Eunice Matthews, Ph.D. LCSW Professor, Social Work & Sociology Chair, Diversity and Social Justice Council

4.5 Strategic initiative: Develop and implement a comprehensive diversity plan that supports Eastern’s Strategic Plan Eastern will develop and implement a comprehensive diversity plan that addresses creating a welcoming university environment, enhancing efforts for a diverse workforce, enhancing programs, and supporting a diverse student population

Diversity and Social Justice Council Mission Statement The mission of the Diversity and Social Justice Council is to support and monitor the University’s evolution towards inclusive excellence through the promotion of coherence, cohesion, and collaboration of diversity initiatives and institutional structures within and across organizational systems at Eastern Connecticut State University.

Council Membership Elsa Nunez, President Rhona Free, Academic Affairs Carmen Cid, School of Arts & Sciences Jaime Gomez,School of Edu & Prof Studies Dennis Hannon,Finance and Administration Walter Diaz,Student Affairs Angel Beltran, Facilities Theresa Bouley,Education Carlos Escoto, Psychology Suzanne Dowling, Counseling Kimberly Dugan, Sociology Madelenine Fugere, Psychology Lisa Hamilton, Public Safety Susan Heyward, Advising Center Edith Mavor, Registrar LaQuana Price, Admissions Pamela Starr, AccessAbility Services Denis Ugurlu, Student

Council Structure 1 Council Chair, Eunice Matthews 4 Sub-Committees Co-chairs Each sub-committee will be lead by a co- chair that will be responsible for scheduling and convening the meetings and reporting to the larger council. Campus Climate Sub Committee, Co- Chair, Madeleine Fugere Institutional Viability Sub-Committee, Co-Chair, Jaime Gomez, Academic Programming Sub-Committee Co-Chair, Kim Dugan Institutional Programming Sub-Committee. Co-Chair, Pam Star

Campus Climate Sub-Committee Creating a welcoming campus environment enriches campus life and individuals to reach their potential. In the fall of 2007 President Nunez requested that the DRJ Committee administer a campus climate survey to the entire university community (students, faculty and staff) in order to assess perceptions about the existing campus climate. This was the first time that such an extensive survey had been administered at Eastern. A campus climate survey was developed by the Diversity Race and Justice (DRJ) Committee in the spring of 2008 and was administered in the spring and fall of The purpose of the survey was to provide baseline data about the perceptions of the university campus climate by different segments of our population. A major benefit of doing such a survey is that the data can be used to help us institutionalize the university core value of “inclusion”. The Campus climate sub-committee is charged with the continued monitoring and redistribution of this survey.

Institutional Viability The institutional Viability sub-committee is concern with issues of admission and retention among students, faculty, and staff who make up Eastern Connecticut State University Community for the purpose of maintaining a diverse community. This sub-committee will focus on such things as accessibility by various populations to aspects of the university community; student admissions, student major selection and success, student persistence, retention, and graduation, hiring, departmental compositions, promotion and tenure. The institutional viability data (admissions, hiring, recruitment, promotion and retention) is essential for assessing diversity initiatives and progress over time.

Institutional Programming The Institutional programming sub- committee will focus on the non-academic departments [such as student affairs, support staff, etc. ] for the purpose of facilitating the development of opportunities for interdepartmental collaborations as well as individual departmental initiatives that support the diversity mission and support the distribution of information regarding best practices among non- academic departments

Academic Programming The academic programming sub- committee will focus on the academic departments for the purpose of facilitating the development of opportunities for interdepartmental collaborations as well as individual departmental initiatives in the areas of curriculum development, responsive teaching methods, and faculty development, that support the diversity mission and support the distribution of information regarding best practices among academic departments.

Our Journey

The Goals for Our Journey To begin to address the achievement gap among underrepresented groups To move towards utilizing a comprehensive framework for excellence that incorporates diversity at its core, creating an interconnectedness between diversity and quality in regards to education To create a system whereby the need for cohesion and collaboration among diversity initiatives can be addressed

The reality of the Achievement Gap Average Cumulative GPA, 1 st year 2007 for Eastern students White 2.73 Black 2.38 Hispanic 2.25 Asian 2.6 The achievement gap among underrepresented students is not unique to Eastern, but a struggle for colleges and university across the country.

The reality of the Achievement Gap According to The Condition of Education Report for 2010 the achievement gap among underrepresented students persists. 6 year graduation rates by race 67% Asian 60% White 48% Hispanic 42% Blacks 40% American Indian/ Alaskan

Traditional Explanations for Disparities Student involvement Intensity of their high school curriculum Lack of cultural capital Limited social and academic integration

A need for a shift Although, students should accept responsibility for their own success, the persistence of the achievement gap among underrepresented students demands a shift in our focus to one of shared responsibility for students’ educational outcomes and the possibility of deficits at the institutional level

Inclusive excellence Requires that we begin to understand diversity not as an outcome but as process that influences a set of critical educational outcomes and, Inspires a shift in our thinking of diversity away from that of separate from educational quality to an understanding of diversity as being fundamentally linked to desired student learning outcomes and, Supports the understanding of diversity as being more than demographic compositions, and explorations of differences but also interested in opposing unfair forms of exclusion, prejudice, and discrimination thus changing existing arrangements of power.

Inclusive Excellence as a Conceptual Framework : Basic principles A focus on student intellectual and social development A purposeful development and utilization of organizational resources to enhance student learning Attention to the cultural differences learners bring to the educational experience and enhance the enterprise A welcoming community that engages all of its diversity in the service of student and organizational learning. American Association of Colleges and University: Making excellence inclusive

Four Important levels for enacting Change Senior leadership and accountability- must be committed to establishing inclusive excellence Vision and buy in – the vision for change must be communicated to stakeholders at multiple levels so that they can define, reframe adapt and implement the vision according to their unique vantage points. Building capacity : building long term organizational capacity, investing in developing faculty, staff, and unit capabilities Leveraging resources – make available necessary financial technical human and symbolic resources

Inclusive Excellence Scorecard Framework Williams,D;Berger,J;and McClendon, S.(2005) Toward a modeld of inclusive excellence and change in post secondary institutions, AAC&U

Eastern Connecticut State University Diversity and Social Justice Council

Eastern Connecticut State University DSJ Council Initiatives Host Discussion groups- to encourage the identification and an examination of best practices regarding methods to confront the achievement gap within and across departments. Faculty Development Pilot Project: Book Club Title-Other people’s Children: Cultural Conflict in the classroom by Lisa Delpit Title: Degrees of inequality Culture, class, an d gender in American higher education by Ann L. Muller Campus Climate Survey #2