Dec. 2, 2021
Working groups will address topics such as staff training and development; student advocacy; department policies; social media; community check-ins; and general department updates.
Committee members are self-identified as members of diverse identities so that groups are diverse based on the available staff in Community Living. This is intentional, especially from a leadership identity, so that each group has a mixture of all levels of leadership within Community Living with alternating / rotating group leadership among its membership.
Groups will meet and report out to the full Community Living team at weekly staff meetings.
Groups will form shared objectives and set clear goals.
Groups will track activity and progress on the department's Engaging Our Community webpage.
Identity-based training series for professional and student staff.
Tool for residential students to use to de-escalate concerns within the halls based on identity or perceived identity (bias).
Regular community check-ins with residential students.
Re-imagining communications and leveraging of social media platforms and usage.
Conferences have gone mostly virtual with the pandemic and, as such, our access to these conferences and trainings has increased as costs have decreased. The staff will continue to research opportunities and present them at weekly staff meetings.
We will create a running list of memberships and certifications for the department.
The staff will actively seek out all opportunities for professional development.
We will outline all training initiatives that the staff has participated in each academic year.
Staff will use the skills obtained to contribute to the overall implementation of student staff (community advisors) training so that elements of DEI can be raised up as a priority.
Set clear expectations for programming requirements with all community advisors during fall and winter CA training.
Leverage area coordinator team and central staff to ensure all community-building efforts are happening in the residence halls.
Hold community advisors accountable for completing each area of programming metrics.
Clear metrics and tracking for community advisor programming.
Establish new ways for community advisors to build community, based on the unique living environments in each area.
Maintain a central programming calendar for events.
Produce a summary of programming metrics at the close of each academic year.
The department considered many books and selected "How to Be an Antiracist" by Ibram X. Kendi.
The department established a set of progress goals to allow staff members to read the book.
There were/are multiple debrief sessions scheduled at each check-point of progress.
Debriefs contain discussions about the content of the book and how this can impact our work.
The department set the end of the academic year to complete the book read and all subsequent debriefs.
The department restarts the process with a new selection.
Modify elements of the "Behind Closed Doors" section of staff training to include specific call-outs of identity-based bias in confrontation and/or policy enforcement.
Example scenario: Running two similar noise-based complaints:
A group of Jewish-identified students loudly singing in a lounge area.
A group of Black-identified students loudly singing in a lounge area.
Running each scenario and learning why staff need to respond in a consistent way that upholds the policy without unnecessarily targeting a specific population by identity.
Implementation will take place within community advisor training.
Assess overall impact of the training program and alter in the next cycles based on impact statements from assessments and observations of staff members during training.
Overall intended outcome is for students to recognize the value of consistent policy enforcement and the influences that identity perception can have on the interaction itself.
Work with all key stakeholders to ensure that in-person wellness checks are only used for high-level concerts, i.e., threat of self or others.
Reformatted wellness check matrix was placed into operation in late fall 2020.
Assessment of application of the matrix to each student of concern when escalated.
Annual review of the matrix for edits or modifications based on lessons learned or best practices.
Division of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DDEIB)
diversity@brandeis.edu
781-736-4800