Building a Diverse and Inclusive IC Community Does Not Pause Over Winter Break

01/26/16

Posted on behalf of Roger "Doc" Richardson, Interim Chief Diversity Officer

Dear campus community: Welcome back for the start of a new semester. I hope the holiday break enabled each of you to relax and enjoy special times with family and friends, and that it provided you occasions to renew your energy for the challenges and opportunities that await us this spring. As we continue through our annual week-of activities and events celebrating the life and legacy of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., let our words and actions be testament to our efforts to realize King's global dream and our aspirations for a more diverse and inclusive IC community!

I am excited about the work that many faculty and staff members have done while students were away on break. Over the past several weeks, the campus community has participated in retreats, workshops, and departmental meetings. These workshops and dialogues have addressed bias and micro-aggressions in the classroom, focused attention on how to handle difficult conversations, tackled topics of inequality within professional fields and how to address it, and imparted valuable knowledge about cultural competency.

This intentionality on the part of our community members is worthy of acknowledgment and I extend heartfelt appreciation for their willingness to share personal experiences and ask themselves critical questions about their perceptions, values and biases.

Updates on Diversity Initiatives

Various faculty and staff workgroups have also been working to ensure the timely completion of the action steps to address racism and cultural bias at IC that were laid out last semester. Listed below are a few updates:

• Continued discussions are taking place to determine a location to serve as the physical and emotional safe space for ALANA students. Once the location has been identified and all arrangements are in place for staffing purposes it is expected to become functional by Fall 2016.
   
• The workgroup charged with creating a Community Review Board to serve as an impartial third-party to report concerns regarding Public Safety has completed its research on best practices. A draft document will be reviewed by the workgroup this week and the vetting of the document will be undertaken. The goal is to officially launch the Community Review Board during the spring semester.
   
• Benchmarks have been established to ensure the external review of the Office of Public Safety will be conducted by the end of Spring 2016. The next stage of the process involves the identification of firms for vetting purposes to in order to select the firm that will conduct the review.
   
• The Faculty Council’s Task Force on Diversity is developing a database of resources to help faculty promote discussion of diversity and inclusion within their departments and classrooms. Faculty Council expects to open the database to faculty  and all other members of the IC community by the end of February. These resource materials will also be placed in a designated resource collection area and be maintained by library staff.
   
• Faculty search committee chairs underwent training on the new hiring guidelines to help ensure inclusiveness in our faculty hires. By the end of January, similar guidelines for staff and administrative searches will be in place.
   
• The Office of Human Resources developed and implemented a series of cross-cultural awareness workshops and educational baseline programs for the campus community. The challenge to produce the volume necessary so all staff and administrators can comply with the goal of full participation is difficult, to say the least. However, efforts are under way for the spring semester. As of February 2016, all new employees will be required to complete this training within three months of their start date. All employees hired before February 2016 will be required to complete the baseline-training program by May 2016. Human Resources will update all existing job descriptions to include an expectation of competency in cross-cultural awareness and inclusion by December 2016.
   
• College guidelines to resolve discrimination grievances about any type of bias or inequity already exist at the college, but few people know where to find them. (Please view the nondiscrimination statement and a process to report bias-related incidents.) New approaches for communicating this information to the campus community are currently being identified.
   
• Preparation for the campus climate study continues to move forward so that the survey can be distributed this coming fall semester. Rankin and Associates will be on campus February 2-3 to provide an overview presentation of the climate study for members of the campus community. An intercom announcement will give the times and locations for presentations.

Throughout the spring semester, I will provide updates on diversity and inclusion action steps upon my receipt of information and report to the campus community in a timely fashion.

Where Do We Go From Here?

Given the recent announcement by President Rochon that he plans to retire after the 2017 spring semester, the question of “Where do we go from here?” is even more  relevant now. Over the next 18 months the president has committed to being an active and engaged partner in our campus-wide efforts and the Board of Trustees has stated they will seek assistance from the campus community in selecting a new president. 

In the meantime, we must continue to challenge ourselves to engage in meaningful dialogues and participate in educational initiatives that enhance our individual and collective learning. That is the only way we can become a welcoming and supportive community that fosters a more diverse and inclusive future for Ithaca College, regardless of who is at the helm.

Our journey together continues.

Sincere Peace.

Doc

Dr. Roger (Doc) Richardson
Interim Chief Diversity Officer and Associate Provost for Inclusion and Engagement

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