Our Commitment to Social Justice and Inclusion
Background
In light of events that have shown that systemic racism and other social injustices continue to pervade our society, we realize that much more needs to be done, with earnest and in a sustained manner, if we are to achieve social justice. Change will require those who have been silent to stand and become a part of the solution. Action is required if we are truly going to be agents of change.
The pain and grief of injustice in America is deep and real, for our faculty, staff and students. Because of this, social justice and inclusion is important to DePaul and the Division of Student Affairs. Our goal as a division is to create sustainable, systematic change that contributes to a socially just and inclusive community. It's important that all divisional staff actively engage to truly bring about change.
Student Affairs' Social Justice and Inclusion (SJI) and Professional Development committees are agents of change for SJI in the division, and integral parts of our ongoing effort to offer relevant SJI opportunities to divisional staff.
2020-21 Social Justice and Inclusion Initiatives
To sustain the division's commitment, divisional leadership and the SJI committee have developed the following initiatives and structural recommendations:
- Ensure ongoing opportunities for SJI training and development
- All divisional staff will have an SJI performance goal.
- All staff are required to complete implicit bias training, and in the future, search advocate training.
- SJI Training Modules have been created for new and current staff.
- The SJI committee and Professional development committee will share ongoing SJI professional development opportunities via MicroSoft Teams and our Weekly Newsletter.
2. Ensure ongoing dialogue and programming at the department and divisional level
3. Expand student SJI development via the EverFi Diversity, Equity and Inclusion module
Specific activities for the above initiatives can be found in the action plan below.
In order to sustain our commitment and hold ourselves accountable, each member of the vice presidents' cabinet in Student Affairs has direct responsibility for social justice and inclusion in the division. These responsibilities include:
- Oversight of ongoing recommendations for SJI initiatives.
- Integrating SJI professional development opportunities into the overall professional development plan for the division and assessing SJI initiatives regularly.
- Oversight for implementation of university harassment and discrimination policies to address racial and gender equity, and equity for individuals with different abilities.
Social Justice and Inclusion Action Plan
As of the 2019-20 academic year, all divisional staff are required to have one performance goal around social justice and inclusion each year beginning in FY21. An appropriate goal will be developed by the staff member in conversation with their direct supervisor as part of the annual performance appraisal process. Both staff and managers will use the NASPA/ACPA Social Justice and Inclusion Professional Competencies to guide their choices. The Social Justice and Inclusion committee has created a resource folder within the Student Affairs intranet that provides clear examples of ways staff can tailor these competencies into personalized goals through a variety of development strategies.
Several years ago the division instituted an expectation that all search committee members complete Implicit Bias Training facilitated by the Office of Institutional Diversity and Equity (OIDE). This is now a university expectation and will continue by way of coordinated training opportunities with OIDE. Any staff member involved with hiring, be it professional staff, graduate students or student staff, will be required to participate in training every two to three years. In addition, members of the SJI committee participated in Search Advocate training facilitated by Oregon State University. Search Advocates participate in a multi-day training to gain SJI knowledge related to search processes. The goal is to implement Search Advocate Training for staff members who participate in divisional searches.
Two new online modules have been created for all new staff professionals within the division. These modules will serve as a value statement to the importance the division places on social justice and inclusion. The module provides foundational information that affords a common understanding and will be used to inform the professional development of new staff. As these modules are being implmented for the first time, all current staff will be asked to also comoplete the modules by the end of June 2021. The modules sit on the Student Affairs intranet and will be reviewed and updated annually.
The division will continue to coordinate with Mission and Ministry to provide structured opportunities for training and dialogue throughout the academic year. The SJI committee will also provide departments readings and activities to assist in quarterly discussions throughout the year. Dialogue will occur at the departmental, area and divisional levels.
A resource tab has been added to the division’s professional development intranet site. The resource tab includes SJI professional development resources for all competency levels as well as information that can inform the crafting of performance goals.
Although primarily the purview of Mission and Ministry, Student Affairs has natural, built-in ways in which they can foster student SJI development. In FY 21, the online education modules for students provided by EverFi were expanded from Alcohol and Sexual and Relationship Violence modules to also include a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion module. Student Affairs will continue to identify the ways that we can encourage student development through the nature of the work we do.