Progress Toward a Campus Climate of Inclusion

In the spring of 2018, the Edgewood College Student Senate issued an open Letter to campus leadership that requested progress toward our diversity commitments to be transparent and public. This letter included 9 different requests, ranging from professional development for faculty to involving students in our diversity efforts.

Below outlines the 9 commitments included in the Student Senate Letter, identifies the responsible office(s) for implementation and provides updates on the progress of each initiative.

Zero Tolerance Policy Against Hate and Bias

  • Spring 2018
    • Work group was convened to edit student handbook & clarify judicial procedures
    • A policy audit was conducted of all of the College’s Diversity Policies (non-discrimination, affirmative action, EEO, recruitment)
    • Hired a Director of Student Conduct, created specifically to add expertise in transparency/ process/etc.
    • All members of the President's Cabinet completed a bias training
    • The Division of Enrollment Management completed a bias training
  • Summer 2018
    • Purchase & Implementation of Maxient Software to better coordination and centralize faculty/staff/student processes around Title IX and hate/bias
    • Maxient training happened for a variety of campus stakeholders
  • Fall 2018
    • August Seminar integrated training/professional development on inclusion for faculty/staff participants
    • The Madison Police Department led bias training for all professional staff members of security, transportation & CAC staff
    • President’s Cabinet embarked in a year-long educational plan to advance their own learning and knowledge-base on topics of diversity.
      • Campus Culture & Anti-Racist Practices
      • Indigenous People in Wisconsin
      • Whiteness & Identity development
    • The fall semester Faculty Colloquium featured Teaching Practices in Anti-Racism
    • The Board of Trustees completed a bias training program and participated in a follow-up session in September

Inform Students of Progress and Challenges Toward Achieving Inclusion Commitments

  • Spring 2018
    • President Flanagan met several times with Student Senate & Multicultural Student Leaders & Organizations.
    • Student Senate held a diversity/inclusion town-hall forum with senior leadership engagement
    • Created an internal rubric to report progress
    • President Flanagan's campus-wide communication (Work in Progress) addressed updates on diversity
  • Fall 2018
    • Created a mechanism to track and report progress (this page!)
    • 2017-2018 Annual Inclusion Report published and shared widely
    • Diversity.edgewood.edu received a complete overhaul to better share progress and information
    • The Multicultural Student Advisory Council was convened to better share information across communities

Involve Students in Addressing our Diversity Commitments

  • Spring 2018:
    • Identified questions and points of clairty from the Student Senate Letter
    • Invited student feedback in group meetings (Student Senate, MSOs) and open forum.
    • The Diversity Practitioner Committee was expanded to include student representation
    • Student leaders (combination of Athletes and non-Athletes) worked on developing a diversity curriculum for the Athletics Department
    • Commitment card installation (from Diversity Forum) is displayed in Predolin Lobby:
      • Standing up for Justice
      • Respecting all People
      • Educating Ourselves
    • Students brought forward a set of proposals to Cabinet to expand our outreach to the American Indian Community, including:
      • Adopt Effigy Mound care practices
      • Enhance signage for Bird Mound
      • Develop a Land recognition statement
      • Recognize Indigenous People’s Day
    • Approximately 15 students attended the Board of Trustees meeting in April 2018 and shared perspectives on their experience
    • The Board of Trustees engaged in an education session in April 2018 and focused on diversity and inclusion efforts at the College and committed to advancing 5 board-level inclusion efforts in 2018-2019.
  • Summer 2018
    • Presented a proposal to create a Multicultural Student Advisory Council, advising the Diversity Leadership Counil & the President
  • Fall 2018
    • The Multicultural Student Advisory Council met for the first time on 11/1
    • Students are involved in the planning of the College's Diversity Forum (spring 2019)

Require New Students to Participate in new Student Orientation Sessions on Diversity

  • Spring 2018:
    • Requirement already in place for freshmen to participate in New Student Orientation and Orientation sessions on diversity
    • New Student Orientation diversity programming was further enhanced to better expose students to dimensions of diversity
      • New Orientation had D-tagged (Diversity & Inclusion) sessions that faculty/staff proposed and facilitated
  • Summer 2018:
    • Staff that organize student orientation met with the Diversity Council in April to think through how to best approach enhancing diversity programming.
      • Outcome from this meeting: Dr. Jeffrey Lewis was consulted to enhance New Student Orientation
      • Dr. Lewis led a 3 hour training for faculty/staff facilitators of diversity related sessions during orientation.
      • Dr. Lewis led a 2-hour training for student leaders
  • Fall 2018:
    • New Student Orientation included sessions on Diversity 101 (60 minute sessions) and Digging Deeper into Diversity (50 minute sessions)
    • OSII led a 90 minutes training for OLT and Peer Mentors during orientation

Increase the Diversity of Students, Faculty & Staff

  • Spring 2018:
    • 16% of students on campus are domestic ALANA students
    • Undergraduate recruitment plans are already in place
      • Goals for ALANA undergraduate students are integrated in the plan (20%) and include strategies on how to achieve goal
    • Recruitment handbook/guidelines for new employees were revised to model inclusive practices
    • EEO reports were created to track faculty/staff headcount based on position category and race/ethnicity & gender
    • The Division of Business & Finance has incorporated diversity (minority owned businesses, woman owned, veteran owned, etc.) into the procurement process
  • Summer 2018:
    • Metrics and goals for workforce diversity were developed to better track progress/setbacks
    • Institutional Mission Dasbhoard, prepared for the Board of Trustees, tracks data to ensure accountability
  • Fall 2018:
    • 20% of students on campus are domestic ALANA students
    • New employee recruitment process:
      • Bias training is required for all search chairs and the first training was offered on 8/16 during August Seminar
      • Applicants will be asked to submit a Statement on Diversity, addressing past and potential contributions to diversity through teaching, research, professional activity, and/or service
      • All management level candidates and tenured track faculty will meet with Executive Director of Diversity
      • The entire revised handbook can be found online for internal stakeholders
    • President Flanagan articulated a goal to increase the student diversity of the campus to 25% ALANA diversity
    • The InTuition Grant was introduced to enhance the affordability of attending Edgewood College. DREAMER and undocumented students are also eligible for this grant
    • Applied for a $300k grant from the Arthur Vining Foundation to enhance campus diversity & training opportunities

Faculty Evaluations & Accountability

  • Spring 2018:
    • Promotion & Tenure process for faculty already incorporates inclusion competencies
    • Staff annual eveluations also already incorporate competencies on inclusion
    • Over 100 faculty signed a statement of support drafted by Women & Gender Studies
    • On 3/26, The Division of Academic Affairs and members of the Faculty Association adopted a resolution to the following actions:
      • Providing developmental learning opportunities that reach all of our faculty and teaching staff in support of diversity and inclusion goals
      • Creating clarity about process and accountability for interactions that occur between faculty and students within and outside the classroom
      • Ensuring integration of diversity and inclusion components into hiring and orientation processes
      • Devoting resources to ensure that these things can be accomplished
    • The School of Business has established a Diversity and Inclusion Initiative to discuss diversity and inclusion topics at each monthly meeting and to provide a monthly handout for faculty on topics and resources related to diversity and inclusion.
    • The School of Arts and Sciences establashed an ad-hoc committee to address inequities and anti-racism
    • Hired a new full-time Director for the Center for Multicultural Education who will start their appointment this fall.
  • Fall 2018:
    • A board member of the Center for Multicultural Education is working this year as a faculty fellow providing one-on-one coaching and mentoring opportunities to a small group of faculty.

Demonstrate our College’s Commitment to Diversity

  • Spring 2018:
    • Chik-Fil-A banner was removed from the Edgedome
  • Fall 2018:
    • President Flanagan convened a committee to discuss policies around corporate sponsors and partnerships. Charter was approved at the 8/29 President’s Cabinet and the first meeting happened on 9/26.