CUPA-HR’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Strategy:

A Call to Action

SNECUPA-HRFall 2011 Professional Development

ProgramDecember 9, 2011

Our Focus Today

• How Do You Get Started?– Ways to Get Involved/– How You Can Make a Difference

• Creating Sustainable Change – The Journey• Building Your Plan of Action• Resources/Support from CUPA-HR• Learning From Each Other

A Call to Action

“We must do this work because it is needed now and because we can.• It is because we sit at a crossroads in every institution that

every employee comes across that puts us in a position to take a leadership role and proactively influence action now.

• The expertise and assistance that HEHR professionals are best suited to provide differs at different levels within our institutions, so we must equip ourselves now to provide the best guidance possible to all employees to make certain that our institutions achieve their excellence goals and remain vital well into the future.”

(Andy Brantley, CEO of CUPA-HR)

Beginning the Journey

• Starting the Dialogue at Your Institution– Defining diversity, equity and inclusion– What is a “Business Case” for Diversity ?• Why is it important to build one?• How can you leverage the Business Case?

• Why Is a Focus on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Important Now?

• How Can HR Create Value?

What is Diversity?

• Diversity – Individual differences (e.g., personality, learning styles, and life experiences) and group/social differences (e.g., race/ethnicity, class, gender, sexual orientation, country of origin, and ability as well as cultural, political, religious, or other affiliations) that can be engaged in the service of learning. (Source: Association of American Colleges & Universities http://www.aacu.org/compass/inclusive_excellence.cfm )

What is Inclusion?

• Inclusion: The active, intentional, and ongoing engagement with diversity — in people, in the curriculum, in the co-curriculum, and in communities (intellectual, social, cultural, geographical) with which individuals might connect — in ways that increase one’s awareness, content knowledge, cognitive sophistication, and empathic understanding of the complex ways individuals interact within [and change] systems and institutions.

(Source: Association of American Colleges & Universities – http://www.aacu.org/compass/inclusive_excellence.cfm)

What is Equity?

• Equity: The creation of opportunities for historically underrepresented populations to have equal access to and participate in educational programs that are capable of closing the achievement gaps in student success and completion.

(Source: Association of American Colleges & Universities http://www.aacu.org/compass/inclusive_excellence.cfm- )

Equity Mindedness

• Refers to the outlook, perspective or mode of thinking exhibited by practitioners and others who call attention to patterns of inequity and are willing to assume personal and institutional responsibility for the elimination of inequity. This includes being “color conscious” and noticing differences in experience among racial or ethnic groups and being willing to talk about race and ethnicity as an aspect of equity. Equity perspectives are evident in actions, language, problem-framing, problem-solving, and cultural practices. (Source: Adapted from AAC&U Definition)

Building the Business Case

• Help to build awareness of the business (educational) case for diversity, inclusion and cultural competency– Changing workforce and student demographics– Diversity and inclusion builds better results– Creating a learning environment that prepares our

students to be successful in a global society– Improving employee engagement and performance– Enhancing creativity and innovation

Preparing for Our Journey

• Demonstrate leadership in your areas of influence; build shared responsibility

• We need to be inclusive ourselves• Surfacing unconscious behaviors through

dialogue/connecting conversations• Need to understand our own mental models• Create a course of action – your roadmap• Transformational change is one step at a time

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Evolutionary Path

(Adapted from Model by Cambridge Hill Partners, Inc..)

Getting Started

Cross Cultural Competency

Aligning Systems/ Community Partnerships

• Fostering Dialogue & Acknowledging Our Own Mental Models

•Raising Awareness - Diversity Education

• Creating the Business/Educational Case

• Diversity Councils- Building Critical Mass of Champions

•Inclusive Excellence Framework

• Mentoring & Coaching Across Differences

• Diversity Leadership – An Embedded Mindset

• Shaping an Inclusive Culture

•Community Engagement & Accountability

• Employee Resource Groups

•Multi-Cultural Collaborations

Creating Sustainable Change

* Business Integration & Institutionalization

Moving Forward – Institution Level

• Defining Where You Are – Current Reality• Developing A Strategic Framework – An Inclusive Excellence Model– Intentional and Integrated Approach

• Community Engagement – Changing the Way People Are Relating and

Working Together– Fostering Collective Action/Shared Responsibility

Creating Strategic Value

• Integrating a Focus on Diversity & Inclusion– Talent Management– Leadership Development– Culture Change– Building An Inclusive Community

• Collaboration and Partnerships– Cultivating Champions for Change– Start Within Your Sphere of Influence

Moving Forward – HR Level

• Are you recruiting talent from the populations of people you would like to see at your institution?

• Are your policies and practices equitable? • Does your organizational culture include

everyone?• Do you assess your campus climate?• Are you building cultural competency?

Building Commitment & Engagement

• Are there currently leaders in the university that are advocates for this work or early adopters that you could leverage to help in this work?

• Do you have a way to identify those who are making a positive difference across your institution and are there currently ways that you can communicate these efforts more broadly?

Your Commitment Statement

• Before you leave today, write down a commitment statement :– How will you encourage diversity, equity and

inclusion in your institution?– How can you create/support workforce-related

diversity and inclusion efforts to advance institutional excellence on your campus?

• Build an action plan to fulfill your commitment .• Check periodically on your progress!

How Can CUPA-HR Help You?

• Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee– Survey of member needs– Development of resources/toolkit– Programming /speaker’s library– Corporate partner initiatives/best practices– CUPA-HR Knowledge Center

http://www.cupahr.org/knowledgecenter/hehrdb_diversity-gen.aspx

• What else can we do to help you?