Campus Climate Action Plan on Equity and Inclusion

March 28, 2022

The Campus Climate surveys that we used last spring focused on two core elements of campus climate, Mattering/Affirmation and Racial Learning and Literacy.  These areas are key building blocks to improving other areas of campus climate.  At the highest level, the results of the campus climate surveys indicate that we are falling short and have work to do in both of these areas. Creating an environment where everyone feels they matter and providing better racial learning and literacy will build an inclusive environment that supports belonging, that fosters cross-racial engagement, and that minimizes racial stress. 

A strong assessment of campus climate includes both survey information as well as rich forms of narrative data.  The results of the survey are consistent with qualitative reports of students, faculty, and staff of color — of microaggressions, of feeling their comments are devalued relative to their peers, of experiencing their feelings or experiences as less valued in the learning process, and of carrying a larger burden of the College’s anti-racism work. 

The collection of climate information is important, but the strongest benefit of doing so comes from focusing on actions that address issues identified in the survey. Many of the responses to the Student-Led Strike of Fall 2020 and other initiatives by the College, departments, and individuals have been speaking to the issue of campus climate since the survey was taken in Spring 2021.  With the help of the Campus Partnership of Equity and Anti-Racism (CPEAR) as a sounding board, this action plan organizes these actions (along with some new initiatives in development) to address mattering and affirmation as well as racial learning and literacy (key components of the NACCC Campus Climate Survey). The focus areas of the action plan and the specific initiatives align with and advance the goals of the College’s Working Approach to Advance Diversity, Equity, and Anti-Racism, which is designed as a living, evolving framework.

A. Mattering and Affirmation:

Campus climate surveys measure this construct by asking about positive interactions with others and about how often individuals feel heard or valued in different settings.   It can also include negative experiences such as hearing disparaging remarks or microaggressions.

What can we do to improve experiences of mattering and affirmation?

I. Support faculty and staff in professional development:

1. Share the results of the Campus Climate survey with faculty using a two-pronged communication approach: 1-during faculty meetings and 2-through small groups in an effort to increase their awareness of the perceptions of students and their colleagues.  Promote robust discussion and peer sharing about effective methods of inclusive pedagogy and where mistakes have been made. 
2. Share the results of the Campus Climate survey with staff using a two-pronged approach: 1-during a special Town Hall for staff and 2- through small groups in an effort to engage with the data to learn about student experiences, as well as the experiences of their colleagues.  Promote robust discussion and peer-sharing of best practices for fostering inclusion and where mistakes have been made.
3. Share the results of the survey with students and provide opportunities for discussion.
4. Continue the Teaching and Learning Institute Pedagogy Circles.
5. Engage literature circles that offer readings, workshops or quality online learning opportunities, particularly on microaggressions and responding to them.
6. Support departmental forums—faculty, staff, students—that help collaboratively identify opportunities in supporting students.  Provide a forum to share insights about how to approach these intergenerational meetings and make the most of them. 

II. Make visible the work that faculty and staff are engaged in so that members of the community understand that their voices are being heard and that they matter.

1. Publish classroom projects, experiments, and triumphs via our website and the internal communication newsletter in order to highlight the many efforts that academic departments are making to engage students.
2. Employ a standard reporting model (via shared spreadsheet) that identifies the professional development activities and resources by discipline.
3. Identify and communicate the professional development work of operational departments (LITS, Alumnae Relations and Development, Dean’s Office).
4. Publish an incident reporting model to the full community that includes faculty, staff, and students.  Emphasize pathways for students, faculty, and staff who experience the environment as exclusive to express their concerns.  These pathways include direct discussion with the parties involved, the bias response form, the student’s dean or the department chair.  Discuss whether language should be added to syllabi that shares this information for classrooms.

III. Continue to move toward a strengths-based approach to advising and mentoring that emphasizes the value and importance of each student.

1. Further develop our strengths-based approach to advising piloted by the Dean’s Office and the Career and Civic Engagement Office in partnership with Jen Skirkanich and other STEM faculty. This approach learns about a student’s strengths, helps a student capitalize on those strengths, and emphasizes the student’s successes on the pathway to achievement.  Use what we are learning more broadly for other departments and students.
2. Offer a second year of the STEMLA fellows program and assess its effectiveness.  Use what we are learning more broadly for other departments and other students. 
3. Examine the language in our publications and communications to ensure that we express the value of all students for the strength and excellence of the College. 

IV. Support innovative projects that make the environment more inclusive

1. Make spaces and events more accessible, including making the website more accessible to people with disabilities.
2. Build on progress to diversify the imagery and narratives on campus to communicate inclusivity e.g., Who Built Bryn Mawr; Monument Lab project.  Create a visual timeline on the website that shows the progress of this work and its many facets.   
3. Continue to work to diversify the faculty, staff, and student body through admissions, hiring, and retention, so that all community members see themselves reflected in all aspects of the campus and all community members are thriving. Provide easily accessible information about our progress.
4. Remove financial barriers for students to increase participation wherever possible.
5. Audit the campus and communications for terminology that is specific to higher ed or needs explanation.  For example, consider renaming Office Hours to Student Hours to better communicate their purpose. 
6. Offer clear and concise communication through the Communications division about events like the Garden Party and the Welcome reception, which are free to parents.
7. Publish the roles and responsibilities of the campus community so that there is transparency about positions and their scope.

B. Racial Learning and Literacy

Campus Climate surveys assess this construct by asking whether and where students perceive that they learn about their own racial identities and about other racial groups.  Surveys ask whether diversity is reflected in the curricula, how prepared students feel to live and work in a racially diverse society, and how comfortable people feel in sharing their views on diversity and inclusion.

What can we do to continue to develop racial learning and literacy?

I. Provide professional development for faculty and staff to accomplish departmental missions and provide core institutional functions and services. 

1. Identify and assess departmental approaches to development and make visible where this is happening. Evaluate the effectiveness of these efforts and address gaps.

II. Engage the whole campus with learning opportunities.

1. Continue to support Teach-Ins financially and administratively and encourage broad participation from all departments.
2. Fund and advertise workshops and talks that engage the whole community with new expertise, e.g., Fred Moten as the Flexner Lecturer; Shawna Murray-Browne as the Black History Month Keynote Speaker.

III. Provide curricular and co-curricular engagement with racial learning and literacy.

1. Make the Curriculum Committee’s inventory of courses that address race, social difference, inequity, and social justice visible and searchable.
2. The Provost’s Office funds course development for courses that address race, social difference, inequity or social justice.
3. In Spring 2021 the Curriculum Committee engaged the faculty and other members of the community in conversations about various approaches to a curricular requirement focusing on power, inequity, and justice.  In Fall 2021, the President’s Office sponsored an Independent Study for a group of students (facilitated by Alison Cook-Sather) who conducted research on curricular models and pedagogy and participated in a larger working group with faculty.  The student/faculty working group facilitated campus conversations and integrated this input to conceptualize a proposal.  The Curriculum Committee has used the working group proposal as a basis for a formal proposal for a curricular requirement, which is currently under discussion by the faculty.
4. All incoming students will receive racial literacy education that includes exploring interpersonal bias, understanding racial and cultural identity formation, and strategies for successful conversations about racial and cultural differences in Customs Week and Thrive.
5. All Dorm Leadership Team members will receive training about issues of accessibility, gender identity, privilege, and racial, cultural, and religious identity to improve the dorm environment for all students.

IV. Build capacity to engage in difficult dialogues and conversations that foster growth and understanding.

1. Create a new opportunity for community cohorts to enhance dialectical skills and constructive dialogue around difficult topics.  Drawing on the expertise of professionals across the College, offer different models for supporting dialogue and create opportunities for participating cohorts to pursue personal and collective development through sustained workshops or discussion groups. 

Conclusion

This action plan will by its nature be flexible and evolving in response to feedback and assessment.  To this end, the President’s Office welcomes input.  We will announce opportunities for in-person discussion through open meetings.  In particular we are interested in learning about:

• Individuals and groups/departments are working on improving campus climate.   We would love to learn more about what you are doing and how it is working.
• Now that many of these plans have been put into action, we need to assess their effectiveness.  We would appreciate any feedback about what is working and where there is more work to do.
• We welcome feedback about prioritization.  Are there items in this plan that should be focused upon in these early stages?

If you prefer to submit your feedback in writing, please email Ruth Lindeborg (rlindebo@brynmawr.edu).