In an effort to share knowledge and promote transparency, Colgate will develop and implement a bias incident log for the purpose of recording, without any personally identifiable information, a descriptive summary of bias-related incidents on campus. This log will be available to all members of the campus community. DEI staff will regularly review bias incident logs to develop educative and/or outreach interventions.
- Responsible: Office of equity and diversity, Executive director for equity and inclusion, equal opportunity, and affirmative action, Senior adviser to the president
- Target date: By summer 2020
The institutional advancement division will compile demographic data regarding alumni participation to better understand current levels of engagement in alumni programming and giving (as an important marker of engagement with the University). Low engagement can be a function of past experiences at Colgate, but it can also reflect the need to strengthen University efforts today, with an eye towards engaging effectively with all segments of our alumni body.
- Responsible: Institutional Advancement division
- Target date: By spring 2020
Colgate’s Office of Institutional Analysis will institute — on a regular rotation, and no less than every three years — a faculty/staff climate survey. The results of this survey will be shared with the campus community, and senior administration will prioritize responsive action items, actively engage in implementing them, and report annually on progress made in addressing concerns identified through this survey. The following elements were recommended for inclusion by the DEI working groups:
- experience of the campus;
- the equity grievance policy and process;
- engagement with professional development opportunities related to diversity, equity, and inclusion;
- interacting across difference.
- Responsible: Office of Institutional Analysis
- Target date: Beginning in the 2020-21 academic year
Beginning in the 2020-2021 academic year, Colgate will review and assess campus-wide programming and events designed to support inclusiveness and cultural competency for the campus community, including assessing impact. This information will serve as the basis for efforts to better engage the campus community in the shared work of inclusion, and will be shared through Colgate’s annual DEI report to the campus.
- Responsible: Office of equity and diversity, Senior adviser to the president
- Target date: By fall 2020
Colgate began to update its web presence in the 2018–2019 academic year, and the communications division will carefully review the ways in which diversity, equity, and inclusion issues are represented there to ensure that these representations are reflective both of the University’s philosophy and also of the work being done and the work that remains to be done on becoming an inclusive institution.
- Responsible: Communications division, senior adviser to the president
- Target date: Winter 2020
As part of Colgate’s website update and for the benefit of the campus community and others, the University will develop a repository of resources reflective of the strongest diversity and inclusion work being done today on college campuses and elsewhere.
- Responsible: The Office of Equity and Diversity, senior adviser to the president, communications division
- Target date: By spring 2020
As required by New York State law, Colgate will develop and deliver annual harassment training for all employees.
- Responsible: Office of Equity and Diversity
- Target date: Completed in time to meet the state deadline in fall of 2019, but this training will need to be updated and improved for the 2020-2021 academic year.
The Division of Physical Education, Recreation and Athletics (PERA) will conduct a comprehensive gender equity review of its program
- Responsible: Physical education, recreation and athletics division
- Target Date: April 2020
Colgate will continue the practice of installing gender-inclusive restroom facilities in new buildings, and will publish a map of facilities for the use of its community members and visitors. The University will also explore options for other gender-inclusive facilities (showers, locker rooms, etc.)
- Responsible: Communications division, facilities
- Target date: Immediately and ongoing.
Colgate will provide free menstrual products in appropriate bathrooms around campus.
- Responsible: Dean of the college division, facilities
- Target date: Already begun and ongoing (15 dispensers installed in the 2018–2019 academic year; additional resources will be driven by utilization.)
Colgate will continue to work to ensure that online content is fully accessible.
- Responsible: Communications division
- Target date: Already begun and ongoing (e.g., we have curtailed the practice of posting PDFs on the website that are not accessible for visually impaired people, and we use software tools to regularly review accessibility concerns across our site.)
The University will develop protocols for the use of contracting agents in our departments to encourage consideration and use of minority-owned or women-owned companies and vendors.
- Responsible: Finance and administration division, Senior adviser to the president
- Target date: By spring 2020
The dean of the college division will develop educational programs and policies designed to support fraternity and sorority organizations in incorporating the University’s strategies on equity and inclusion into their activities and educational programs. Individual chapters will be led to engage with the commentary of Colgate’s Middle States Accreditation Report on the role of fraternity and sorority organizations on our campus (see Appendix B of this plan), and required to respond.
- Responsible: Dean of the college division
- Target date: By summer 2021
Colgate will analyze recent requests for accommodations required by employees and define a budget to support appropriate requests. Recent experience suggests that the legal standards with which Colgate must comply in terms of such requests are not well understood across campus; educational materials will therefore be prepared by the executive director for equity and inclusion, equal opportunity, and affirmative action and the senior adviser to the president to help departments more effectively respond to requests for needed accommodations.
- Responsible: Executive director for equity and inclusion, equal opportunity, and affirmative action, senior adviser to the president
- Target date: By spring 2020
The dean of the college division will annually review scholarship and practices from other institutions to continually enhance its efforts to orient new students to the complex issues related to living and learning in a diverse community, and will report on findings and new strategies through Colgate’s annual DEI report to the campus.
- Responsible: Dean of the college division
- Target date: Ongoing; new diversity training was arranged beginning with the Class of 2022, utilizing external consultants from the Washington Group and Third Settlements
As called for in the 2016 MOSAIC plan, the University will identify and invite Colgate alumni of color holding PhDs to engage with Colgate’s campus community through lectures and visits.
- Responsible: Institutional advancement division, dean of the faculty division
- Target date: Work to begin immediately, with a target to begin bringing visitors in the 2020-2021 academic year