diversity inclusion program14x11-bookletweb

DIVERSITY & INCLUSION

Diversity & Inclusion Council Committee Members

Brian WaddleChair

Coleman College for Health Sciences

Laurel Barker-EdwardsVice Chair

District

John RenoMember

Southeast

Dr. Joanne HsuMember

Northwest

Annette Lott MemberCentral

Linda ComteMemberNortheast

Paul GarciaMember

Southwest

Shantay GraysAd Hoc Member

District

David CrossAd Hoc Member

District

For more information, contact Cephas Archie, Program Coordinator D&I Council, at [email protected]

Houston Community College 3100 Main St.

Houston TX 77002

2013–2014

Diversity & Inclusion

PlanCreating an environment

where differences, abilities and beliefs are respected

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Table of Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Letter from the Acting Chancellor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Letter from D&I Council Chair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

HCC Diversity & Inclusion Plan Goal 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5





Thank you . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

HCC is committed to a workplace and educational environment free of discrimination and harassment based upon race, color, religion, age, sex, gender expression, gender identity,

national origin, disability, veteran status or sexual orientation.

HCC Diversity Council/Committee Structure

Central College

D&I Committee

DistrictD&I Committee

Northwest College

D&I Committee

Southwest College

D&I Committee

Northeast College

D&I Committee

Southeast College

D&I Committee

Coleman College

D&I Committee

Potential DistrictConstituency

Resource Groups

HCCDiversity & Inclusion Council

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Introduction

In 2012, the HCC D&I Council, with the support of the Board of Trustees

and Chancellor, outlined the following Diversity & Inclusion Goals for

interpretation and implementation by the college district and local diversity

committee members:

• HCC will promote the exploration and understanding of culture,

diversity, and inclusion by providing in-depth training and

experiences that promote skills development resulting in cultural

competency.

• HCC will support a process for the development of Diversity

Resource Groups (DRGs) that engage all stakeholders and affirm the

goals of the HCC D&I District Plan.

• HCC will be a champion of accessibility by establishing standards

that adhere to both the spirit and letter of the Americans with

Disabilities Act (ADA).

• HCC will promote a learning culture that insures teamwork,

communication, appreciation and accountability.

• HCC will have a diverse, skilled workforce that strives to reflect

the diversity of the community that it serves, and it will provide

opportunity and pathways for all employees to grow and advance in

their professions.

In the spring of 2013, each college was asked to develop supporting

objectives (action items) to be implemented that address each of the five

district goals. Students, faculty, staff and administrators are encouraged

to review the following plan, highlighting your campus-identified objectives.

To view all goals and supplemental objectives for each campus, please visit

the D&I webpage at www.hccs.edu/diversity.

HCC Diversity & Inclusion Plan Goal 5

GOAL 5: HCC will have a diverse, skilled workforce that strives to reflect the diversity of the community that it serves, and it will provide opportunity and pathways for all employees to grow and advance in their professions.

College Objective(s) Measurement

Central College 1) Assess the current faculty & staff hiring pool statistics at Central campus.

2) Recommend new policies and procedures that would encourage non-exempt employees to share expertise and skills broadly.

- Conduct an audit to collect hiring demographics for current faculty & staff.

- Establish a program designed to strategically provide opportunities and pathways for all employees to grow and advance.

Coleman College 1) Provide a college-specific orientation for both full-time and part-time employees that will assist in learning and developing a positive culture at the college.

2) Participate in a veterans hiring initiative with other Texas Medical Center® member institutions.

- Percentage of new employees who participate in the orientation program will be measured against the number of all new employees.

- Participate in a veterans hiring initiative with other Texas Medical Center® member institutions.

District Administration

1) Develop a master list of professional development and mandatory trainings for 3100 Main employees (by department).

2) Discuss and present all feedback from employee forums related to succession planning, hiring practices and equity.

- Master list will be developed.

- Feedback will be provided by District employees.

Northeast College 1) Assist the District in accomplishing this goal through its outreach in the community to recruit underserved populations to enroll in the workforce and academic programs.

- The measurement will be the number of students from underserved populations who enroll.

Northwest College 1) Strive to have a diverse, skilled employee base that reflects the diversity of the community at every sector of the college.

2) Explore and develop more specific professional development opportunities to help employees grow (or broaden skill sets) and advance in their professions.

- More diverse employees hired for all sectors of the college.

- Creation of more specific professional development opportunities aimed at growth and advancement.

Southeast College 1) Recruit qualified faculty and staff to reflect the diversity of HCC Southeast, Houston and the world community.

2) Provide professional training and mentoring to ensure career growth and promotion.

- Provide documentation of Faculty to Student ethnic ratio and Staff to Student ethic ratio at Southeast by Dec. 19, 2013.

- Documentation by May 15, 2014.of the number of faculty and staff receiving or who received training and/or mentoring to ensure career growth and promotion.

Southwest College 1) Review job posting outlets for SW college positions; continue to participate in job fairs that target diverse candidates, and review current efforts for advertising in print and web media targeting underrepresented groups.

2) All staff and faculty will be encouraged to participate in all training and events to enhance their professional growth. These would include training through the TLR department, the individual departments and the college.

- Generating lists of job posting outlets reaching underrepresented groups.

- HR identifies diverse resources which create diverse pools for each position.

- HR approves screening committees that represent a diverse group of instructors.

To view the full diversity plan, visit the D&I webpage at www.hccs.edu/diversity

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Letter from the Acting Chancellor

Dear HCC Family,

Houston Community College’s diversity is one of its greatest strengths. Located in the most diverse city in the country, HCC is a model for how a community with a wide range of different life experiences, religious beliefs, cultures and abilities can come together to take advantage of the opportunities that come from having many points of view from which to learn. Students at HCC should leave at the culmination of their studies prepared to be successful, productive citizens who understand that knowing how to work with people who are different is an asset that will carry them far in their chosen careers. Providing our students with cultural competency skills and experiences will help them build bridges of understanding that span across Houston’s many communities and cultures. These skills better prepare our students for life after graduation in an increasingly complex and interactive world.

The 2013-2015 District Diversity and Inclusion Plan supports the HCC Strategic Plan and HCC’s mission to be an open-admission, public institution of higher education offering a high-quality, affordable education for academic advancement, workforce training, career and economic development, and lifelong learning to prepare individuals in our diverse communities for life and work in a global and technological society. HCC’s diversity is reflected in our students, faculty and staff who represent the wide range of cultures indigenous to our region, state and country as well as a large contingent of international students and faculty who bring cultural experiences and knowledge from all points on the globe.

Through the work of the HCC Council for Diversity and Inclusion, the diversity goals in this plan have been forged by listening to many courageous conversations from within our college. The goals and objectives in this plan are starting points for the inclusive discussion that must be pursued in order to expose our students to educational programming that reflects thought and practice. HCC students, faculty and staff should work and learn in an environment that fosters freedom with responsibility, a commitment to excellence, respect for the person, and sound stewardship. These are HCC’s guiding principles that inspire and guide us in our interactions with each other and the communities we serve. We embrace diversity at HCC because it is the right thing to do. We work to foster inclusion to capitalize on the strength of our differences, the depth of our experiences and the opportunities to expand our learning to new heights.

Sincerely,

Renee ByasActing Chancellor


GOAL 4: HCC will promote a learning culture that insures teamwork, communication, appreciation and accountability.


Central College 1) Improve the utilization of the president’s cabinet as a forum for sharing employee concerns and contributions (feedback).

2) Increase the executive team’s physical visibility throughout the college.

- Department surveys on attitudes of the openness of administration to employee feedback (pre/post).

- Number of employees requesting to meet with the cabinet.

- Employee survey about attitudes on the physical visibility of the executive team (pre/post).

Coleman College 1) Include employee appreciation and recognition in the 2012-2015 strategic plan.

2) Organized in six health science discipline teams that promote collaboration and interdisciplinary education.

− The strategic plan calls for a 50% increase in recognition of employees from 2012 during 2013-2015.

- The number of health science programs that collaborate as teams on HCC Coleman College Simulation Day will be measured against the total number of existing programs.

District Administration 1) Demonstrate “walk-around” leadership; have Chancellor engage and meet & greet employees on each floor.

2) Establish a series of interactive workshops and lunch seminars that promote teamwork, communication, appreciation and accountability at 3100 Main.

- A survey instrument will be distributed to assess the effectiveness of each objective.

- The series will be offered once per long semester (Fall and Spring).

- Comment cards will be collected from participants.

Northeast College 1) Promote a learning culture that ensures teamwork, appreciation, and accountability through an on-going celebration of the “richness” of cultural diversity.

- The measurement will be a questionnaire that will be disseminated after each activity/event to assess the participants’ responses.

Northwest College 1) Provide educational, cultural, and social opportunities for students that expose them to a well-rounded variety of cultural experiences through campus events and programming activities.

2) Implement a student support system comprised of “Safe Zone” for LGBTQ students.

- Attendance at events.

- Feedback will be collected at the end of each event.

- Establishment of “Safe Zones” on campus.

Southeast College 1) Expand current Multicultural Programs, Mexican American, African American, Women’s and Gender Studies, the Male Minority Initiative, Hispanic Male Initiative, and the inclusion of Others across lines of gender identities, sexual orientations, ethnicity, abilities, disabilities, age differences, belief systems, nationalities, race, socio-economic conditions, language constructs, and Veteran status.

2) Build diversity into the curriculum, activities and events at SE College.

- Documentation indicating that students, faculty, staff, administrators and members of the community have attended one or more of the seminars or work-shops pertaining to multicultural programs (Mexican American, African American, Women’s and Gender Studies, Hispanic Male initiative, GLBT, ADA, Veterans, etc.) by Dec 19, 2013.

- Promote more enrollment of students in courses germane to multicultural programs and diversity studies by July 15, 2013.

- Documentation in syllabi that includes the tenets of respecting diversity in the classroom by Fall 2013.

Southwest College 1) Establishment of Multicultural association/group within the establishment of a Diversity and Inclusion group. The group focus would include welcoming events at the beginning of the semester, activities promoting diversity awareness throughout the semester and recognition of accomplishments by individuals and departments.

2) Faculty and staff development will be continued throughout the year to encourage cultural awareness. Departments will be challenged to create recognition opportunities, which highlight the accomplishment of staff and faculty.

- Committee members will be selected.

- Association will meet.

- Recognition of faculty and staff who encourage cultural awareness.


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Letter from D&I Council Chair

To the HCC community:

As the 2012-2013 Chair of the HCC Council for Diversity and Inclusion, I am pleased to present HCC’s first Diversity and inclusion Plan.

The HCC Council for Diversity and Inclusion was created in March 2010 in response to a request from the HCC Board of Trustees and, upon inception, was charged with developing a comprehensive diversity and inclusion plan that is aligned with the District’s Strategic Plan. Its primary role is to advise the Chancellor and the Board regarding issues of diversity, equal opportunity and inclusion and to facilitate programs and services that meet the changing needs of HCC’s students, faculty, staff and other stakeholders.

The D&I Plan was developed through an inclusive process that allowed many voices through volunteer employee engagement groups and student presentations to participate in the discussion. Still, we want to increase the voices, so we are asking, “Who are we missing?” To that end, the Council has developed goals in the plan that can be expanded and interpreted to meet the specific needs of each college and the District. To encourage a broader continued discussion of ‘’welcomeness” and opportunities for success with regards to diversity and inclusion, the Council has provided a structure for the development of local college diversity committees as well as district-wide special interest groups.

In addition to rolling out the D&I Plan this fall, the Council will implement and assess the Institution’s progress towards achieving the plan’s goals.

If HCC is to succeed in the future, the Institution must recognize the role of diversity in fulfilling its mission and provide the required support for diversity and inclusion initiatives. The Institution must capitalize on its wealth of diversity by ensuring inclusion of all in order to create an environment conducive to learning in a global sense.

As a member of the Council from its inception and the Chair of the Council for the past two years, it has been my privilege to work with the other members of the Council and many others as we have developed this plan. It is my hope that the broader HCC community will embrace the plan, take ownership of it, and help HCC become a known leader in the world of diversity and inclusion.

Best regards,

Linda Comte, ChairCouncil for Diversity & Inclusion, September 2011 through August 2013Director, College Educational Technology ServicesHCC Northeast College


GOAL 3: HCC will be a champion of accessibility by establishing standards that adhere to both the spirit and letter of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA).


Central College 1) Inquiry/audit of ADA offices to assess daily challenges, student concerns, etc.

2) Implement a system of accountability for students.

- Obtain feedback from ADA offices.

- Codification of a statement of student responsibility (to be used district-wide).

- Implementation of software training seminars for students.

Coleman College 1) The design of the expansion of HCC Coleman College will maximize accessibility for students and employees and use universal design where feasible and fiscally responsible.

2) HCC Coleman College websites adhere to ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications).

- The Diversity and Inclusion Council will be updated by the HCC Coleman College representative as progress is achieved.

- All websites designed and developed by HCC Coleman College will be tested to insure maximum compatibility with assistive technology devices.

District Administration 1) Conduct an ADA study (third party) to assess accessibility at 3100 & 3200 Main.

- Study will be conducted by Spring 2014.

Northeast College 1) Support the recruitment and retention of all students through an inclusive culture that leads to positive results for all students.

- ADA guidelines will be reviewed and staff will be trained to comply with standards and guidelines that help lead to student success.

Northwest College 1) Provide in-depth training to faculty and staff regarding barriers to education and accommodation requirements.

2) Provide information about Universal Design in the classroom as well as throughout Northwest campuses.

- Documented attendance of college faculty and staff who attend one of 3 sessions or seminar offered by December 13, 2013.

- Assist faculty with classroom strategies of Universal Design.

Southeast College 1) Comply with the ADA guidelines regarding students, employment practices, accommo-dations, discrimination or harassment based upon disability.

2) Create an ADA Council and Liaisons or an organization of campus leaders, including students and employees with disabilities, to receive and share information and training related to ADA issues, to stay abreast of relevant issues, and to engage in mutually meaningful dialogue based on mutual respect and dignity, and the promotion of good will. To make recommendations on how to build a culture of mutual understanding.

- Ensure that Southeast’s policies and procedures germane to ADA regulations protecting students’ rights and employees’ rights -- with regards to reasonable accommodations, dis-crimination or harassment based upon disability – are in place by Dec 19, 2013.

- Documented attendance indicating that 80% of college faculty, staff and instructional leadership attended one of the ADA workshops offered by SE-HR and SE-ADA reps by Dec 19, 2013.

- Documented attendance indicating that SE students, student organizations, college faculty, staff and instructional leadership attended at least one of the dialogues sponsored by SE-ADA Counselor along with HCC-ADA Council and HCC’s EEO/Compliance Office by May 15, 2014.

Southwest College 1) All students will have accessibility to the ADA counselors at Southwest College. Students will receive individualized counseling and assistance in areas of:

- ADA accommodations in compliance to ADA policies

- Degree planning

- Course selection

- ADA contact information will be on all syllabi.

- All students will receive information concerning the ADA office.

- Create posters to bring awareness to our ADA policies at SW College.


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GOAL 1: HCC will promote the exploration and understanding of culture, diversity and inclusion by providing in-depth training and experiences that promote skills development resulting in cultural competency.


Central College 1) Provide a diversity and inclusion workshop for HCC Central faculty and staff.

2) Promote use of the HCC Employee Assistance Program (UTEAP) module entitled “Valuing Diversity” accessed via the UTEAP web site.

- Attendance totals

- Obtain feedback on the effectiveness of the event via evaluation instrument.

- Obtain feedback from chairpersons/ supervisors who utilize the module for meetings or training sessions.

Coleman College 1) Host a Diversity and Inclusion training day in Fall 2013.

2) Monthly employee gatherings will be open to the HCC Coleman College Diversity and Inclusion Committee for programming and participation.

- Attendees will participate in a pre- and post-workshop survey.

- Percentage of participation by employees at the events will be measured against the college FTE count.

District Administration

1) Establish a series of interactive workshops and lunch seminars that promote cultural exchange and engagement.


- Feedback will be collected via evaluation forms at the end of each event.

Northeast College 1) Establish a Diversity and Inclusion Committee that will meet on a semester basis to review diversity goals and evaluate the success of the college in meeting the goals.

- The measurement will be the meetings held and the outcomes established.

Northwest College 1) Organize “Empowering Women: We All Belong” series. Providing comprehensive workshops to address issues concerning minority women in the context of social and cultural gender roles, opression, and violence against women, in order to promote growth and self-agency.

2) Provide a window into the worlds of others through the viewpoint of books. This is made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities as part of the program, “Bridging Cultures, Muslim Journey.”

- Attendance of monthly interactive workshops by female minority students.

- Feedback will be collected at the end of each workshop.

- Attendance at events.

- Feedback will be collected at the end of each book discussion session.

Southeast College 1) Provide diversity training workshops, forums,and dialogue for and between Southeast faculty, staff, administration, and students.

2) Diversity Activity Day

- Documented attendance indicating that 80% of college faculty, staff and instructional leadership has attended one of three sessions offered by Dec 19, 2013.

- Documented attendance indicating that SE students, student organizations, college faculty, staff and instructional leadership attended Diversity Activity Day by May 15, 2014.

Southwest College 1) Activities showcasing various cultures and celebrating the diversity of our college will be provided for all students, faculty and staff.

- International Festival will be open to all students and showcase at least 5 diverse cultures.

- At least four events will be offered celebrating diversity in 2013-2014.


GOAL 2: HCC will support a process for the development of Diversity Resource Groups (DRGs) that engage all stakeholders and affirm the goals of the HCC D&I District Plan.


Central College 1) Establish a standing Diversity & Inclusion Committee in accordance with the guidelines established by the HCC D&I Council Charter.

- D&I Committee will convene by October 1, 2013.

Coleman College 1) Establish a college diversity and inclusion committee.

- The committee will be created according to the specifications set forth in the diversity and inclusion council charter.

District Administration 1) District D&I Committee will engage the employees of 3100 Main in the core principles of the institutional strategic plan.


Northeast College 1) Request a representative from each Divisional Area of the College to serve as the team leader of the group in their respective division to continue the engagement of smaller teams in diversity initiatives.

- The activities of the divisional teams of the college.

Northwest College 1) Establish Northwest College Diversity and Inclusion Committee in accordance with the guidelines established by the HCC Diversity and Inclusion Council Charter.

- Committee established and meets at least twice by December 15, 2013.

Southeast College 1) Invite local and nationally recognized speakers to lecture on contributions of different people and cultures to our region, nation, and globe.

2) Recruit and invite community partners, students, faculty, administration, and staff to participate in the development of Diversity Resource Groups.

- Documented attendance indicating that 80% of college faculty, staff and instructional leadership has attended HCC workshop/lecture by an invited locally or nationally recognized speaker on various cultures, ethnic groups, nationalities, belief systems, and peoples of the globe by Dec 19, 2013.

- Documented attendance indicating participation of invited community partners, students, faculty, administration and staff to form Southeast Diversity Resource Group (DRG) by Dec 19, 2013.

Southwest College 1) Establishment of the Southwest College Diversity and Inclusion Committee as directed in the D&I plan, consisting of 7 members: 2 faculty members, 2 staff, 2 members of the student body and the College D&I council representative. The committee will reflect the diversity of the college.

- Selection of committee members will be finalized and meeting times and dates for the fall will be decided.

