Update on summer/spring DEI efforts

Dear Faculty and Staff,

I am writing with some updates on our diversity, equity and inclusion efforts over the late spring and into the early fall. Please see the information below this email for updated information on the work undertaken over the past several months by the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Administrative Team in collaboration with members of the DEI Advisory Group and the DEI Trustee Taskforce.

We are now at a point of transitioning into our next phase of DEI work over the coming year. The goals for this next evolution are as follows:

• To embed diversity efforts more visibly and intentionally into the governance and decision-making structures at all levels—at the level of the board, the alumni, the faculty, the staff, and students.
• To establish systems that ensure transparency and accountability.
• To create DEI systems of support and advocacy that are both understandable and visible to all members of the campus community in ways that enable all to engage in the ongoing work involved in becoming a more actively anti-racist institution.

To that end, please note the following new structures of DEI support and advocacy that have been put in place:

1. Establishment of the DEI Committee of the Alumni Council

Recognizing the need for increased connection to marginalized alumni, the Alumni Council has established a new Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. James A. Felton III '95, M.S. '98, a nationally recognized expert in diversity, equity and inclusion and the inaugural vice president for inclusive excellence at The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) has agreed to lead our efforts. This group will:

• Ensure alumni from marginalized groups, including BIPOC alumni, are considered in alumni engagement efforts.
• Create distinctive opportunities that invite marginalized alumni to be engaged with the college.
• Establish opportunities for marginalized alumni and current students to interact and connect with one another.

Alumni who served on the DEI advisory board this past year will be invited to join this committee.

2. Establishment of the DEI Subcommittee of the Academic and Campus Life Committee

Over the course of the summer, the board of trustees Chair and Vice Chair, (Otto Guenther and Ralph Frith), the Chair and Vice Chair of the Academic and Campus Life committee (Barbara Thomas and Vic McTeer), and the Chair of the DEI trustee taskforce (Patrick Stokes), met to determine an appropriate evolution of DEI efforts at the board level.

The goal for the board was to move from a short-term task force model into a longer-term structure that embedded DEI efforts into the formal trustee governance process.

Critical to this evolution was the following:

• Ongoing faculty, staff, alumni, and student engagement with trustees on DEI matters.
• The ability to both monitor and guide the institution’s administrative DEI efforts.
• Regular reporting out of the DEI administrative team.
• The ability for the trustees to bring action items through the ACL committee to the full board.

After significant discussion, the decision was made to establish a standing sub-committee of the Academic and Campus Life (ACL) Committee, ensuring increased accountability and ongoing connection to the board.

The make-up of the sub-committee will be as follows:

• Three trustees serving on the ACL committee, chosen by the chair/vice chair of the ACL committee.
• Three trustees chosen as at-large members by the chair/vice chair of the ACL committee to serve three-year, renewable terms.
• Provost
• Associate Provost for Equity and Belonging
• One alumnus member selected from the DEI Committee of the Alumni Council
• One staff member (to serve three-year term)
• One faculty member (to serve three-year term)
• One student (renewable annually)

The chair of this subcommittee will be selected by the ACL committee chair in consultation with the board chair. This year the chair is Patrick Stokes. The ACL subcommittee will meet at least monthly and will begin their meetings with report-outs of work happening within the DEI administrative team.

Through the transition year, faculty and staff on the DEI advisory group will be invited to attend as visitors. The provost will work with the FIDC to seek feedback on the most appropriate mechanisms longer term for appointing the staff, faculty and student representatives to this committee.

3. Establishment of the Associate Provost for Equity and Belonging

This position functions as the College’s first chief diversity officer. In addition to overseeing the College’s decolonizing the curriculum efforts, significant programming has already been put in place with the establishment of two important groups:

• The BIPOC Faculty and Staff Association, which provides community, engagement, and support through networking, events, professional development, and opportunities for mentorship.
• LGBTQIA+ Conversations, a space where LGBTQIA+ community members can discuss their concerns and identify support structures that will be helpful to them in their careers at McDaniel.

4. Review of the charge and membership of the Faculty Inclusion and Diversity Committee (FIDC)

The FIDC was initially designed to provide a clear avenue for faculty to engage in serious topics related to DEI work and have a clear mechanism to bring those topics to the faculty floor for discussion and action. This committee has certainly made good progress over that time period (e.g., leading the efforts to create the college’s DEI statement and working with the Director of Human Resources on fair hiring practices.) There is an open question as to whether the committee charge and its current membership structure needs to be expanded in light of the evolution of our current DEI efforts to provide stronger avenues for faculty involvement. To that end, I have asked the provost to work with members of the faculty to conduct a formal review of the FIDC membership and charge and bring those recommendations back to the faculty.

5. Increasing staff representation on the DEI Administrative Team

The current committee is as follows:

• Rosa Rivera-Hainaj, Provost (co-chair)
• Richard Smith ‘00, Associate Provost of Equity and Belonging (co-chair)
• Julia Jasken, President
• Janelle Holmboe, Vice President of Enrollment
• Eric Simon, Vice President of Administration and Finance
• Jenni Glennon M.S. ‘04, Associate Vice President of Administration
• Liz Towle, Dean of Students
• Vickie Mazer, Dean of Graduate and Professional Studies
• Heidi Reigel ‘97, Associate Vice President of Alumni and Admissions
• Christianna Leahy, FIDC chair
• Christina Goodman, Executive Director of Advancement Engagement
• Eric Immler, Director of Campus Safety
• Rose Mercier, Director of Human Resources
• Adam Hertz, Athletic Director
• Marissa Lander, Chief of Staff

To ensure an additional non-administrative staff perspective is brought into this group, and paralleling the faculty representation of the FIDC chair, an additional at-large staff member will be added to this group.

6. Campus-wide strategic planning conversations related to future DEI efforts

One of the College’s four Middle States priorities indicates that the College will “establish anti-racist and inclusive policies and practices across the institution.” The strategic planning process that will unfold over the course of the year will provide many opportunities for our faculty, staff and students to engage in collective conversation surrounding next steps related to the institution’s DEI efforts.

In many ways, these evolutions are positively related to their ability to be hardwired into the governance system on multiple levels, and thereby to affect change. Ultimately, we must always be ready to question the extent to which the systems we develop provide the opportunities for us to effectively engage in this work, while continuing to respect the time and energy of our employees and alumni. We must also consider the extent to which these systems provide opportunities to listen to and learn from a range of marginalized voices, and importantly, enable us to effectively act on what those voices are sharing. As we work through these new systems and simultaneously engage in the strategic planning process, we may find that new structures and systems better meet our needs in the future. As an institution, we must be committed to continuing to evolve in this work, based on the articulated needs of the community.

Thank you for continuing to engage in this important work, and I look forward to working with you on these efforts in the months and years ahead.

Sincerely,

Julia