What is a Division Equity Plan? Equality vs. Equity

 An Equity Plan is a strategic response to institutional barriers through organizational cultural transformation. The initiative looks at the internal and external needs of the department or division in the areas of equity, social justice, diversity, and multicultural education and responds with a strategically aligned approach.

 Initiatives should have a short and long-term focus, as well as very specific goals and objectives. It should also be easily measurable and tied to the college's overall mission and institutional core competencies. In terms of implementing the initiative, the entire division or department - from the top down - should be held accountable for implementation and the overall success.

How is this plan different from a Student Success Equity Plan (SSEP)?

Our Educational Master Plan states that we will “Improve the student success rates of all ethnic, gender and disability groups for all major indicators of student outcomes so that they will be comparably high with no more than 5% variance between each group”.

The Student Success Equity Plan is intended to help guide our student engagement and pedagogical praxis as well as aid us in working together toward this common goal. It should be strategically aligned with the division or department’s boarder equity plan and updated annual. This report should serve as a critical lens for assessing successes and reporting data in the annual program review.

 What does it entail?

  1. Director of Equity meets with the Dean and Department Heads
  2. Director of Equity attends a Division meeting to introduce the process/vision
  3. Division or Department members volunteers or nominate individuals to serve on their respective Equity Core Team
  4. One member of the Equity Core Team will volunteer to also serve as the Equity Action Committee liaison, committing to attend at least one EAC meeting monthly.
  5. The Equity Core Team will guide the Division/Department in identifying shared goals and objectives as well as making sure the SSEP is updated annually and reviewed by each department.

Getting Started:

  1. Meet with the Director of Equity
  2. Dean sets the context for your internal work at a Division Meeting
  3. Identify your equity core and liaison
  4. Department Chairs help by gathering information and share insight with Equity Core Team
  5. Equity Core Team receives training and begins working on strategic planning

Reading & Resource List:

  • Jeff Duncan-Andrade @ Carnegie Foundation Summit 2017
  • Stereotype Threat (Steele, 1995)
  • Identity Threat (Steele, 2011)
  • Microaggressions (Wing Sue, 2010)
  • Imposter Syndrome (Clance & Imes, 1978)
  • Targeted Universalism (Powell, 2009)
  • Curb effect (Blackwell, 2017)
  • Courageous Conversations (Singleton, 2005)
  • Human Genome Project (NHI, 1990)
  • Growth Mindset (Dweck, 2006)
  • Post Traumatic Growth (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 1995)
  • Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome (DeGruy, 2005)
  • New Jim Crow (Alexander, 2010)
  • Funds of Knowledge (Amanti, 2005)
  • Prison-Industrial Complex (Davis, 1997)
  • Critical Hope (Duncan-Andrade, 2009)
  • Cultural Humility (Tervalon & Murray-Garcia, 1998)
  • Racial Equity (Dr. Shakti Butler)
  • White Privilege (Kendall, 2012)
  • Intersectionality (Crenshaw, 1989)
  • Color Conscious (Gillborn, 2005)
  • Equity Scorecard (Bensimon, 2012)
  • Five Principles for Enacting Equity by Design (Bensimon, Dowd, Witham, 2016)
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