Ad Hoc Work Group on Equity & Social Justice Educational Outreach

Purpose of the Work Group

To support the work of the new Division of Equity & Community Inclusion, an Ad Hoc Work Group was convened to develop an educational outreach plan for promoting equity, advancing social justice and improving campus climate.  This plan will be implemented during academic year 2017-18 and reach students, faculty and staff through a variety of mediums and venues.  Looking ahead to 2018-19 and beyond, a new Ad Hoc Work Group will be convened each April to develop the plan for the upcoming academic year.

  1. Identify high-priority learning, development, and capacity-building goals for various target audiences that focus on increasing knowledge, influencing attitudes and/or changing behaviors among students, faculty, staff and administrators, in order to ameliorate identified barriers to equity/inclusion or promote a healthier, more socially just campus climate.  Ideally, these goals should be evidence-based and data-driven.  For this first year, Work Group members will rely on observation and available data; During academic year 2017-18, SF State, through the Office of the AVP for Equity & Community Inclusion, will administer a comprehensive campus climate survey to better assess needs and priorities.
  2. Develop a specific training/outreach implementation plan that highlights multi-pronged strategies, mediums and venues through which educational outreach will take place, including timeline, target audiences, strategies, and resources required, as well as the department or office on campus that will serve as the coordinating point of contact for each intervention.
    While the Work Group is encouraged to utilize and leverage on-campus expertise and local community-based partners to minimize cost, SF State is also willing to make strategic investments in external trainers and/or speakers in areas where we would benefit from the wisdom and consultation of others beyond our campus.
  3. Review evaluations and feedback from the various programs, events and workshops that occur throughout the academic year and make recommendations for interventions to pursue in the subsequent academic year.

Based on this three-fold purpose, the responsibilities of this Work Group will be front-loaded over the summer, with time commitments abating as the new academic year progresses.

  • Hire an external trainer to work with MPP’s on how to address micro aggressions and bullying as part of supervisory and leadership responsibilities.
  • Sponsor a series of high-profile speakers to engage large student audience four times a year on how to interrupt bias and counter hate speech.
  • Host a first-year experience dialogue series with the entering freshmen cohort, focusing on analyzing a book that highlights issues related to religious intolerance.
  • Partner with faculty colleagues from other campuses across the country who are leading the way in inclusive excellence and social justice, as well as learn how they are closing the educational equity gap for their students.
  • Leverage on-campus expertise/talent to offer a brown bag lunch series of eight sessions lasting through Fall term that explore how to increase diversity through search processes.

 

We would appreciate your input, thoughts and reflections. Please submit your input by filling out the Equity & Community Inclusion Comment Form.

Ideally, each year’s Ad Hoc Work Group will develop a tailored plan, responsive to the most current leadership and campus climate challenges with which the campus is grappling at the time.

 

The academic year 2017-18 inaugural work group members are:

  • Trevor Getz, Chair & Professor, Department of History (Chair/Convenor)
  • Colleen Hoff, Professor, Department of Sexuality Studies; Director, Center for Research & Education on Gender & Sexuality
  • Leticia Márquez-Magaña, Professor, Department of Biology; Director, Health Equity Research Lab
  • Johnetta Richards, Professor, Department of Africana Studies
  • Rick Nizzardini, Interim Director, Health Promotion & Wellness
  • Beverly Voloshin, Professor, Department of English Language & Literature
  • Mohammed Alnuzaili, Muslim Student Association – Associated Students Representative
  • Gabriela Cerros, Ethnic Studies Representative - Associated Students Representative
  • Rachael Cunningham, Hillel Representative - Associated Students Representative
  • Janet Lopez, Vice President for University Affairs - Associated Students Representative
  • Yusra Oweis, GUPS - Associated Students Representative

The Work Group advanced the following White Paper in December 2017.  The document is now undergoing campus-wide consultation through each of the cabinet areas, Associated Students, Academic Senate, and other organizations on campus.  Feedback from students, staff and faculty will inform implementation efforts beginning as early as Summer 2018.