Road Map Strategic Priority 3 ‘deep dive’

The Road Map Steering Committee met in mid-December for an in-depth look at the goals, objectives and metrics of Strategic Priority 3 (SP3): Unite to foster a diverse and inclusive campus culture. Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Karen Jones and Vice Provost for Diversity and Inclusiveness Daryl Santos, co-chairs of SP3, presented.

After highlighting the SP3 mission statement, which undergirds the work the committee does, Jones said that “diversity is an essential component of academic excellence and we want to make sure it’s embedded throughout the fabric of everything we do at this institution.”

Jones said that SP3 has been looking at four domains:

1. Access and equity: Binghamton University has a diverse campus community: students, faculty and staff.
   o Major objectives address both diverse undergraduate/graduate student populations and diverse faculty/staff populations, with metrics to quantify growth for each populations. For example, “we’re currently at 18.7% underrepresented minority (URM) undergraduate students,” Jones said. “We’ve set a new goal of having a 25% URM undergraduate student population by 2026.”
   o Initiatives to raise the URM populations on campus will focus on recruitment through programs such as the Watson College Scholars Programs and retention activities such as the Pathways to Inclusive Leadership Program for students; for faculty and staff, Presidential Diversity Post-Doc Fellowships and search orientation workshops will help in recruitment, and initiatives such as the Presidential Diversity Research Grants will support retention efforts.
   
   
2. Diversity in curriculum: Diversity content in courses, programs and experiences across academic programs”
   o Major objectives address assessing and evaluating diversity in the curriculum such as in Gen Ed courses; providing diverse co-curricular programs for students, faculty and staff; providing professional development opportunities centered on diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging; and supporting the academic excellence of all students.
   o The committee is considering adding new metrics for first-generation students and students with disabilities in the future, Santos said, but the data is difficult to obtain.
   
   
3. Campus climate: The creation and development of a climate supportive of all students, faculty and staff.
   o Major objectives note that the campus will employ pulse surveys to assess climate, will continue its annual workplace violence, sexual violence and other surveys, and will utilize a SUNY climate survey when it is ready; will increase the Campus Pride Index from 3.5 to 4.0 on a 5.0 scale; and will employ onboarding, stay and exit interviews to examine employee experiences and determine opportunities for improvement.
   
   
4. Student learning and development: The acquisition about diverse groups and cultures, and the development of cognitive complexity.
   o “We’ve asked folks working at the college levels to provide a sampling of diverse, equitable and inclusive activities,” Santos said. “Academic affairs and the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion have a hand in a lot of them, as do advancement, the Foundation, athletics and communications and marketing.”

After reviewing a large sampling of initiatives that currently take place at Binghamton to support or recognize URM populations, Jones applauded some first-generation student initiatives including the Steering Committee for First-generation College Student Initiatives led by Provost Associate Sharon Holmes, and the BFirst Mentoring Network established and led by Marissa Zelman, assistant director in TRIO/Student Support Services.

She also spoke about the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) that Binghamton senior and first-year students participate in that benchmarks how the University compares to other schools as it relates to diversity and inclusivity. “We have room for improvement when we think about our overall climate, and work to do to change this narrative where students can be welcome and valued,” she said. “That’s not to say that we’re doing horribly. This is just a snapshot. But we need to improve the experiences of our students. We need to do much more in terms of informing our students about the work that we are doing. Despite some of the great work we’ve seen, our students are uninformed and that means some of our faculty and staff are uninformed.”

Jones then noted that some videos are being developed that will showcase what it means to work here as an employee and to be at Binghamton University. “Hopefully it will showcase what draws us here and what keeps us here,” she said.

Following the SP# presentation, the other strategic priority committees made announcements:

• SP1: Of the two positions SP1 had funded, one is filled (videographer), and the second is posted (to help with faculty online presence).
• SP2: This group will do its deep dive in January and will provide information then on funded initiatives for students in their first semester, as well as graduation and retention data. SP2 was able to add two people to help with student success initiatives
• SP4: Funding was used to purchase the Collaboratory software to track community engagement and public service data and will roll out in the spring semester. Course development stipends have been launched and courses are up from 42 to 55 this semester. Engagement and engaged scholarship language is now included in the promotion and tenure documents. Funding will also be used for a conference/workshop that will include four events during Research Days in April 2022. The University will submit its application for the Carnegie community engagement recognition in 2024.
• SP5: All of the funding for SP5 has been allocated for a planned giving consultant who is helping to build that pipeline, and to bring in a graduate student data analyst to start using data in creative ways for fundraising.
• SP6: Two graduate students have been hired to collect data to help with data analysis for admissions. SP6 is also working with the Fleishman Center for Career and Professional Development to make software more engaging for international students searching for jobs and internships. Also working with a consultant in China on a strategy for recruitment there.