To the Carleton Campus Community:
A critical task facing the community in this academic year is the completion and adoption of a ten-year Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity (IDE) strategic plan. This plan will provide a blueprint for the structural and cultural change needed to make Carleton a more inclusive and equitable community.
The need for such a plan was articulated more than a year ago by voices including the Ujamaa Collective, the Carleton Alumni who authored an open letter to the administration in August 2020, and other groups and committees on campus. President Steve Poskanzer charged the IDE Steering Committee in November 2020 with overseeing its development.
Working throughout the spring and summer, the IDE Steering Group drafted a Vision Statement and set of Goals and Objectives that form the foundation of the plan. In their September 27 update to the community, IDE Co-Chairs Chico Zimmerman and Jeninne McGee described this draft document, and over the last few weeks they have shared it with faculty, student, staff, and alumni groups. The feedback received in those discussions has led to some changes and revisions, including the replacement of the original Vision Statement with a set of Principles and Definitions.
Many of the comments received speak to the desire to move forward with the next stage in this planning process: to create specific, actionable recommendations. We are now ready to take the critical step of creating a set of strategies for addressing each of the five Goals outlined in the draft:
- Build the institutional capacity, resources, and dedicated leadership required to engage in the work of inclusion, diversity, and equity broadly, including implementing and sustaining the IDE Strategic Plan
- Significantly increase representation of students, faculty, and staff on campus from underrepresented populations
- Establish and sustain the resources and practices necessary to provide an equitable environment for all students, staff, and faculty to thrive.
- Integrate and sustain engagement with the principles of IDE, including the full diversity of perspectives, experiences, and intellectual contributions of historically underrepresented voices
- Demonstrate our commitment to measurable improvement of IDE outcomes through data collection and analysis, and transparent communication
Following discussion among the IDE Steering Committee and senior administration, and consultation with Faculty Affairs Committee (FAC) Chair Andy Flory and Junior Faculty Affairs Committee (JFAC) Chair Rou-Jia Sung, we have now appointed five Working Groups that will be charged with developing specific recommendations for accomplishing the Goals and Objectives. The Working Groups are facilitated by members of the IDE Steering Committee, and include faculty, students, staff, and alumni representatives.
These groups will not be starting from scratch; rather, they will be provided with the community input received by the Steering Committee over their many months of work thus far. They will have access to all of the data collected over the past year, and other data points from Institutional Research and Assessment. Each group will also include a consultant from Cambridge Hill Partners.
In our kickoff meeting with the Working Groups last week, we emphasized the importance of continuing to seek community input as specific recommendations are formulated. We know that interest in many of these areas is strong, and we expect that, in addition to the individuals appointed to the working groups, many other community members will serve as resources.
We have asked the Working Groups to provide their draft recommendations to the Steering Committee by the end of January. The Steering Committee will then prepare a final report to share with the community in late February or early March, with a goal of presenting a final version to the Board of Trustees later in spring term.
In setting this timeline, we have tried to balance the sense of urgency we all share about making change as quickly as possible with the need to ensure time for thoughtful deliberation and community input. We recognize that we are asking Working Group members for intensive effort during a limited time frame, and we are very appreciative of the willingness of so many colleagues to be part of this effort.
In my Inaugural Address on October 16, I talked about the importance, and difficulty, of change. Regarding our IDE process, I stated:
As we continue discussions on campus, with alumni, and within the higher education community about the need to create a more inclusive and welcoming community, it is important that we recognize that if we aspire to the word “transformative,” we must be willing to re-examine the structures that are currently working well for many of our students, and ask how they need to be different if they are to work well for everybody.
It is exciting to be moving into this next crucial phase of the IDE planning process. I thank everyone involved for their patience, engagement, and commitment to change.
Feel free to be in touch with Chico Zimmerman, Jeninne McGee, or facilitators of the individual Working Groups with any questions. Additional information about the process can be found on the IDE website.
President Alison Byerly