Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Working Group Roadmap

Submitted by Lynne Holland and Molly Kerby  

Diversity-defined as: various differences in people including race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, culture, economic status, national origin, religious affiliation, age, disability status, points of view and political affiliation.

We will increase Diversity across all sectors of the campus community to enjoy the richness of humanity.

• Hiring outcomes and retention
• Student recruiting, admission and retention
• Review policies and procedures that inhibit such
• Partner with sources helpful increasing diversity

Equity- the state of eliminating conscious or unconscious bias and harassment and discrimination and other forms of inappropriate or illegal categorization of persons.

We will achieve a state of equity so that all persons are free to learn, work and grow personally and professionally based on their inherent human potential.

• Employee and student training
• Understanding unconscious bias
• Review policies and procedures that inhibit goal
• Act and swiftly resolve incidences of harassment and discrimination

Inclusion- a deliberate status where all individuals in the campus community—regardless of differences or perspectives—are proactively included in institutional actions and initiatives.

We will achieve a state of being so that all individuals feel a sense of being included, heard and belonging to our collective purpose.

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DEI Overarching Strategic Vision

Iteration #6

[WKU is] a thriving, equitable and inclusive environment that recruits, engages, retains, and supports the life-long growth and success of students, faculty, and staff of all diverse backgrounds, abilities, and perspectives to be culturally-competent, productive, and socially responsible global citizens.

Ideation Phase to Realize the Vision

1. Implement agreed upon DEI principles in resources, systems, processes to achieve desired experiences/outcomes
2. Implement marketing strategies through a DEI lens
3. Campus-wide ongoing training in cultural competency
4. Creation of a refined and clearly defined targeted recruitment plan for students, faculty, staff
5. Creation of refined and clearly defined retention plan for students, faculty, and staff
6. Budget allocation to incentivize creativity and innovation in DEI practices
7. Alignment with the existing DEI Plan
8. Cluster hiring for faculty and staff
9. Cluster mentoring for faculty through the T & P process
10. Ensuring that no student traverses the first-year alone
11. Implementing a centralized on-boarding process and training for all new hires
12. Create and administer an assessment to determine why student, faculty, and staff chose WKU and continue to stay at the institution
13. Training on HIPs and incentivize implementation
14. Ongoing lecture and training on DEI principles
15. Exploration of principles of Universal Design or related design element
16. Workshops and training on inclusive pedagogical strategies
17. Design mechanisms for assuming personal responsibility for an equitable and inclusive campus environment
18. Incorporate Visual Analytics as a tool to determine a current snapshot of the institution
19. Develop agreed upon working definitions of DEI at WKU
20. Determine what we do not know about DEI and wat we need to know

Next Steps

• Examine ideation points
• Develop Big Ideas to realize the vision
• Re-examine and test the vision with individuals external to the working group

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