• Serve as an active and consistent model of leadership excellence for increasing diversity of viewpoints, diversity of backgrounds, including gender and ethnic differences, as well as variety within academic specialties.
• Build and maintain a diverse community of administrators, faculty, staff and students.
• Promote opportunities for developing respect for differing ideological perspectives.
• Create a welcoming, supportive and diverse environment in which all administrators, faculty, staff and students can succeed.
• Promote and foster a culture of inclusion.
GOAL 1: Serve as an active and consistent model of leadership excellence for increasing diversity of viewpoints, diversity of backgrounds, including gender and ethnic differences, as well as variety within academic specialties.
Success Indicators:
• Equity and Diversity Committees are fully operational.
• Faculty and Staff at all levels are involved in improvement processes.
• Recognition programs acknowledge diversity leadership models.
Objective 1 Develop partnerships that facilitate diversity recruitment and contribute to the University's diversity profile.
Action Steps
• Identify organizations dedicated to advocacy for specific groups.
• Identify institutions that produce significant numbers of diverse PhD graduates.
• Present programs at a variety of conferences.
• Create opportunities for interaction of SLIS faculty and staff with faculty and staff of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU).
• Initiate a faculty exchange program.
• Invite diverse adjunct instructors and presenters.
• Provide other networking opportunities.
Objective 2 Develop strategies to extend the recruitment beyond traditional avenues of academic disciplines and occupations.
Action Steps
• Delineate the role(s) of faculty search committee chairs.
• Examine the make-up of search committees to ensure diverse representation.
• Identify and involve diverse faculty from other departments for mentoring and support.
• Examine non-traditional methods for recruiting diverse faculty.
• Provide for recognition of successful strategies through marketing and public relations.
GOAL 2: Build and maintain a diverse community of administrators, faculty, staff and students.
Success Indicators:
• The rate of successful recruitment of candidates improves in targeted areas.
• Representation of diversity candidates in applicant pool increases.
• Selection rates of diversity candidates increase.
• Promotion rates of diversity candidates increase.
• Retention rates of diversity candidates increase.
Objective 1 Delineate measures of accountability of senior level administrators responsible for diversity goals.
Action Steps
• Outline specific diverse faculty retention responsibilities (e.g., evidence of the provision of incentives for change, identification of external sources of financial support, development of strategies to enhance the visibility and importance of involvement in diversity efforts).
• Develop and implement assessment/progress monitoring tools.
Objective 2 Develop aggressive diversity recruitment measures.
Action Steps
• Develop and/or improve materials that promote the value and benefits of diversity.
• Collect and analyze recruitment, retention and promotion data for administrators, faculty, staff and students.
• Identify specific measures at the beginning of each academic year for implementation.
• Incorporate measures into existing policies and procedures.
• Implement measures.
GOAL 3: Promote opportunities for developing respect for differing ideological perspectives.
Success Indicators:
• Diversity professional development, educational, and training opportunities increase (measured by the total number of offerings).
• More members of intended audiences attend diversity related professional development, educational, and training programs (measured by the percentage of individuals attending each event).
• Employees apply knowledge and skills gained through participation in these programs (measured by self-report follow-up evaluations).
Objective Provide incentives that encourage active and visible participation of existing administrators, faculty and staff in all diversity efforts.
Action Steps
• Seek authority for senior level administrators to use all management tools available to them.
• Incorporate diversity into planning/operations.
• Ensure that funds are available to assist in hiring diverse faculty.
• Offer grants/competitive awards to faculty that provide innovative strategies/models of excellence for increasing cultural diversity in SLIS programs.
• Create a Diversity Advisory Board for SLIS from the African American Leadership Group, administrators, faculty, staff and students.
GOAL 4: Create a welcoming, supportive and diverse environment in which all administrators, faculty, staff and students can succeed.
Success Indicators:
• Employee retention rates improve (taking into account qualitative data, e.g., exit interviews and types of terminations).
• Ethnic and gender representation of those holding higher-level administrative positions (e.g., department chairs, directors, deans) increases at the department, division and campus level.
• Personnel policies include evidence of family friendly measures.
