Academic Services Office
Anti-Racism Plan Framework
Dec. 2, 2021
Dec. 2, 2021
Actively (through a focus group) or passively (Google form) collect feedback on draft of advising syllabus.
Once finalized (for summer 2021 launch), publicize widely via the Academic Services website, email signatures, LATTE course pages and on course syllabi.
Collect feedback on advising syllabus draft. Is it clear? User-friendly? Inclusive of student backgrounds and experiences? Is anything missing? Is the final document accessible?
Create focus groups for document review and feedback:
Black Action Plan student leaders
BUG tutors
Colleagues in Academic Services
Faculty ambassadors
Roosevelt Fellows
Student employees
Undergraduate Advising Heads
Undergraduate Departmental Representatives
Create yearly assessment, measuring access to advising services and learning goals, ensuring that opportunities, resources and policies are promoted equitably to Black and IPOC community members.
Can any of these efforts be done remotely?
Build schedule: identify dates, frequency, times and staffing. (What can we learn from the Counseling Center's community therapist model?)
How to advertise our "on-the-road" services?
What academic resources (and swag) to have available?
Request permission from department/spaces for tabling.
Collect attendance/conversations.
Are there other locations/times that would be more effective in reaching students?
Are we connecting with students who don't normally work with us (over Zoom or in our offices)?
Funding for National Association of Fellowships Advisors (already in budget) and National Conference on Race and Ethnicity (new expense) professional-development opportunities.
Attend NCORE.
Attend NAFA.
Work with the Brandeis Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
Hold a training for campus partners.
Office of Study Abroad.
Department of Fine Arts (Mortimer Hays-Brandeis Traveling Fellowship).
Faculty and staff who participate in Fulbright screening panels.
Attend at least one related off-campus event in the next two semester.
Host one on-campus event in the next two semesters.
None.
Information session on inclusive opportunities and resources.
Outreach to BIPOC students to join listserv.
Share related materials through weekly listserv.
Rangel, Pickering and Soros foundations.
Myra Kraft Transitional Year Program.
Brandeis Posse Scholars.
Student Support Services Program.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Fellowship Program.
Intercultural Center
GenOne Fellowship Program.
Hold at least one directly-related information session.
Highlight at least one related award per month in listserv.
Reach out to each group with an invitation to join the unit listserv.
Unit director.
All tutors will receive training on best practices/approaches in anti-racist pedagogy.
Admit more students (goal is 30 to 35).
Improve the accessibility of our website and materials.
Translation options as well as materials in Spanish and French.
More videos and always utilize closed captions.
Improve marketing to targeted schools and community-based organizations.
Streamline MKTYP admissions presentations, interviews, meetings, reading applications, etc.
Admit 30 to 35 BIPOC, low-income and/or first-generation students over a five-year span.
Increase MKTYP admits by five students each year.
Hire more personnel and increase budget to support the increase in students.
In the next two years, implement Spanish and French translation options on the website and translate materials.
Direct and advise all first-year MKTYP students as they experience college, the MKTYP and Brandeis.
Advise and mentor over all undergraduate program alumni toward degree completion, graduation and postgraduate plans.
Hire a program adviser to work with over 70 MKTYP alumni. This would increase the MKTYP staff to two full-time (director and program adviser) and part-time employees (program administrator and graduate assistant).
Continually conduct open forums to discuss racial/ethnic issues, the Black Lives Matter movement, racial justice and anti-racist resources.
Incorporate mindfulness practices to support students in addressing microaggressions and implicit bias.
Sponsor annual events centering around identities and intersectionality.
Advocate for universitywide diversity, equity and inclusion.
Office of Alumni Relations.
Every year schedule at least one open forum on racial/ethnic issues.
Incorporate mindfulness practices in each MKTYP newsletter.
Sponsor one event per semester that utilizes mindfulness.
Sponsor at least one event centering around identities and intersectionality each semester.
Sponsor annual MKTYP Family Reunion (May).
Streamline series of workshops on racialization in higher education, critical race theory and culturally relevant pedagogy for MKTYP staff and faculty.
The director has participated in the training of staff, faculty and student workers on effective ways to support students of diverse backgrounds including low-income, first-generation and BIPOC students.
Sponsor two racial justice workshops/trainings per semester.
Sponsor annual MKTYP Teach-in (April) for the greater campus community.
Create a culturally relevant pedagogical framework among the instructors.
Continue to review and observe for culturally relevant pedagogy in the MKTYP.
Staff and faculty serve as invited facilitators for universitywide events.
Hire more staff of color.
Support and train staff of color.
Support and train students of color.
At next hiring cycle, include BIPOC applicants at every stage of review.
Continue to hold regular meetings and trainings on best practices to support BIPOC, low-income and first-generation students.
Promote professional development for BIPOC staff and students to attend and present at local and national educational conferences.
Increase our programming and student emergency budget in order to pay for books, technology, travel and enrichment programming for students.
Increase the MKTYP Summer Opportunity grant program.
Raise $1.2 million for BIPOC, low-income and/or first-generation student scholarships.
Division of Institutional Advancement.
Increase our student emergency and programming budget by 50%.
Over five-year span, we hope to increase the MKTYP Summer Opportunity grant program from $25,000 (gift-funded) to $150,000.
Over 10 years, we hope to raise $1.2 million for BIPOC, low-income and/or first-generation student scholarships.
The director has served as a workshop facilitator for staff and faculty on effective ways to support students of diverse backgrounds including low-income, first-generation and students of color.
Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
Gender and Sexuality Center.
Intercultural Center.
Center for Spiritual Life.
Dean of Students Office.
Other departments and offices, as needed.
Continue to facilitate workshops/trainings as well as offer expertise on best practices to promote diversity, equity and inclusion at a predominantly white institution.
Continue to talk to departments/offices about simplifying complicated and confusing university processes.
Volunteer to be a part of committee(s) to revise student processes/policies.
Include at least three profiles of alumni of color in different health care roles in our newsletter.
When conducting alumni panels, work to ensure diverse representation.
Alumni engagement, to identify profilees.
Will include at least three profiles of alumni of color in different health care roles in our spring 2021 newsletter.
When conducting alumni panels, work to ensure at least one panelist of color at each panel.
Work with partners to plan an outreach event that will help students.
Posse Scholars Program.
Galaxy Scholars Program.
Student Support Services Program.
Myra Kraft Transitional Year Program.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Fellowship Program.
GenOne Network.
Minority Association for Pre-medical Students.
Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science.
Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers.
Offering at least one outreach session for each cohort group or student organization during the 2021-22 academic year.
Monetary funds to provide financial support.
Advertise financial programs through application services, such as the AAMC's Fee Assistance Program.
Offer a session on paying for health professions school, conducted by a financial aid representative.
Create a fund to help applicants cover the costs of the application and interview process.
Area health professions schools.
Division of Institutional Advancement.
Will send out information about the Fee Assistance Program to our newsletter when it opens this spring. Send this information to relevant campus partners.
Hold a financial aid session in March 2021 with a representative from Tufts Dental School's financial aid office.
By the end of the spring 2021 semester, we will meet with Institutional Advancement to discuss the creation of a fund to which alumni can donate to support low-income students during the application process, including test preparation and travel costs.
Meet with relevant campus partners to determine what assessments are already being completed.
Conduct other assessments such as surveys or focus groups.
Posse Scholars Program.
Galaxy Scholars Program.
Student Support Services Program.
Myra Kraft Transitional Year Program.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Fellowship Program.
GenOne Network.
Minority Association for Pre-medical Students.
Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science.
Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers.
Intercultural Center.
Meetings have already been conducted with SSSP and GenOne Network coordinator Amy Harris. We will aim to complete meetings with other campus partners by the start of fall 2021.
If additional assessments are needed to determine next steps, we will conduct these in fall 2021.
Create an indicator in Workday to better track the pre-health population.
Work with Registrar’s Office to track student performance over time.
Work with campus partners to understand what data is already being collected on students of color in STEM.
Information Technology Services.
Office of the Registrar.
Office of Planning and Institutional Research.
Have a pre-health indicator put into Workday for fall 2021.
As above, in meetings with campus partners through fall 2021, discuss what data is being collected.
Staff time at Student Accessibility Support to retrain on documentation practices and update the SAS website.
Staff time at the Brandeis Counseling Center.
Change Student Accessibility Support website to reflect new documentation requirements.
Train SAS staff on how to review new types of acceptable documentation and make determinations on sufficiency.
Collaborate with the Brandeis Counseling Center to update practices related to documenting mental health diagnoses for students seeking both BCC and SAS support.
Brandeis Counseling Center.
Documentation requirements must no longer present additional barriers to students with limited access to professional care outside of Brandeis.
Students must no longer be required to get additional, costly testing, often involving long waiting periods, unless there is no alternative to documenting their disability.
Students receiving care at the Brandeis Counseling Center should experience a streamlined referral process and not be required to document their mental health condition from outside providers.
Staff time.
Use social media to highlight the work of Black disability rights activists.
Partner with other campus centers and departments to collaborate on public events that celebrate intersectionality.
Intercultural Center.
International Students and Scholars Office.
Heller School for Social Policy and Management.
Brandeis Counseling Center.
Gender and Sexuality Center.
Myra Kraft Transitional Year Program.
Shared materials should highlight and share activists and creators who have lived experience of intersectionality.
Shared materials should ensure that students of all backgrounds see themselves represented.
Shared materials and public events should help white students understand the intersections of race and disability.
Staff time.
Undergraduate departmental representative time.
Update accommodation letters to clarify that instructors with questions should contact Student Accessibility Support and that accommodations listed must be implemented unless SAS determines, in collaboration with instructors and the student, that an alternative solution can be utilized.
Communicate changes with student leaders who can ensure that students understand their rights to support from SAS and know how to respond to instructors when questions about accommodations arise.
Communicate changes with the Center for Teaching and Learning and help faculty understand their responsibilities.
Create a video with a recommendation on what to do if accommodations aren't implemented and share with all students registered with Student Accessibility Support.
Student Union.
Undergraduate Departmental Representatives.
Center for Teaching and Learning.
504 coordinator.
Faculty should become more aware of their responsibilities in implementing accommodations and know how to contact Student Accessibility Support for support.
Students should become more aware of their rights to their listed accommodations and feel more prepared to respond to instructors who aren't sure how to implement an accommodation, and understand how to engage SAS for support.
Student Accessibility Support should be proactive in its support of students and faculty to prevent "negotiation" from occurring between students and faculty without SAS involvement.
Identify staff who would like to contribute their professional expertise to facilitate sessions.
Create the agendas for the interactive training sessions.
Meet to discuss session goals and objectives with campus partners.
Gather student feedback on their self-identified needs for development/learning.
Incorporate student needs into sessions.
Develop assessment to gather participant feedback and learning outcomes.
Identify resources to be made available to students.
Provide opportunities for student check-ins in supervision time with student staff.
Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
Brandeis Counseling Center.
Select Academic Services team members.
These sessions will address the dimensions of cultural competency: the value of diversity, managing the dynamics of difference, acquiring an institutionalized cultural knowledge, and adapt to diversity and cultural contexts.
These sessions will aim to build students' sense of belonging, connectedness, resilience, self-advocacy and growth mindset.
These sessions will be engaging and interactive to promote student participation.
These session will focus on strategies for peer-to-peer support.
These sessions will be assessed for student learning outcomes and development goals.
Physical and virtual spaces to have events.
Planning sessions that incorporate supportive themes.
Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
Brandeis Counseling Center.
SSSP student leaders
Academic Services staff.
Building a sense of community among students and connecting with Brandeis faculty staff and students.
Exposing students to resources on campus to so they feel supported.
Create a space to celebrate student successes and accomplishments on campus.
Create a space to share their unique experiences.
Discuss strategies to encourage students retention to graduation from Brandeis.
Allow students to share their experiences with one another as a form of peer-to-peer affirmation.
Their sessions will affirm student identities and address the intersectional aspects of such on their experiences.
Outside contractor.
Designated staff time for session over the spring 2021 semester.
Developing learning goals and outcomes for each key area with anti-racist, cultural competence, and intersectional critical frameworks in consideration.
Develop program assessment to measure outcomes of those goals and services.
Groups offer feedback on program strengths and weaknesses in evaluations.
Dean of Academic Services.
Outside contractor.
Project director.
Program service evaluations from advising, tutoring, mentoring, CEAs and career development sessions and financial literacy workshops for students to identify what they have learned and can implement.
End-of-year program assessment measuring learning goals and outcomes of students.
Students complete Brandeis Educational Plan annually to identify their goals and highlight their accomplishments.
Students connect with staff in regular advising session about their needs.
Grant funds for event registration costs.
Identify books, videos and articles that address issues of diversity in our work.
Have staff identify areas for desired growth and training.
Create a space for staff to process what they have learned from provided training.
Staff identify realistic and attainable strategies to be implemented for program improvement.
National Conference on Race and Ethnicity (June 2021).
TRIO trainer Andrea Reeve (spring 2020, monthly).
Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (two spring/summer sessions 2021).
These sessions will address barriers to a positive student experience including oppression, marginalization, prejudice, racism and bias using an anti-racist lens framework.
These sessions will focus on seeing students using a strengths based approach to learning and advising.
Staff will learn strategies using a critical framework lens to encourage students, praise them for their accomplishments and progress.
These sessions will provide strategies to address the mitigating factors that impact the student.
Staff evaluations will be conducted after training to identify lessons learned, strategies implemented and results on effectiveness and student learning outcomes.
Division of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DDEIB)
diversity@brandeis.edu
781-736-4800