Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging

Appoint a Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion 

• Reporting line for the Steering Committee on Diversity shift to the Interim President; after hiring the committee will report to the VP for Diversity and Inclusion 

Immediate 

• Diversity Steering Committee will identify a search firm and a search committee of faculty, staff and students 

January 2016

• Fill position reporting line to the President 

July 2016

• Establish ombuds role to create independent, neutral and confidential place for students to discuss academic issues and concerns: 

Immediate

• Interim role in the office of Academic Services

• Long term role/structure in the office of the Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion

Spring 2017

Increase recruitment and retention of under-represented faculty and staff of color, doubling underrepresented faculty of color at Brandeis by 2021 

• Institute faculty Target of Opportunity Hiring Program
• This program will identify candidates who would have emerged as a top choice from any relevant national search that would have been undertaken
• This program will target the hiring of candidates outside the regular search process based upon their ability to meet our need to diversify the faculty or the curriculum i significant ways. 
• Set aside funding for up to two tenure track hires/year i addition to regularly scheduled faculty searches targeting candidates who will diversify our faculty or curriculum in significant ways

2016-17 academic year 

• Training in Diversity Hiring Best Practices
•  Faculty search chairs and diversity representatives will be required to participate in this training.
• Diversity representatives for ongoing searches will meet monthly to share successful approaches to (but not limited to): 
  • Increasing the diversity of the pool of applicants
  • working on job ads
  • contributions to search committee discussions on search criteria for all searches
  • "For each search committee constituted, the chair of the committee and the diversity representative will go through training in diversity hiring." 
  • Academic Deans will annually participate in training in diversity hiring best practices

Spring 2016

• Improved advising and mentorship, especially for underrepresented junior faculty of color
  • Each division within A&S and each of the professional schools will be asked to submit a report to the Provost detailing their work on this item by March 30, 2016.
• Recognizing faculty work supporting increased diversity and inclusion
  • Academic Deans to develop and submit plans for assessment and recognition.

Plans by March 2016

Plans by May 2016 

Implementation Fall 2016

Academic Deans 

Provost Provost 

• Develop new pipelines for recruitment of underrepresented faculty of color
• Establish new partnerships with HBCU's and other institutions that serve underrepresented graduate and postdoctoral groups
• Use the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center's partnership with Hampton University as a model to design new programs to support the careers of potential future faculty hires. 

• Diversity Steering Committee will provide recommendations for increasing the successful recruitment of staff of color
• Initiate a program to annually recognize a staff member for success at increasing diversity and inclusion on campus and/or providing extraordinary support to students of color

Spring 2016

Fall 2016 

VP Human Resources

VP Human Resources 

Increase the minimum wage for Brandeis employees 

• Establish a minimum wage of $15.05 per hour for all full-time Brandeis employees not covered by a collective bargaining agreement. 
• Review rate to ensure that it meets or exceeds the economic independence wage for Waltham as determined by the Economic Independence Calculator. 

Completed - July 1 2015

May 2016 

• For part-time workers employed by Brandeis University and not covered by a collective bargaining agreement the minimum wage will increase: 
  • 11%
  • 10%

Jan. 1, 2016

Jan. 1 2017

Increase the applicant pool of under-represented students of color at both the undergraduate and graduate level 

• Increase underrepresented undergraduate applicants of color to the first year class by 5% to 10% annually 
  • Increase outreach to underrepresented students of color by an additional 5,000 students, a 30% increase 
  • Expand visits to high schools with high enrollment of underrepresented students of color 
  • Expand work with community-based organizations (CBO’s) serving underrepresented students of color 

Fall 2018 

Recruitment Cycle and ongoing 

• Launch community college recruitment initiative
  • Convene Task force under SVP Students and Enrollment to recommend and initiate changes to degree guidelines to align with models supporting transfer students
  • Identify academic programs with capacity that would be targets of opportunity for articulation agreements
  • Initiate articulation agreement negotiation 

Fall 2016

Spring 2017

• Maintain Historic Commitment to Myra Kraft Transition year Program and POSSE 

• Academic Deans must prepare and submit graduate recruitment and retention plans to increase applications and enrollment from underrepresented students of color 
• Plans will identify recruitment opportunities and associated initiatives in field-specific professional societies and through faculty interactions at colleges and universities institutions that serve underrepresented graduate and postdoctoral students of color. Plans will include proposals to enhance retention of underrepresented graduate students of color through mentoring, career development and other mechanisms.

• Scholarship and recruitment program for underrepresented masters students of color in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, creating a pipeline into doctoral work 
• The recruitment will focus on graduates who are Posse Scholars, or from HBCUs and other institutions serving under-represented students of color. 
• Apply for supportive partnerships such as Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Mellon Mays Foundation 

Accountability and Reporting 

• Expand the Brandeis Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan to include metrics to be used for accountability. This will result in an annual "report card”" that will be shared with the entire Brandeis community. 

January 2016

• In-person diversity and inclusion training for all members of the senior management team, Deans (including assistant and associate), all department chairs and program directors, and all division heads 

• In-person diversity and sensitivity training will be required and integrated into orientation for faculty and staff and students. Trainings will be based on best practices in the field and may include the hiring of outside trainers in order to ensure they are comprehensive and effective.
  • Students
  • Faculty
  • Staff 

• Current Title IX online training that is mandatory for all faculty and staff will be augmented to incorporate best practices on diversity and inclusion 

• Recommendation for in person diversity training across the university 

● Administer Climate Survey

Enhance excellence in teaching and learning 

• Establish a Task Force composed of faculty, students and staff to review undergraduate degree requirements, including a mandate to consider how to incorporate issues of race, equity and inclusion in university requirements. Students will be selected for the committee through an open application process. The task force efforts will include a comprehensive audit of the curriculum across departments and schools to identify what is currently offered (and when) in this area. 
• Organize student forums to learn how they perceive diversity and what they would like to see as part of the Brandeis curriculum 

Spring 2016 -Spring 2017

• Conduct diversity pedagogy workshops as part of faculty development through the Center for Teaching and Learning and the Committee for the Support of Teaching — this will include offerings on how to address issues of race, inequality, and inclusion in graduate level curriculum.

Begin December 2015 

Enhance professional development workshops for underrepresented students of color 

Spring 2016 

• Hiatt Career Center will hold 3 professional development workshops specifically tailored for underrepresented students of color, with at least 1 specifically targeted to Black students. Suggested topics include wage negotiations, career pipelines networking, managing co-worker and supervisor relations, and conflict. 

Spring 2016 

• Increase professional development workshops specifically tailored for students of color to 5 per semester 

• Establish professional development speakers of color database available for faculty to use in classes/staff to use in programming 

• Develop a pilot program of mentorship/coaching programs for students of color engaging the Brandeis Alumni/ae of Color and the Brandeis Alumni Associations 

• Hire a career counseling/development position with experience in programming for undergraduate and graduate students of color.

Ongoing 

Jan 2016

Executive Director for Health and Wellness 

Senior Associate Vice President for Student Affairs