures established through the Anti-Racism Budget Advisory Group.  We worked with the dean and the development department (through December 2021) to plan and create a sustained funding model.
5. The Anti-Racism Budget Advisory Group continued to fund awards for organizational and individual student projects.
6. DEI was a critical developer, supporter and facilitator of what eventually became known as the SSW Senior Management Team (SMT)  in mid-March 2020. In dealing with COVID and social crises and their impacts upon SSW, the SMT generated an unprecedented and essential level of transparency among senior management, faculty, staff and students. This continues to the current time, and we hope it continues throughout the life of DEI 2.0.

 

Observations and Next Steps

During this past year we made steady progress on all of our objectives and many of our action items. The Senior Management Team was essential in facilitating this progress. We continue to make excellent progress on action steps with a clear office or position responsible for developing new pathways to the MSW program, increasing diversity among our part- and full-time faculty, and changing course evaluation questions. We continue to be challenged with action items that require changes in budget or structures and are under longer-term development. Examples include analyzing our current budget and policies for MSW student financial aid to move towards a more needs-based approach and increasing staff and faculty development opportunities. These more challenging structural changes will require ongoing attention and support in the coming years.  The school looks forward to the challenges.  

We appreciate the support, shared work, and leadership of former dean Lynn Videka, former interim dean Joseph Himle.  We also look forward to continued leadership, shared work and support of current dean, Beth Angell.   

Implementation Leads

Matt Bierl, Jessica St. George

Unit Strategic Plan

To learn more, contact: [email protected] or [email protected].

Visit here for more information about diversity, equity and inclusion programs and resources.

 

Unit Summary

Over the last five years of DEI 1.0, Stamps School of Art and Design has embraced the charge to make improvements in the culture, climate and lives of each other and our community.  We have made progress in our diversity, welcoming colleagues and students from wider backgrounds and experiences.  We’ve created dialogues and met our challenges head on with purpose and determination and opened our eyes and hearts to hear each other’s stories.  As we move forward into the next phase of our DEI strategic plan we aim to make even more progress in achieving our aspirations, in implementing measurable actions that turn our shared values into meaningful moments and a climate of change and opportunity.  

When the University set the goal of creating the DEI strategic plan we reflected on the charge in the following ways: 

 

Charge:

The Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Strategic Plan is inspired by the overarching charge given to the Schools, Colleges, Departments and units of the University. Guidance from the University indicates that “At the University of Michigan, our dedication to academic excellence for the public good is inseparable from our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. It is central to our mission as an educational institution to ensure that each member of our community has full opportunity to thrive in our environment, for we believe that diversity is key to individual flourishing, educational excellence and the advancement of knowledge.”

 

Goals: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

The Stamps School diversity strategic planning process embraces the opportunity for deeper dialogue and intense engagement with our core values and aspirations. Our diversity strategic planning process is part of the larger university-wide commitment to ensure that all members of our community have the opportunity to thrive in our environment.

Here at Stamps, diversity is one of our core institutional values and one clearly articulated in our strategic plan. How can we as makers and scholars produce creative work and solutions for diverse cultures if we ourselves do not embrace differences or have the cultural competencies needed to be productive global citizens? This planning process will push us as a community to have higher aspirations as we consider extending U-M’s and the Stamps School’s legacies; to identify and implement concrete,measurable solutions; and to tie those solutions and aspirations to the variety of research, educational, and public engagement activities on campus and in the community at large.

 

Overarching Plan Goals for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion:

Diversity: We commit to increasing diversity, which is expressed in myriad forms, including race and ethnicity, gender and gender identity, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, language, culture, national origin, religious commitments, age, (dis)ability status, and political perspective.

Inclusion: We commit to pursuing deliberate efforts to ensure that our campus is a place where differences are welcomed, different perspectives are respectfully heard and where every individual feels a sense of belonging and inclusion. We know that by building a critical mass of diverse groups on campus and creating a vibrant climate of inclusiveness, we can more effectively leverage the resources of diversity to advance our collective capabilities.

The overarching view of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at the Stamps School is influenced by looking at recruitment, hiring, admission, retention, curricula and climate data of faculty, staff and students tracked over time. All the data was viewed with the following points in mind– Who are we? Where are we? Where might we want to be? What goals and resources do we need? What accountability is necessary? 

The curriculum, an important component of our identity as a community, was viewed with the following points in mind –what are we delivering? What do we wish to deliver and how do we deliver it?

The action plan is conceived to respond to our needs and aspirations to build a community of substance and purpose. We wish to achieve our goals within the constraints of the law, propose specific, achievable and sustainable short-medium-and long-term goals and actions to enhance diversity, equity and inclusion with specific timetables for execution; identify resource and points of accountability for achieving the designated goals; identify steps to ensure that the plan we develop is regularly reviewed and updated to reflect both progress towards our goals and any newly identified opportunities and challenges.

We will also keenly observe assessment of positive activities towards these goals by enhancing opportunities for constituents of the Stamps School to initiate and maintain organizations. Recent activities by Stamps School’s newest student organization–Stamps In Color is a good example. Stamps In Color, formed in 2014, organized the exhibition ‘Agents of Change’. The exhibition, with accompanying programming, addressed the issues of diversity, equity and inclusion. There are other examples, such as engagement activities regularly scheduled via the school’s curriculum.

We have increased our commitment to faculty and students in our engagement courses, extending beyond the realms of the work in the studios and classrooms into public projects in several Detroit neighborhoods. 

It is important to introduce and maintain signature initiatives with yearly highlights to ensure the success of our plan. We recommend a blend of short-term strategic goals and long-term visionary and transformative goals in order to be at the forefront of this important mandate.

Our hope is to engage both internal and external user assessments for perspective as this will expand efforts to learn about ourselves and provide regular strategic oversight of our progress.

All this is to ensure we leverage what is currently being done to elevate accessibility to all the benefits in a community that values diversity, equity and inclusion.

Some recent highlights of the implementation included the following:

The Stamps School’s new 5 Year Strategic Plan benefited from the initiatives and strategies outlined in the School’s DEI Plan. Similarly, the School’s 2018 NASAD accreditation review documents benefited from the initiatives and strategies outlined in the School’s DEI Plan.

The Faculty Handbook and Governance documents were consolidated and updated to benefit from the initiatives and strategies outlined in the School’s DEI Plan.

Important takeaways from climate surveys for faculty, staff and students which have yielded critical information to use in enhancing/improving the progressive learning and working environment.

The DEI plan implementation at the Stamps School is very much a collaborative effort.

We have an outstanding Diversity Core Planning Team composed of Stamps faculty, staff and students as its members. We meet regularly during the year to plan the upcoming activities. We partner with our neighborhood schools/colleges on North Campus and work well with other DEI leads to collaborate, plan and fund joint activities, organize visits by broadly diverse leaders from across the country, conduct workshops etc. We are grateful for Stamps DEI 1.0 Lead, Mahendra Kumar’s leadership, and the excellent work he organized and completed.  

With great support from our School’s leadership from the Dean and Executive Committee members, we encourage and involve our faculty to participate in ‘Inclusive Teaching’ opportunities and help implement DEI goals in the classroom and beyond.

We partner with our Communication team to help promote our DEI events at the School and elsewhere. They help create flyers, update our Stamps School web-site and send out global emails promoting our DEI events. We provide financial scholarships, travel scholarships for our students and provide Inclusive Teaching grants to our faculty to revise their course materials and syllabi to promote ‘inclusion’ in their classes. We conduct climate surveys of all our various groups–faculty, staff and students which help us gather feedback on the effectiveness of our DEI programs and always look for ways to improve.

Looking forward to DEI 2.0,  Stamps School of Art and Design is poised to carry the conversation further, to reach higher aspirations and embrace our core values of diversity, equity and inclusion in a more meaningful and personal way.  It’s our time to live our values, to lead by example and come together to create the school and climate that we can see in our hearts and center our values around.  We are eager to get started and embrace our next phase of making a more diverse, equitable and inclusive Stamps School of Art and Design. 

Implementation Leads

Carolyn Yoon, Thomas Bell

Unit Strategic Plan

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To learn more, contact: [email protected] or [email protected].

Visit here for more information about diversity, equity and inclusion programs and resources.

 

Unit Summary

Overview

Over the course of DEI 1.0, the Michigan Ross community developed a vision to guide our efforts and serve as a touchstone for diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.  As a community, we enacted this vision through strategic objectives and action items supported by MBA students through a call to action in the summer of 2020.  

During the five year period of DEI 1.0, we worked with many committed staff, faculty and students to achieve objectives and action items large and small. In the summary below, we outline key actions and initiatives that have helped make Michigan Ross a more diverse, equitable and inclusive community. 

As we reflect on our successes, challenges, and opportunities during DEI 1.0, we look toward the future, intent on advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in all that we do. We will develop practices and systems that fight discrimination, racism, bias, prejudice, and all forms of oppression.  

 

Fostering Inclusion

During DEI 1.0, it was our goal to develop specific strategies that fostered the inclusion of all stakeholders, with a specific focus on centering students. Several programs and trainings were offered over the course of five years, aimed to enhance knowledge, and deepen inclusion skills. This included embedding DEI content in orientation programs offered by Michigan Ross program offices. Two long-term initiatives were implemented during DEI 1.0 that have become part of the culture at Ross:

Unconscious Bias Training for Staff and Students

The Full Time MBA Student DEI Committee partnered with the Ross Director of Diversity and Inclusion to run six cohorts of MBA students through a four-week Unconscious Bias training program. Similarly, the Staff DEI Committee ran 16 cohorts of Ross staff through a four-week training program. These two trainings were designed to challenge bias, build capacity around allyship, and enhance inclusive practices throughout Ross. In addition to these programs, other offices, departments, and student groups facilitated similar training in Unconscious Bias. 

Diversity Week

One of the largest contributors to our progress is the broad DEI buy-in we have at Ross. One specific student achievement of note is Diversity Week. During the month of February, the Michigan Ross MBA students organize a week of programming to foster belonging and elevate voices from our community’s Affinity Clubs.  While the programming is centered around the MBA students, there are programs and offerings open to all students, staff, and faculty, as well as prospective students.   

 

Faculty Training 

As part of DEI 1.0, our Senior Associate Dean implemented DEI centered training for all new faculty hires. The Associate Dean for DEI partnered with the University of Michigan’s Center for Research on Learning and Teaching to offer various sessions and learning opportunities for our faculty.  These trainings were a central part of formal efforts to engage faculty in dialogic learning experiences to foster practices that would enhance belonging and inclusion in the classroom. Finally, we implemented training and provided practical implementation strategies for building inclusive environments in the classroom, specifically focusing on gender identity and expression, name pronunciation, and setting inclusive norms to name a few as  practices to build environments of inclusion. The focus on building inclusive learning environments in the classroom space yielded positive results, as our most recent climate data indicated students felt a greater sense of belonging in the classroom environment at Ross compared to other spaces throughout the university.  

 

Highlighting Student Stories

Throughout DEI 1.0, the Michigan Ross Marketing and Communications team has made a considerable effort to share stories and provide a platform for student experiences. Specifically, the team has increased stories related to DEI programs, Affinity Clubs and Organizations events, and amplified experiences of, among others, students with minoritized identities. These stories have fostered a sense of belonging by providing a platform for students to share counternarratives, and talk about their identities, their organizations, and speak truth to power around equity related issues. 

 

Strategic Practices and Infrastructure Investment

Over the course of the five years, Ross leadership, office and program areas, students, faculty and staff units all worked to develop practices to formalize and institutionalize our commitments to DEI. While the infrastructure was in its infancy, there was progress made to ensure long-lasting change and DEI support throughout Ross. This was most notably done through investing in new positions and changing practices to enhance diversity initiatives in programs and also create equitable opportunities for partnerships with the school.  Most notably, our infrastructure and investment came both financially by developing new faculty positions focused on DEI, and intentionally allocation of time by staff, faculty and students via the development of several working committees and teams.   

DEI Research and Teaching Awards

As part of our academic mission, we strive to innovate through research and quality pedagogical practice.The Business +Impact initiative at Ross, in collaboration with the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Faculty Committee, and the Dean’s Office, created a set of annual research awards to celebrate and honor research related to diversity, equity, and inclusion by Ross faculty, a Ph.D. student, and an undergraduate senior thesis student. The winners were selected by a review process designed and implemented by the Faculty DEI Committee members.  

In addition to the annual DEI Research Awards, was the development of J. Frank Yates Diversity and Inclusion Teaching Excellence Award. This award was developed through the work of the DEI Curriculum Taskforce which met during DEI 1.0.  The award recognizes a member of the Michigan Ross teaching faculty “who demonstrates a commitment to diversity and inclusion and makes a significant positive impact on the learning and personal growth of our students.” Professor Yates was a longtime member of the business school faculty known for his effective teaching, his impactful research and publications, and his commitment to diversity and inclusion. Nominations for the award are generated by students. The Faculty DEI committee reviews the student nominations and determines the winner of the award.  

 

The development and formalization of several DEI Committees throughout the School

Many members of the community, from faculty and staff to students and alumni, have contributed to our progress as a school in a volunteer capacity. With ambitious goals and a small team, community members stepping up to take on responsibilities has become essential to getting this work done. Part of this volunteerism took shape through task forces and councils outlined in the Ross Commitment to Action: the DEI Curriculum Taskforce, Identity and Diversity in Organizations Task Force, Dean’s Council for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and Ross School Supply Chain Task Force. These formalized structures involved faculty, staff, students and alumni. Each group had specific objectives and responsibilities related to DEI and helped the school make progress on our Strategic Plan and Commitment to Action in unique ways. 

 

Continuously evolving student leadership structures have also contributed to our progress. Leadership roles on the Full-Time MBA DEI Committee consist of the VP of DEI, along with the VP of Entering/Exiting Communities, VPs of Inclusive Classrooms, VPs of Student Life, VP of Leadership & Inclusion Chair Lead, VP of Committee Communications, and the VP of Committee Community. In addition to those roles, the MBA program also launched Inclusion Chairs for each section, with the goal of creating a more inclusive experience for students inside and outside of the classroom. Both the Part-Time and Online MBA programs have functional DEI committees and a VP of DEI.  In addition to the development of DEI Committees at the graduate level, our undergraduate BBA students have developed a functional DEI committee and a VP of DEI who serves as a member of leadership with the BBA Council.  All of these committees provide formal structures for programming and have direct connection to academic unit leadership for feedback and to enhance communications around DEI related issues and concerns. 

 

DEI Plans Developed by Various Functional Units 

Several of our units throughout the School developed their own DEI strategic plans.  This work included stakeholders within the teams defining annual and long-term goals related to DEI that they wanted to embed in their work.  This work resulted in the development of items such as: The Racial Equity Pledge, The Inclusive and Equitable Resource Guide, and Inclusive Language Guide, as well as practices that foster DEI and sustainability initiatives to name a few. 

 

The Appointment of a faculty director for the BBA Milestone Program and the creation of the Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

In the fifth year of the strategic plan, Carolyn Yoon was named the Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Chief Inclusion Officer, as part of the Ross Leadership Team.  In addition, in an effort to formalize our DEI work in the curriculum, Dr. Yoon was also named Faculty Director of the Ross BBA Milestone program, Inclusive Leadership Pathways, formerly known as Identity and Diversity in organizations.  

 

Moving Toward the Future and DEI 2.0

One of our biggest challenges during DEI 1.0 was moving out of the mentality that DEI work was an add on. Much of DEI 1.0 involved many action items, but because the infrastructure was being developed or did not exist, it resulted in much of the work being reactionary rather than proactive.  Thus at the end of 1.0 there was a concentrated effort to develop and enhance practices, and strategic initiatives to support implementation and integration of our DEI framework in all that we do, while also intentionally building infrastructure to ensure our practices became embedded.  This resulted in changing how our units throughout Ross functioned, as well as how we emphasized and celebrated excellence in DEI work. 

As we entered a new phase of DEI at Michigan Ross during the summer of 2021, it became clear that we needed to be more intentional about our approach and make some shifts in how we framed our discussions and practice. We began by developing a guiding plan that built off of our success of DEI 1.0, and shifted our focus around diversity and inclusion to efforts of equity and justice. To build around the concepts of equity and justice, we entered into a two year phase where we narrowed our scope on enhancing belonging, centering equity and excellence in the classroom and in our research, and by centering our recruiting and retention practices around the concept of equity.  

Implementation Leads

Nadia Bazzy, Jaime Cox, Will Sherry, Janel Sutkus, Kyra Shahid

Unit Strategic Plan

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Visit here for more information about diversity, equity and inclusion programs and resources.

 

Unit Summary

 

I. Student Life’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Strategic Plan: Overview

We envision a University of Michigan that puts inclusive excellence at the center of its educational mission. We strive for a healthy campus climate where students, throughout their time at Michigan, are internationally engaged in ways that prepare them to be successful in a global society. Upon graduating, students should have developed the capacities to:

• Recognize how experiences, values and perspectives are influenced by identity
• Understand the impact of culture and identity on the individual, a community and society
• Acquire the tools and confidence to build inclusive and diverse communities
• Co-create open and inclusive communities by promoting respect and dignity of others

Student Life’s intentional and robust co-curricular and curricular educational experiences serve undergraduate, graduate and professional students and provide spaces for applied learning and practice. We strive to instill skills and qualities in students and our staff team that build a more diverse, equitable and inclusive community and provide a foundation for ongoing learning. 

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Diversity: We commit to increasing diversity, which is expressed in myriad forms, including race and ethnicity, gender and gender identity, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, language, culture, national origin, religious commitments, age, (dis)ability status, and political perspective.

Equity: We commit to working actively to challenge and respond to bias, harassment, and discrimination. We are committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all persons and do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, religion, height, weight, or veteran status.

Inclusion: We commit to pursuing deliberate efforts to ensure that our campus is a place where differences are welcomed, different perspectives are respectfully heard and where every individual feels a sense of belonging and inclusion. We know that by building a critical mass of diverse groups on campus and creating a vibrant climate of inclusiveness, we can more effectively leverage the resources of diversity to advance our collective capabilities. 

 

Organizational Context

Student Life’s contributions to University of Michigan’s diversity, equity and inclusion strategic efforts are vast and multifaceted. Honoring both of Student Life’s spheres of influence, we developed individual objectives and action plans for our Institutional (Student) and our Organizational (Staff) roles.

1) campus-wide, through our institutional role with partners to serve all students; and

2) internal to Student Life, through our role as an organizational employer (for staff and student employees). 

 

II. Review – Student Life’s Planning Process

Beginning in 2015, Student Life engaged a broad cross-section of students, staff, and research to ensure a grounded and informed plan to be implemented over the next five years.  Our student engagement efforts included town halls and individual and group sessions with students, student leaders, student organizations and student employees. Our staff team provided input through town halls, focus groups, surveys and unit reports. Additional research included review of existing survey and other data, literature and relevant publications. A diverse 25-member staff group then worked together to consider and process input and data. Our extensive student and staff engagement and research revealed clear themes in individual needs and campus-wide investment.  Students provided insight on institutional challenges, student learning, development and social identity considerations. Staff provided insight on organizational challenges, necessary culture change and human resource considerations. This robust engagement allowed for a clear set of divisional DEI 1.0 objectives  

 

III. Student Life’s Evaluation Summary  

Student Life’s Progress – Highlighted People Initiatives 

Professional Development 

The results of the 2021 Campus Climate Survey suggest that there is broad engagement across the Division in DEI activities and events. There is evidence that the messaging and importance placed on DEI professional development is strong in Student Life, as the proportion of Student Life staff participating in each type of activity is greater than the proportion of all U-M staff for the same type of activity. For example, 68% of Student Life staff attended a DEI-related training or workshop session, which is ten points higher than among all U-M staff. Fifty-five percent of Student Life staff attended a DEI-related meeting or retreat in their unit, or thirteen points better than all U-M staff. Fifty-six percent attended a DEI-related event in their unit, or 12-point difference from all U-M staff.  And, one-quarter of Student Life staff served on a DEI-related committee or taskforce, five points higher than all U-M staff. These large gaps suggest success in creating a strong culture related to DEI professional development within Student Life and among its staff.

 

Compensation Model

During the span of DEI 1.0, Student Life fully updated and market benchmarked compensation model that is being used today. This DEI effort required significant planning, time, effort and financial investment to make it a reality. The conversations began in December 2016, with a task force that began meeting regularly for a year and developed initial recommendations that were shared with Student Life leadership in early 2018. Around the same time, SL received results from the 2017 DEI Climate survey that overwhelmingly indicated dissatisfaction around fair and equitable compensation. Bolstered by this feedback, Student Life launched a massive project in early 2019 to fully update the compensation model for the entire division (non-bargained for staff). The resources to implement this effort were significant and countless hours were devoted by many people from Student Life and from University HR over the course of 6+ months. This included a review of every classification for appropriate and relevant market data, updating and reviewing every employee’s job description for appropriate placement, assessing approximately 700 employee salaries compared to the new model, communicating and rolling out the changes through numerous town halls, employee meetings, videos and other avenues, and of course, final implementation steps.

 

Hiring and Onboarding

Student Life had multiple strategic actions associated with the hiring and onboarding of our staff. Although we made tremendous progress in this area, we were met with many challenges as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, including a yearlong hiring freeze. As some roles and teams experienced reduced workloads due to COVID-19, new and increased workloads impacted other areas of the division as we worked to live into ongoing public health mandates and protocols. In response to these needs, we engaged a divisional approach, seeking to ensure strategic use of staff time (preserve resources), leveraging the furlough program where possible, providing meaningful work for all team members (avoiding lay-offs), meeting critical needs of the division to deliver on unique public health/safety/compliance demands, and preserving our Core Work. 

 

Student Life’s Progress – Highlighted Process Initiatives 

 

Culture of Partnerships 

Student Life clarified our collective understanding of “partnership,” which included developing shared definitions, principles and understanding of our current partnerships. This laid the groundwork for engaging conversations about improving and expanding partnership inside and outside of Student Life. This work was particularly impactful as it included sharing resources, expanding core competencies through collective action, avoiding duplication, increasing efficiency, and maximizing impact. The success of this effort was fueled by the integration of partnerships as a divisional priority, accompanied by yearly goals and actions. Our focus on building a culture of partnership led to the completion of two biennial partnership inventories and reports and the development of a partnership toolkit. 

 

Thriving in the First Year

When the DEI strategic plan was introduced in 2016, Student Life did not have a formal First Year Experience (FYE) office. Our first year-focused initiatives lacked connection across the division. Through the DEI plan, we aligned our efforts and infused resources into a more coordinated and comprehensive First Year Experience initiative. Formalizing an office in 2017. FYE partners within and outside of Student Life to ensure our first-year students gain the skills necessary to establish an academic pattern of success, develop sustainable and healthy relationships, and engage and connect with a diverse learning community. The development of the FYE office and investment in early welcome community building programs serves as a major investment in our work with incoming students and continues to be a critical component of strengthening student access to and engagement with campus opportunities. 

 

Campus Climate Support 

Student Life, through the leadership of the Dean of Students Office, built on strategic efforts to improve campus response and support for climate concerns by working to ensure that all U-M students are aware of how to obtain support for campus climate incidents. We prioritized the implementation of a responsive and flexible campus climate support model, carrying out extensive communications with DEI Leads, Student Advisory Boards and other campus partners focused on raising awareness of the campus climate support team and highlighting pathways for conflict resolution and student engagement. Student Life also developed a sustainable model for regular engagement with student boards, leadership groups, and organizations to identify and assess campus climate needs and patterns and for the sharing of ideas, information, actions, and impacts. This included the launch of a Campus Climate Support Advisory Group, which includes student representatives from groups across campus and the development of structures which more effectively promotes restorative education and enables students to have access to the full range of voluntary adaptable conflict resolution services and resources.  

 

Student Life’s Progress – Highlighted Product Initiatives 

 

Intercultural Development Tools

Starting in Fall 2016, the university piloted an innovative student assessment and training program, with the goal of administering the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) or a similar assessment tool to a large cohort of students annually. The IDI assesses intercultural acumen, defined as the ability to shift cultural perspective and appropriately adapt behavior to cultural differences and commonalities. This initiative has grown to more than 1,000 annual student participants. Most students in the pilot reported becoming more self-aware and half of the groups specifically expressed a motivation to grow as a result of the experience. This effort also expanded to include content from theoretical frameworks and from other intercultural learning tools like the Intercultural Conflict Styles Inventory (ICS) and the Cultural Intelligence Assessment (CQ).  Nearly 2800 students from 12 academic partners and 7 student groups participated across all intercultural learning offerings in Year 5, including 2351 students participating in the IDI and 368 students attending five new workshops featuring non-IDI content.

 

Trotter Multicultural Center

In the Fall of 2013, three years before the launch of DEI 1.0 students frustrated by the poor state of the Trotter Multicultural Center (TMC) began organizing for a new Trotter Multicultural Center facility to be located near the center of campus. They named their effort, “A New Trotter Initiative” (ANT), which held its first team meeting in December 2013. In January of 2014 the Black Student Union released seven demands to the University, one of which one of which asked for Black students to have the “opportunity to congregate and share [their] experiences in a new Trotter Multicultural Center located on central campus.” Opportunities were organized to engage stakeholder voices through student town halls and listening sessions and in December of 2015 the Regents approved the proposal for the new multicultural center to be located on State Street. After three years of collaborative design and building development, the new TMC opened on April 19, 2019. Through the TMC, we have strengthened academic partnerships and implemented new and refreshed programming, open to all students, that focuses on promoting intercultural and multicultural engagement, racial healing, and transformative development across all generations and cultures. The TMC represents a successful outcome on many fronts, including highly intentional design of interior spaces and the development of a multimodal and historic building project, made possible by students who continued to honor the Trotter legacy and engage the campus community.

 

DEI Infrastructure

Our DEI structure has focused on engaging many levels within our organization. This includes our Leadership Cabinet as sponsor of our objectives, oversight leads who provide high level communication and accountability, and the engagement of staff throughout the division who oversee actions. This structure alongside institutional implementation leads, who keep us informed by the institutional direction for this work, creates a robust and collective approach to making change. Although our matrix model reaches deep into our organization and allows for us to be adaptable in changing environments providing strong interim leadership as needed in key areas, it also leans on leaders who are currently carrying full-loads of work. In order to address this challenge, we expanded our team to include DEI Project Lead and Associate Managers who allow us to continue to strengthen our Student Life DEI work into the future.

 

IV. Reflections   

Throughout DEI 1.0 Student Life actively engaged with students, aligning our programs, services, and resources to meet current needs. Utilizing a matrix model for plan implementation, we facilitated engagement and autonomy of key leaders and teams across the division. This model reached deep into our organization and allowed for adaptability in changing environments by providing strong leadership as needed in key areas. Our Student Life DEI structure focused on engaging many levels within our organization, including support and guidance from our Student Life Leadership Cabinet as executive sponsors of our strategic objectives and actions. Our DEI Leads provided communication and accountability for our plan and led the engagement of staff throughout the division. This matrix structure alongside our institutional partnerships created a robust and collective approach to making changes to strengthen diversity, equity and inclusion throughout our division and the campus at large.

Implementation Leads

Zain AbuSeri, Nyanatee Bailey, Anya Sirota

Unit Strategic Plan

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To learn more, contact: [email protected], [email protected] or, [email protected].

Visit here for more information about diversity, equity and inclusion programs and resources.

 

Unit Summary

Policies, programs, and practices that advance DEI

 

Inclusive and Equitable Climate

• Accessible events guidelines
• Parental support
• Inclusive budget development
• Scholarship allocation
• Conflict resolution pathways
• Streamlined communications
• Salary benchmarking
• Identity Workshops
• Sexual misconduct training
• Onboarding/Orientation
• Reflection Room
• Offices
• Common spaces
• Studio
• NC Deans’ MLK Spirit Awards
• IATC Campaign

 

Recruitment, Retention & Success

• Holistic admissions
• DEI metrics tracking
• Preview weekends
• Application waiver
• Jones-Russell Ambassadors
• Deferral policy
• Restructured Staff Annual Review Process
• Exit Interview
• Staff hiring policies + practices
• Fellowships
• Academic Wellness Checks
• Leave of Absence policy
• Phonetic Name Initiative + Pronouns
• Faculty mentorship
• Student Mentorship Program
• EAEC
• Staff Onboarding
• Studio handbooks
• New student orientation
• Software access + tutoring
•  Job Crafting
• P&T committees

 

Innovative and Inclusive Teaching, Scholarship & Research

• OKR
• Wallenberg Studios
• Equity review
• DEI Statement
• 1- credit Sojourner Truth Fellowship
• UG curriculum changes
• Course evaluation
• DEI in FAR + streamlining
• Reviewers protocols + expectations
• TC Pathways
• ArcPrep
• ArcStart

 

Service Provision

• ADA liaison
• UM Public Design Corps
• DEI Strategic Plan
• Employer DEI commitment expectations
• Design Futures Forum
• URP Capstone
• Acts of Urbanism
• Emergency Funds
• Tech grants and assistance
• Media Center accepts financial aid

 

Patterns of continuity and change

• In general, people of color and women across all constituencies reported being less satisfied with the college climate, primarily moving from very satisfied/satisfied to neutral.
• White men across the board are experiencing the same or more satisfaction with the college climate.
• UG students are more satisfied with the college than UM.
• Women across the board reported a higher perception of sex-based discrimination.
• Staff reported a higher perception of age discrimination.
• Overall, people reported engaging in DEI efforts and that the college has a strong and demonstrated commitment to DEI.
• Staff saw the most significant increase in people of color of all constituencies. From 2018 to 2021, there was an increase in Asian (2%–>10%) and Black (7%–>14%) staff.
• The number of international students is decreasing, while there were no significant changes in the number of Black and White students. The number of people of color is supplanting the number of international students decrease, especially among Latinx and Asian/Asian American students. The UT program is helping diversify the UG population by race/ethnicity.
• Overall, people reported not being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic physically, emotionally, or financially.

 

DEI efforts with the most positive  impact, resources expended, and overall college recognition

 

People

• Staff hiring process
• ArcPrep
• TC Pathways
• Elimination of GRE

 

Process

• Phonetic Name Initiative + Pronouns
• Culture building engagement efforts
• Student emergency funding
• Design Justice Actions

 

Products

• DEI curricular reform

 

Initial Priorities for DEI 2.0

People

Faculty hiring

• Hire more faculty with non-traditional research agendas and diversify our applicant pools with respect to faculty applicants with oppressed identities.
• Design and implement the faculty hiring holistic review process.
• Job posting language needs to be relevant to people who are not represented in the built environment.
• Consider hiring people in groups instead of individually.
• Provide reminders for job postings.
• The agenda for faculty hires is already set when the job is posted; the agenda should be much more open based on organizational values, not candidates’ specific work.
• When faculty, particularly those with oppressed identities, are hired, ensure they are not isolated. Encourage and support the new ideas they bring with funding, recognition, and political capital.
• Include students in the hiring process and final decisions.
• Expand/increase recruitment efforts to historically underserved and underrepresented communities.

 

Faculty promotion and tenure

• Explicitly state how demonstrated  commitment to DEI is valued and assessed in promotion and tenure.
• Develop more FAR guidance on how DEI efforts are weighted in as part of research, teaching, and service (not as separate). Value work with a DEI lens as much as “mainstream” research and teaching.
• Incentivize embedding DEI lens into faculty’s existing work instead of as something separate and attending DEI related events.
• Explore the use of DEI credits for professional development (consider AIA point system as a model).

 

DEI staffing

• Expand DEI to have a dedicated DEI faculty lead. Explore a curatorial position with research involvement to have more faculty access and affect faculty research/teaching agendas and frameworks.

 

Other

• Increase the percentage of students with oppressed identities, especially Black students and students of color in general.
• Continue to build on diversifying staff by race and other dimensions of diversity.
• Explore how to involve alumni recruitment and retention efforts more deeply.
• Institutionalize integration of attending BIPOC-focused events for all constituencies.

 

Process

Culture

• Deepened the College Compact and develop explicit strategies to live it.
• Share our DEI successes and use them to create a community narrative.
• Change DEI terminology to more global and accepted term(s) at the college (i.e., justice).
• Explore how we collectively interpret the college’s mission and develop collective goals to live it building on the university’s mission of “transforming lives”.

 

Decolonization

• Create a land acknowledgment committee to develop a college-wide land acknowledgment.

 

Decision making

• Establish a clear and transparent decision-making structure at the college.
• Develop clear goals and expectations that are in alignment with mission and values (College Compact)
• Increase transparency and communication from administration in areas of curriculum and hiring.
• Develop more inclusionary practices for students to partner with faculty/administrators to make decisions (including hiring, funding distribution, policy development and implementation, etc.)

 

Community building

• Prioritize resources for symposia that bring community partners together with students, faculty, and staff (i.e., Size Up: Changing Paradigms in Social Impact Design) to exchange ideas; incentivize faculty to embed symposia into their teaching.
• Explore a “Truth and Reconciliation” process for faculty to become more transparent about hurts from the past and heal them.
• Continue exploring ways to expand “the choir” to have a greater percentage of the community involved in advancing DEI efforts and values.

 

Products

Teaching and curriculum

• Explore how to embed the College Compact at the curricular level.
• Institutionalize syllabi review on a yearly basis (pay students to participate, allocate faculty time to do so).
• Engage faculty to determine how to fully make DEI an embedded component of each subject, class, and classroom.
• Reassess our lectures and exhibitions agenda to have more events/panels on the intersection of race, class, gender, and practice.

DEI research

• Allocate more funding to DEI-related research.
• Prioritize a diversity of research agendas.

Implementation Leads

Kalia Vang, Katherine Walsh

Unit Strategic Plan

To learn more, contact: [email protected] or [email protected].

Visit here for more information about diversity, equity and inclusion programs and resources.

 

Unit Summary

The Office of University Development (OUD) maximizes private support for the University of Michigan (U-M) through high-quality collaboration with the development programs of U-M schools, colleges, and units. Our staff, including U-M student staff, must be able to grow, thrive, and contribute openly to a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace. We must embody principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in hiring and recruiting, onboarding and training, promotions and compensation, in our day-to-day work environment, and in internal activities and communications. We must work to make the university’s donor pool more diverse and inclusive, and we must engage our development partners in other U-M schools, colleges, and units in DEI-driven praxes. We act on our commitment – in accordance with the law – to contribute to a just society and affirm the humanity of all persons.

 

Highlights: Summary of Five Years

From FY17 to FY21, the OUD DEI Strategic Plan (DEI 1.0) (PDF) guided our efforts to advance DEI in fundraising and to build an environment where all can thrive. Overall, we made meaningful progress yet there remain challenges and opportunities to further address in the next iteration of the DEI Strategic Plan (DEI 2.0). The moments and milestones listed below transformed our fundraising work and culture, setting us on the path for the next five years.

 

Fundraising

In collaboration with partners, OUD embeds our DEI values into our fundraising practices. We focus on DEI in fundraising because it serves as an opportunity through which donors and volunteers can gain access to further contribute to the mission and shared causes that the university supports. Over five years, we continued to fundraise for DEI funds and established new infrastructure and practices that advance DEI.

• • From FY17 to FY21, development staff from across three campuses and Michigan Medicine raised $98,665,269 for DEI Funds across U-M.
  • In 2018, OUD hired a gift officer to fundraise for the Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (ODEI) and university-wide DEI initiatives. 
  • DEI Leadership Council: Under the leadership of then Vice Provost for Equity & Inclusion Rob Sellers, U-M launched the DEI Leadership Council. This council is a university-wide volunteer network of donors (giving level: $25K+) who are committed to making the university a place where all individuals are afforded an equal opportunity to thrive. Learn more about the volunteer role.

• Diversify U-M Donor Base: Development staff from across three campuses and Michigan Medicine launched initiatives to promote equitable engagement and increase the diversity of our donor and volunteer base including The Raise: Generations of Black Excellence, Women’s Philanthropy Committee, and NextGen Committee. All initiatives are open to all.

• Best Practices to Promote Inclusivity: We created a new practice to ethically obtain and employ constituents’ affinity and self-reported background information in order to help strategically steward donors to support funds that speak to their interests, backgrounds, and experiences. We recognize that bias exists in the wealth indicators that we use to identify high potential donors. With the support of a grant from the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ODEI), we explored alternative ways to mitigate bias in our wealth screenings and better identify underrepresented prospective donors, including prospective donors of color with high potential to give.

 

OUD People, Culture, and Climate
OUD aims to promote an inclusive climate of belonging where staff can thrive and are generally representative of the broad diversity within the U-M community. As our donor base becomes more diverse, our staff needs to be culturally adaptive in order to cultivate meaningful relationships that fuel our fundraising capability. Over five years, we have embedded DEI into our work culture, practices, and learning and skills building.

 

• Egalitarian Approach and Structure: OUD has shifted from a climate defined solely by a traditional hierarchical structure toward a more egalitarian approach, where staff meaningfully shapes our culture and key organizational decisions that impact them. For example, DEI committees create and implement key practices that advance DEI in our fundraising and culture efforts and business resource groups (BRGs) formed, which represent different constituent and business needs and provide a supportive space where staff members feel seen, heard, and valued. Some of these BRGs include the Early Career Professionals Committee (ECPC), Employee Engagement Committee (EEC), Development Professionals of Color (DPOC), the Administrative Committee, and the Performance Support Program (PSP). All BRGs are open to all interested staff.
• Best Practices to Diversify our Workforce: Through an ODEI grant, OUD created a recruitment and hiring guide which provides guidance and resources for running an equitable search and hiring process that prioritizes the formation of broadly diverse candidate pools, mitigating bias wherever possible and appropriate, and creating a positive candidate experience.
• Hybrid Work: Before the COVID-19 pandemic, OUD created the initial alternative work arrangement (AWA) policy to promote flexible work arrangements although nearly all Michigan-based OUD staff continued to work fully in-person. Spurred by the pandemic, OUD transformed its existing AWA policy to expand work arrangement choice that supports our fundraising operations and an environment where staff can be their best selves at work.
• Pay Equity: OUD addressed pay equity issues and will develop a long-term compensation philosophy around pay parity and opportunity parity with input from OUD. Sixty positions underwent salary adjustments – 70 percent of which were for individual contributors.
• Collaborative for Respectful Workplaces: OUD established the Collaborative for Respectful Workplaces in University Advancement (CRW), the only known international consortium of 22 higher ed institutions gathering on this scale to share best practices and develop standard guidelines to address unwanted and unwelcome situations in the field.

 

Key Takeaways

In five years, OUD laid the pivotal foundation for transformative, lasting change by widely instilling the importance of DEI in our work and establishing new expectations, practices, and infrastructure. Yet, it is clear that there is more progress to be made in DEI 2.0.

 

Fundraising 

In partnership with development staff across U-M, OUD sought to increase fundraising for DEI funds across U-M and integrate DEI into our fundraising practices that will promote inclusive philanthropy necessary to advancing U-M’s broader DEI vision: to be a diverse university where all thrive and excel.

 

DEI in Campaign Planning: OUD and campus partners created an inclusive planning process to develop themes for the upcoming fundraising campaign – which included a wide group of stakeholders and DEI expertise involved in the facilitation of each working group.  Each campaign theme group was charged with integrating DEI with a heightened focus on racial justice into their theme group’s work. This is a significant shift from the last comprehensive fundraising campaign which did not link DEI to the core planning process. A number of participants recommended by DEI leadership were included as members of the campaign theme groups, including then Vice Provost for Equity and Inclusion Rob Sellers.

 

Fundraising for DEI: OUD DEI leads fundraising efforts for the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, with a focus on the Wolverine Pathways program. From FY17 to FY21, we raised $5,213,560 for Wolverine Pathways. OUD DEI expanded fundraising efforts to include grassroots campaigning and continued to enhance processes for stewardship and ODEI gift expenditure tracking.

 

Diversify U-M Donor Base: Development staff from across three campuses and Michigan Medicine launched initiatives to promote equitable engagement and increase the diversity of our donor and volunteer base including The Raise: Generations of Black Excellence, Women’s Philanthropy Committee, and NextGen Committee. All initiatives are open to all. During the inbetween fundraising campaigns period, these initiatives built the critical infrastructure which will help support the upcoming campaign: enhancing donor engagement data; promoting volunteer board representation that reflects the broad diversity of the U-M community; and developing and sharing best practices to engage people, including those from underrepresented and marginalized identities and backgrounds.

 

People and Culture

In advancing a climate where all can thrive, OUD identified and addressed urgent concerns. Continued staff feedback and input remain critical to guiding our strategy and uplifting important concerns, ensuring that our efforts meaningfully address the disparities and challenges staff may experience.

 

Staff of Color: Research shows that unconscious and explicit bias in the hiring process can result in the underrepresentation of marginalized groups, despite all candidates demonstrating similar qualifications. To mitigate against any bias in our hiring, we made significant changes to our hiring practices such as posting salary ranges, blinding names, and integrating unconscious bias training for those leading and involved in hiring. These efforts contributed to a more racially diverse applicant and candidate pool overall. On average, we hired staff of color at levels comparable to the available talent in southeast Michigan. 

 

However, once staff of color are hired, we struggle to retain them due to our climate. From FY17 to FY21, people of color (POC) made up between 13 percent to 17 percent of OUD staff. On average, POC expressed that they experienced a diminished sense of belonging and incidents of bias and discrimination, unfair treatment, and inequitable opportunities to grow in their roles and advance in their careers. While there is racial diversity in candidates overall, we fell short of meeting our goal of increasing, year over year, the racial diversity of OUD’s leadership.

 

LGBTQIA+, Disabilities, & Early Career Staff: Through feedback gathering, LGBTQIA+ staff, those with disabilities, and early career professionals shared about their experiences and needs such as a need for more connectedness across OUD, resources for career advancement, and accommodations and changes in our culture to support well-being and mental health.

 

Skills Building to Advance DEI: OUD spent the first few years of DEI 1.0 educating staff about DEI and its importance to our work and culture. Further efforts are needed to enhance the DEI skills of staff in order to prepare them to engage in culturally diverse situations both among colleagues and in the field.

 

Advancing a Safe and Respectful Fundraising Environment: Staff often interact with donors, alumni, volunteers, and parents in their fundraising work. In engaging with these individuals, staff may encounter unwanted and unwelcome situations. OUD has developed protocols and launched an international collaborative to address these behaviors and develop best practices for reporting and remediation efforts.

 

Business Practices and Operations

OUD is fostering a climate where we are proactively addressing barriers, welcoming guest/donor accommodations, and making creative decisions to ensure everyone has equitable opportunity for engagement and access to information. From planning to executing tests, OUD staff ensures that those with disabilities can access the same information through a screen reader, verbal announcements at in-person events, and so forth. OUD works to ensure that our communications resonate with our diverse audience – that they see themselves in our content, and they know we see them. Through a DEI committee review process of donor communications, stories are reviewed with a DEI lens which allows us to thoughtfully represent our diverse constituent base and avoid framing stories that uphold poverty tourism, white saviorism, and tokenization.

 

DEI 2.0: Looking Ahead

As we look to DEI 2.0, we hope to further actualize our commitment to our DEI values through action. The first few years focused on education, motivation, and addressing concerns about DEI. Today, OUD staff are engaged in DEI – many of whom are integrating DEI into key areas of their work.

 

Note, these initial priorities will evolve as we further plan in the 2022-2023 academic year.

 

Broadly Diversify U-M Donor Base

• We need to address the barriers and challenges in motivating partners to participate in efforts to broadly diversify U-M’s donor base. The demands of immediate concerns incentivizes prioritizing short-term needs over long-term ones. For example, we rely on specific, available data to determine which donors have capacity to give in order to achieve immediate fundraising goals. However, incomplete data or misinformed use of data form preconceptions about a donor’s capacity to give, which can lead to the systemic under-engagement of different segments of the donor base.

 

Enhanced Accountability and Transparency

• We will encourage all teams and individuals to take accountability for DEI. Integrating DEI into our work and culture is a collective effort which requires action and engagement from all OUD staff. In addition to reporting and quarterly updates, through continued staff feedback, we will develop means to be accountable and transparent about progress on DEI goals.
• To build trust, we will continue to practice an egalitarian approach in order to ensure that staff are influencing key organizational decisions and outcomes.

 

Addressing Retention Issues

• In order to retain staff of color (who depart OUD in higher numbers than do other OUD staff populations), in partnership with OUD staff and the Development Professionals of Color (DPOC), we need to address climate concerns on belonging, treatment and conduct, opportunity, and representation that have led many staff of color to report experiencing an exclusive, alienating environment.

 

LGBTQIA+, Disabilities, & Early Career Staff

• We need to recognize, understand, and uplift issues facing LGBTQIA+, those with disabilities, and early career professionals.

 

Gender Disparities

• While women staff reported high levels of satisfaction with OUD’s climate and DEI progress, we need to confirm the equity of our promotion practices such that they do not inadvertently limit opportunities for women to attain top positions in development.

 

Advancing a Safe and Respectful Fundraising Environment

• We need to expand practices, resources, and training opportunities to help staff and university leaders navigate situations where a donor has exhibited unwanted and unwelcome behavior.

 

Ongoing and emerging DEI challenges call for us to urgently practice DEI in every aspect of our work. OUD will pursue meaningful, lasting DEI progress based on a strategy informed by a theory of change and community input, which will require action and accountability from all OUD staff.

Implementation Lead

Lawrence Young

Unit Strategic Plan

To learn more, contact: [email protected]

Visit here for more information about diversity, equity and inclusion programs and resources.

 

Unit Summary

The first iteration of the Library DEIA Strategic Plan documented action plans and progress notes for academic years 2017 through 2021.  The plan was built around long-term visionary goals for each of the university’s four planning domains:

 

Recruitment, retention, and development

Our programs to attract, develop, retain, and support a diverse workforce will be a model in the realm of research libraries. We will also bolster campus diversity-focused student recruitment and retention by serving as a support and resource.

 

Education and scholarship

We will be the go-to resource for trusted and culturally inclusive information and research and technology support for the U-M community. We will develop a deep understanding of the creative power that lies at the intersection of cultures, ways of thought, and academic disciplines.

 

Equity, inclusion, and accessibility

We will offer physical and virtual spaces that welcome all people and serve as a second academic home for all students. We will also expand our capacity to advance inclusive and collaborative academic work to enhance the student experience.

 

Service and leadership

We will provide services that meet each individual at the place from which they arrive ― culturally, socially, and academically. Our leadership in diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility will be recognized by the campus and by our peer institutions, just as they now recognize our leadership and excellence in the realm of research libraries.

The U-M Library DEIA Strategic Plan documents how we strive to develop and nurture the skills that will allow us to manifest diversity as engagement, innovation, and above all, respect for all individuals. These skills are vital to the library, which offers its wide-ranging and diverse content, services, and expertise to the entire U-M community and beyond. We seek out and celebrate diversity in all of its forms, and more importantly, we embrace it as an organizational priority. 

The U-M Library has a long history of actively engaging in diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEI&A) work. We understand that it is vital to the overall success of an academic research library to infuse the tenets of diversity into our collections, services, spaces, and human talent. Some of the ways that DEI&A work is intrinsically embedded within the U-M Library include:

 

Collections 

Our vast collection reflects global diversity in many ways. We strive to ensure that our collections are accessible to all and that researchers and learners are able to access information in deep and culturally aware ways. 

 

Services 

Library services are user-centric and aimed at meeting researchers and learners where they are. Our services are intended to help library users to connect real-world experiences to our collections and resources. 

 

Spaces

Both physical and virtual spaces of the library must be accessible, welcoming, and affirming to all, in alignment with library values. Great attention is given to ensure that barriers to inclusion are identified and mitigated. 

 

Human Talent 

We strive to build, retain and develop a vibrant community of people representing the vast diversity of the communities we serve and we recognize that without building a critical mass of diverse identity, differences can be isolating rather than productive. Maintaining a positive and inclusive climate and culture within the library is critical, and we work to build this culture in several ways. The U-M Library is home to the longest-standing diversity council of all academic libraries, all library employees establish diversity goals as a part of their yearly performance management process, and internal professional development has a strong focus on building intercultural competencies. While diversity is the work of all library staff, the U-M Library has established key positions to provide expertise in areas of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. 

We fully embrace, support, and contribute to the University of Michigan’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts while honoring and leveraging the library’s unique DEI&A history and perspective. Finding and building ways to blend our organizational culture of diversity with broader university efforts requires that we adapt our organic, bottom-up approach to diversity work into a more strategic approach. Through the DEIA 1.0 journey, we have been motivated and excited by this opportunity to align our efforts with that of the university community.

 

Overview of some key accomplishments 

 

Ongoing Assessment

Assessing the experiences that library employees are having is a key part of our DEIA planning.  During DEIA 1.0, we have learned about our community through several assessment activities including;

• 2017 Student Employee Climate Survey
• 2017 All Staff Climate Survey (UM)
• 2017 Library Employee Survey
• 2018 All Faculty Climate Survey (UM)
• 2019 Focus Group on the Experience of BIPOC Library Employees
• 2020 Library Employee Survey 
• 2021 All UM Climate Survey

 

Key DEIA Objectives

We established yearly key objectives for each domain.  These objectives served as the driving force behind establishing specific action items.  Primary objectives during DEIA 1.0 included;

• Refine a recruitment process to attract and hire critical talent from diverse applicant pools.
• Develop a transparent and efficient means of communicating people-based accountability throughout the library. This will allow leaders and staff to better assess the working climate and culture of the library on key people metrics.
• Develop an internal pipeline for staff, including underrepresented staff, to gain training, experiences, and development to move into key library positions, supporting a culture of mentorship and engagement.
• Enhance career pathways for library employees, especially those with underrepresented identities within the library and related professions.
• Educate our community on sexual and gender-based misconduct prevention in an effort to promote a safe and supportive environment for all members to work, learn, and thrive.
• Actively encourage, support, and promote research and scholarship in areas related to diversity.
• Create and cultivate inclusive learning environments that accelerate self-agency through outreach, programs, events, and services responsive to learner, researcher, and scholar needs.
• Enhanced user engagement with our publications
• Ensure that library spaces, services, programs, and collections are inclusive and welcoming for all users and employees.
• Refine and launch the cyclical Library Employee Survey for the first time in the fall of 2020.
• Create resources for Library employees that encourage and describe how to conduct assessment in inclusive, equitable, and culturally-responsive ways.
• Incorporate accessible technology into library spaces and programs.
• Build and maintain systems of accountability.
• Support library staff in developing and enhancing intercultural competencies.
• Supervisor/Manager support, development, and accountability.
• Increased power and decision making within the staff population.
• DEIA and Anti-racism professional development opportunities.

 

Priorities for DEIA 2.0

As the UM Library prepares to re-launch a second five-year diversity plan, we have identified some critical areas of focus.  Some of these priorities reflect continued work from DEIA 1.0, some of these priorities are in alignment with overall library priorities as described in our strategic objectives and others have been established as a direct result of recent data collected from the library community such as the 2021 Library Employee Survey.  Priorities include;

• Organize culture and climate work in a way that allows us to retain and utilize input from the library community and develop a transparent and efficient means of communicating accountability for this work throughout the library. 
• Continuously evolve, reimagine, and improve our user-centered services and spaces, physical and digital.
• Cultivate a caring, compassionate, and inclusive workplace climate that is free from harassment and discrimination yet able to hold all community members accountable to operating in alignment with library values. 
• Acknowledge and confront the underlying societal structural racism that shapes our interactions with colleagues, patrons, and the larger community and continue our journey to become an Anti-Racist Organization
• Cultivate and encourage a learning and growth mindset, including holding space for difficult and challenging conversations that will move our organization toward positive change
• Work toward an organizational culture that is continually more aligned with library values. 
• Ensure that library spaces, services, programs, and collections are inclusive and welcoming for all users and employees.
• Continue to refine and utilize the cyclical Library Employee Survey as a tool to guide decisions around culture and climate.
• Continue to incorporate accessible technology into library spaces and programs.
• Support library staff in developing and enhancing intercultural competencies.
• Reflect on, Reimagine and Rebuild our systems of supervisor and manager support, development, and accountability.