Campus-Wide Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives

Campus-Wide Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Initiatives

Fall 2021 Initiatives

Procedural and Structural

Athletics in partnership with Marketing and Communication launched the student inspired Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging campaign titled NazUnited4CHANGE.
Marketing and Communication has engaged in a DEI audit this past fall to find opportunities to bring coherence in how we message and authentically communicate the Naz commitment to DEI.
All four academic units (CAS, HHS, SBL & SOE) have created or expanded existing committee work to address DEI in the curriculum.
CAS continues work to develop an interdisciplinary proposal to develop a DEI minor or modules.
NBRET completed it second semester of implementation. End of semester updates are posted on the NBRET webpage.
Community and Belonging has formed a Shared Equity Leadership Team an institutional priority in the creating of a Next Generation DEI Action Plan.
Dr. Wayne Hilson, Associate Vice President in Community and Belonging has been hired to oversee the Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusive Excellence Education and provide leadership for the Student Access and Achievement Program (SAAP).
Community and Belonging secured grant funding to support the Social Justice Student Scholar Initiative to support six students in SAAP to create and develop a research proposal examining various issues related to social justice.
The Center for Student Success is now requiring all new student tutors to complete a training session called "Best Tutoring Practices to Support Equity for All." The goal of this workshop is to ensure that our tutors are aware of various learning styles and that they implement strategies to support the diverse learning needs of all their students.
Community and Belonging enthusiastically welcomed LifePrep@Naz to its organizational portfolio.
Faculty and staff in the SoE drafted and approved a SoE Commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Social Justice statement. SoE established a “DEI Commitment Statement Implementation” work group whose focus is to determine Commitment Statement implementation and action steps.
SoE implemented a revised Student Teaching/Graduate assessment after analyzing the assessment through a DEI lens (.e.g, word choices, actions, instructional choices and interactions with others).

Community Engagement

Faculty/Staff Events and Opportunities

Academic Advisement has incorporated DEI content into the Master Advisor program. The department has begun to research and develop a separate DEI module for advisors, but it's not ready for implementation
Pathstone Antiracist Curriculum Training- The Center for Life's Work staff will partake in a 1/2 day workshop to learn about the local history and contemporary realities of structural racism and civil rights in Monroe County through the Pathstone Antiracist Curriculum Training. This interactive workshop will expose us to some of Rochester's history through primary sources and case studies and connect to the present impact of past structural racism.
Drs. Hilda Chacon, Isabel Cordova, and Joseph Viera presented “Where do we sit on the bus”. A film screening followed by a guided discussion for Hispanic Heritage Month. For Indigenous Heritage month Dr. Maire Watkins facilitated a guest lecture and screening of Under the Husk and Dr. Thomas Lappas presented a lecture on Native American Residential Schools accompanied by a screening of Unseen Tears.
In fall 2021 an SBL faculty member co-taught a section of EQS - ‘Equitable Work’ in collaboration with a member of CFLW. SBL faculty members continue to explore ways to intentionally infuse diverse perspectives into their disciplines, pedagogy and courses. As an example, one of our faculty members will be implementing changes in an upper-level finance course this spring including a review and guided discussions.
SOE fall initiatives include: Faculty/staff work group drafted a SoE Commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Social Justice statement. (Summer 2021) Approved by SoE full time faculty and staff (Fall 2021). Development of implementation and action plan (beginning Fall 2021); Established “DEI Commitment Statement Implementation” Interest Work Group (focus: determine Commitment Statement implementation and action steps); Revised Student Teaching/Graduate Practicum assessment (specific analysis/revision based on DEI e.g., word choices, actions, instructional choices and interactions with others). (New assessment implemented Fall 2021). Revised Student Teaching/Graduate Practicum assessment (specific analysis/revision based on DEI e.g., word choices, actions, instructional choices and interactions with others). (New assessment implemented Fall 2021)

Student Events and Opportunities

Athletics has identified students who are holding monthly meetings with players on our team to educate them on topics such as bias, color blindness, AAV, and other structural racism topics. They are working to in partnership with the Diversity Ambassadors to ensure that our team culture continues to grow and thrive as a space of equity and belonging.
Residential Life has acquired a departmental membership with 540W Main for ongoing training for the Residential Life staff. We have had RAs take a course on allyship and are working with the 540W Main Leadership to determine the next steps throughout the Fall semester. The plan is for all RAs to participate in at least two additional seminars throughout the Spring as a part of their professional development.
Association of Earth-Based and Indigenous Spirituality and Justice was founded by the Community and Belonging Outreach Scholar Dr. Esperanza Roncero. This is a non-theist discussion group devoted to exploring and celebrating indigenous culture and spirituality. All humans with all perspectives are welcome to share spiritual views in an accepting and peaceful environment.
Hickey Center, IIIT Chair, School of Music, Department of Theater and Dance, CFS and C&B sponsored World Music Dance Festival brought about a dozen different cultural/ethnic/religious groups together to perform for the Nazareth Community.
Difficult Conversations, a student-led collection, launched its the second year of programming focusing on DEI themed films and discussions.
The library completed an analysis of diversity in the Children's Collection. Many books were examined and another 44 books were added to the collection. The room will be refreshed with the addition of a mural and end panel signage.
SoE is providing opportunities to better support teacher candidates’ learning focused on working with students with diverse gender and sexual identities. Dr. Rowland-Storm provided a professional learning series for TOC II participants, and Dr. Rowland-Storm and Dr. Bailey Jones offered Gender Revealed as part of Teacher Lounge Series (designed for students, faculty and staff).

Spring 2021 Initiatives

Procedural and Structural

The college's inaugural Bias Response and Education Team (NBRET) was launched on February 1, 2021.
The SEC has charged a working group comprised of faculty to conduct a preliminary review of the faculty manual language with a specific focus on equity-based and inclusive language. This group is working in collaboration with Community and Belonging and will make recommendations to the SEC by late spring for their consideration.
The Center for Life's Work (CFLW) has created a Call to Action for planning, implementing, and tracking all the department’s actions. Some ongoing and completed goals include collaborating and amplifying diverse voices, participating in team education and training, expanding access and reducing barriers to experiences and resources, and continuing to evaluate and assess work towards improvement.
The Academic Policies and Procedures Committee and Graduate Advisory Council will be reviewing all undergraduate and graduate academic policies and procedures with a lens of equity and inclusion and making adjustments as needed to be included in the 2021-2022 catalogs and beyond.
Health & Human Services has formed a Diversity Committee that is currently working on initiatives associated with its different curricular activities, as well as an overarching strategic plan.
Academic Advisement has been reviewing and updating all undergraduate academic policies and procedures with a DEI lens. Updates will be included in the 2021-2022 UG catalog. Another committee is also conducting the same review for the graduate catalog.
The Center for Civic Engagement is going through the process of redoing the Center's Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) so they align with Community & Belonging's updated language and definitions for diversity, equity, inclusivity, & belonging.
Athletics is promoting awareness with weekly emails about education and activism opportunities. They are hoping to start a subgroup in SAAC in charge of DEI initiatives.
The Library has created an online guide for heritage months and diversity in higher education, highlighted DEI titles in new acquisitions announcements and curated a more diverse leisure reading collection. They are currently examining subject headings in the catalog to update terminology.
The NCAA Diversity & Inclusion Officer is working with Athletics to create a Diversity Ambassador Position. These student-athlete centered roles focus on fostering and sustaining a culture of belonging where individual differences, as well as lived experiences, are embraced and empowered as part of an interconnected, inclusive athletic community

Community Engagement

Faculty/Staff Events and Opportunities

Student Events and Opportunities

An interdivisional committee hosted the virtual 2021 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration.
The Religious Studies & History Departments offer a Malcolm and Martin class for any student who wants to explore the impact of slavery on the religious, moral, social, and economic conditions of African Americans. The material covers issues of racial inequality and injustices in light of the contemporary BLM movement and suggests reforms for restoring social justice for all.
A new series of Equitable Spaces Courses will again be offered in fall 2021. These are one-credit courses that provide entry points for students and speak to the issues of diversity, equity, and/or systemic racism that are defining the public discourse. Descriptions will be provided during the registration period.
Students in the Principles of Marketing courses celebrated Black History Month by learning about African American pioneers, entrepreneurs, and heroes in the field of marketing.
The Center for International Education is offering 3 international credit-bearing classes for undergraduate students to engage with language, culture, history, and marketing/business practices. They are also offering virtual international internships and hope to increase enrollment in internships in the summer.
Financial Friday's is an Instagram Live series on the UA Instagram (@UA_NAZ) hosted by the UA, CFLW, and Student Access and Achievement Programs. Every Friday one of the UA Executive Board members will be discussing a new topic so that the student body can come together to break the barrier of confusion when it comes to financial topics and issues.
ODIEE and Health and Counseling Services are collaborating with local BIPOC therapists to provide counseling and group therapy services to BIPOC students called ANCHORS/PILLARS.
The NCAA Diversity & Inclusion Officer is working with Athletics to create a Diversity Ambassador Position. These student-athlete centered roles focus on fostering and sustaining a culture of belonging where individual differences, as well as lived experiences, are embraced and empowered as part of an interconnected, inclusive athletic community.
The ESports team will host a 24-hour charity stream benefiting the Equal Justice Initiative from 7 p.m. on March 26 until 7 p.m. on March 27.
Alumni Engagement Office is holding an event called Unfolding History: Paper Cranes & Symbolism in East Asia-Post WWII. Nevan Fisher, Ph.D., offers an overview of paper cranes’ symbolism throughout East Asia in the years following WWII. Often displayed prominently where atrocities and incredible acts of destruction were committed, the paper crane carries different meanings for people. Some places long strings of carefully folded cranes as a prayer of forgiveness; others lay paper cranes in hopes of peace and reclaim spaces desecrated by war.
Discussion on Gendered Challenges in Leadership discussed the gendered issues in leadership. This discussion is part of the advocacy project in the Leadership, Advocacy, and Social Change course under the new Equitable Spaces series. Both the WGSSA and the FBLA-PBL Leadership Club have agreed to do this event as a collaborative meeting to discuss a topic closely related to both clubs.
C & B, The Konar Center, and CEE are hosting Professor Lara Schwartz to campus for a keynote titled "Be the Architect of Your Own Voice: A Discussion on Civil Discourse. The event involved dialogue across differences, freedom of speech and dissent, collaborative learning, inclusive pedagogy, dispute resolution, and civil rights.
CFS, the Shannon Chair for Catholic Studies, and C&B welcomed Dr. Hanlon Rubio for “Creating a Welcoming Equity-Minded Campus Community” an event to support students as they collaborate to build welcoming campuses.

Fall 2020 Initiatives

Procedural and Structural

Student Experience is revising the Student Code of Conduct for the spring semester.
Institutional Research is working with leadership to help understand the inequities in the admissions process and student retention.
Academic Advisement and the Registrar's Office collaborated on the Registration Equity Project that would create equitable access to priority registration for all incoming first-year students beginning spring 2021 for fall 2021 registration. Students will be randomly placed in an initial class band based on Nazareth credits earned and then assigned registration priorities based upon their class band.
The Office for Diversity and Inclusive Excellence Education (ODIEE) was created within the Division for Community and Belonging.
The ATLAS Center and Diversity Resource Room were established for LGBTQ+ students in Shults 118.
Senior leadership completed a six-part professional development series on diversity and equity in the workplace.
The Diversity in the Curriculum Task Force Report was disseminated; implementation of recommendations in process.
Athletics appointed the first Nazareth College diversity and inclusion officer for NCAA initiatives.
The ACS 101 curriculum was updated for Fall 2020 with an increased focus on DEI.
The Registrar's Office, in collaboration with ITS and C&B, is launching the Pronoun Project in November '20. The project seeks to use existing technology to have faculty and staff submit pronouns through NazNet Self-Service.
The Diversity Scorecard on the Community and Belonging Resources webpage features the College's diversity statistics, national survey results, and 2019 campus climate survey data.
The Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences has convened a faculty working group that is exploring potential modules/certificates in CAS connected to D&I areas. The group, led by Dr. Yamuna Sangarasivam, is tasked to explore possibilities for small interdisciplinary clusters of courses that we might call modules to serve as something standalone, or as an IS cluster, and/or to create certificates, that specifically engage D&I outcomes, topics, and issues.
The Administrative Council was charged with completing the CUPA - Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Maturity Index as a preliminary measure of Nazareth's progress towards creating an equitable campus community.

Community Engagement

Faculty/Staff Events and Opportunities

Student Events and Opportunities

What else?

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Nazareth College

Community and Belonging

Campus-Wide Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Initiatives

Fall 2021 Initiatives

Procedural and Structural

Community Engagement

Faculty/Staff Events and Opportunities

Student Events and Opportunities

Spring 2021 Initiatives

Procedural and Structural

Community Engagement

Faculty/Staff Events and Opportunities

Student Events and Opportunities

Fall 2020 Initiatives

Procedural and Structural

Community Engagement

Faculty/Staff Events and Opportunities

Student Events and Opportunities

What else?