2017 Implementation Work Plan
Download a PDF version of this update
General Progress to Date
- The SBU Plan for Equity, Inclusion and Diversity was released in May 2016.
- Eight working groups convened and met from June–February to develop priorities for implementation and funding. (A list of working group members is attached.)
- The broad-based Advisory Council chaired by Dr. Marvin Colson and Dr. Smita Majumdar-Das met three times to provide insight and input to implementation.
- The Steering Committee has been meeting biweekly to guide implementation, clear obstacles, select priorities for funding and determine commitments.
- Town Halls were held in the fall semester at three locations to allow students, staff and faculty to learn about progress on implementation and to raise questions and concerns. Additional Town Halls will be scheduled in April/May 2017, to allow for further updates and input.
- Robbye Kinkaid was brought into the Office of the President to serve for two years to hold R.E.D.I. seminars on bias awareness along with a series of Trainings of Facilitators to ensure a lasting capacity to provide such sessions. All staff and faculty at all locations have been asked to participate in the six-hour seminar.
- LeManuel "Lee" Bitsóí, EdM, EdD was named Chief Diversity Officer effective July 28, 2017.
Students
Undergraduates
Opening Weekend Curriculum
- Create and deliver diversity workshop at orientation with focus on microaggressions, connecting to macro-level impacts. Completed for all Fall 2016 and January 2017 incoming students; will continue with future classes.
- Revise and deliver gender awareness and equality workshop. Completed for all Fall 2016 FTFT and for January 2017 transfers; will continue with future classes.
- Evaluate current experience for use and to inform future iterations. Survey completed and responses in progress; content analysis of diversity/gender journal writings in FYS 101 to be completed.
- Scaffold with FYS 101 seminar objectives. Implemented Fall 2016.
- Increase number of facilitators (Diversity Fellows, Social Justice Collaborative, etc.) during Opening Weekend to allow for smaller group size toward more meaningful engagement. To be considered by the Offices of the Provost and Student Affairs as part of a broader review in 2017 of opening weekend activities.
101 Seminar
- Revise diversity and inclusion curriculum in the FYS 101 seminar, including two diversity-specific lessons and a more multicultural approach to the other lessons where possible. Implemented Fall 2016.
- Explore curricular redesign in which all lessons are developed and delivered through a multicultural lens. Committee named; will consider and evaluate options in 2017–18 academic year, including need for FT curriculum specialist.
- Align First-Year Reading program with multicultural goals. Implemented in Fall 2015 and continued in Fall 2016 with partnership with Hispanic Heritage Month events.
- More comprehensive training of instructors, including culturally responsive pedagogies. Implemented in Fall 2016. Training covered Safe Space, supporting international students/multilingual learners, training through multicultural affairs. Workshop on supporting international students/multilingual learners implemented for all FYS 102 faculty in Spring 2017.
ADA
- Identify what teaching resources or dedicated committees already exist. The Office of Inclusion, Diversity and Equity (OIDE) and Disability and Support Services (DSS) are reviewing ways to enhance services to students, faculty and staff. Additionally, the President’s ADA and Technology Committee will work in 2017 to look at ways to improve messaging and resources related to accessibility of SBU created/required online materials.
- Professional development workshops for faculty and/or symposium to create conversation and dialogue around supporting students with disabilities. $3,500 allocated; to be planned by OIDE, DSS and Office of the Provost.
- Full-time staff dedicated to coordination and development of instructional design of technologies and teaching materials. Staffing and need for additional resources will be considered as part of the 2017 work of the ADA and Technology Committee.
Campus Climate
- Create a Web-based option to report microaggressions and bias-related incidents. Communications will add to the Diversity Plan website.
- As part of the Social Justice Collaborative, form a student based anti-bias social justice group for peer-to-peer awareness and campus climate enhancement. Dean of Students will ask Undergraduate Student Government (USG) and Dean of Students to promote this suggestion to student groups.
- Develop a campus network similar to the Safe Space Program (faculty/staff and offices) for inclusion-related concerns. Chief Diversity Officer will be tasked with developing this program.
- Schedule monthly open meetings for students to have sustained dialogues in a safe and all-inclusive space (e.g., UNITI Cultural Center, residential quads). The Office of Student Affairs Celebrating Diversity Committee will implement.
- Evaluate content of existing trainings and conversations around bias and the impact of bias on your likelihood to act as a bystander. Where absent or incomplete, infuse bias awareness and multicultural competencies into current bystander intervention trainings. Increase promotion of bystander trainings among underrepresented populations to increase more diverse involvement of undergraduate student body. Green Dot’s curriculum includes certain aspects of bias awareness training and teaches students how it impacts their role as bystanders. The training content encourages bystanders to be more aware of their own biases, as these may hinder their actions in a crisis situation Also, the training has attracted unprecedented numbers of underrepresented minority (URM )students, especially men. There is a President’s Diversity Mini-Grant funded project this year that is evaluating how the Green Dot training is received by URM males.
- Development of Web-based option for comments and recommendations for change that would provide another forum for feedback, as well as frequent progress updates and results of plan items already completed or in progress. Will be holding Town Halls each semester and will post plan updates on Diversity Plan website once per semester. Will encourage feedback to come via the existing section of the Diversity Plan website.
- Increase positive student-police community interactions through creative programming and regular meetings with student groups and student advisory councils.
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In progress. The University Police Department (UPD) will continue to host Coffee with
a Cop, Student/Officer game nights and the Citizen’s Academy, among other programming, in an effort
to strengthen relationships with the campus community. Residence Hall Directors and student clubs
and organizations are encouraged to invite UPD officers to meetings to have open discussions and training,
as well as to strengthen relationships.
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The Office of Student Affairs is piloting a policy of covering 50% of security for
Level 1 events in an effort to bring large student events back onto campus from off-campus
locations.
- Set up a committee composed of faculty and staff (and possibly Diversity Fellows) who are charged with coordinating speakers and lecturers, including experts that address bias across various disciplines. Leads in the Office of Provost, Office of President and Student Affairs will continue to collaborate on speakers and to ensure that a diversity of backgrounds and perspectives is represented. Chief Diversity Officer will add coordination to this effort. Student Affairs has a diversity calendar initiative that includes funding for Diversity Month program submissions. Additionally, the Diversity Plan website includes a running list of diversity-related programming being offered at SBU.
- Adopt the Diverse Learning Experiences survey developed by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA for monitoring the diversity climate for students. Administer the survey every two years. The University administered this instrument in fall 2015, and the committee recommends the survey be administered again in fall 2017. The Office of Student Affairs has determined that the best strategy is to do a rotating set of surveys (DLE, Polaris, SUNY Climate, and the ACHA College Health Survey). In 2017, they will administer the SUNY Climate Survey and the DLE. $30,000 has been allocated for this initiative.
- Hold regular check-ins and structured dialogues throughout the year about bias and multicultural competencies.
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In progress. Various campus groups have incorporated structured dialogues into the
multicultural programming that is offered on campus (e.g., the showing of the film “Moonlight” had
pre- and post-movie discussions jointly organized by the LGBTQ* Services team and the Black History
Month
planning group).
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The Department of Athletics held a program with LGBT SportSafe, an organization aimed
to help athletic leadership champion a culture of respect and LGBTQ* inclusion through
policy, programming and public awareness. The visit included an LGBTQ* Inclusion training
with coaches and administrators, a closed-door meeting with student-athlete support
staff to discuss climate and best practices, and a student-athlete session addressing
how to champion respect on teams and around campus.
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As part of the America East Conference, the Stony Brook Department of Athletics is
partnered with You Can Play, a project aimed to ensure the safety and inclusion of
all who participate in sports, including LGBTQ* athletes, coaches and fans. During
the 2016–2017 season, the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee has hosted You Can Play
Nights at Men’s Basketball, Women’s Basketball and Men’s Soccer games. At the You
Can Play events, SAAC members partner with organizations on campus, including LGBTA,
GQA, StandUP and LGBTQ* Services to encourage fans to sign the Stony Brook You Can
Play pledge and wear rainbow ribbons during the game to show their support and spread
respect.
Cross-Cultural Mentoring
- Through program and faculty advising, USG trainings, etc., facilitate more opportunities for intersectional programming across groups to reach wider audiences. An example of such would be working with the International Student Organization (ISO) to empower them to be a unifying council to bring together and advocate for all international students and aim to break down silos in programming. This could exist in the form of a grant program in which groups could apply for funds to assist with putting on cross-cultural programming.
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Vice Provost Jun Liu is managing an International Student Success Task Force that
is operating within a short timeframe to develop a set of integrated actions to better
serve our international student community. This item will be added to the task force’s
items to be considered. $50,000
has been allocated to support task force recommendations.
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The Office of Global Affairs is holding a forum on “Intercultural Communication:
Understanding Our Global Campus” on March 1, 2017, and a forum on “Understanding Chinese
International Students and Helping Them Succeed” on April 12, 2017.
- Increase marketing and promotion of existing resources (e.g., English Pals, iCafeInternational Student Success Workshops, Academic Advising, Visa and Immigration Services) and emphasize these resources across numerous touchpoints with students. Ensure student leaders beyond International Student Ambassadors, including Commuter Assistants and Resident Assistants, are aware of these resources to help connect students. The VIS website has become the entry point for all things related to immigration issues and has been marketed widely to the campus community. Many other existing resources are being added on a regular basis to the Diversity Plan website, which is marketed to the campus community at least twice a semester. The Offices of the Provost and Student Affairs will seek additional ways to promote such services.
- Explore strategies and/or incentives to increase attendance and involvement at iCafeInternational Student Success workshops. Dean Liu is managing a task force that has a short timeframe to develop a set of integrated actions to better serve our international student community. This item will be added to the task force’s items to be considered.
- Expand English Pal Program to include a buddy/mentor system beyond language enhancement. Mentoring model for international students might be similar to SAAB, to help students with personal and professional development, retention and success. Include mentoring opportunities at International Orientation. Dean Liu is managing a task force that is operating within a short timeframe to develop a set of integrated actions to better serve our international student community. This item will be added to the task force’s items to be considered.
- Facilitate events/focus groups to encourage cross-cultural dialogue and networking (not necessarily new events, but modifying existing events to offer this aspect, e.g., Festival of Lights). The Office of Multicultural Affairs will work with event organizers to determine ways to enhance dialogue at our cultural events. USG’s newly created Director of Diversity Affairs could assist in this effort.
- Increase faculty trainings and 101 instructor development on supporting multilingual student success and facilitating cross-cultural dialogue and connections. Implemented for all First Year Seminar 101 instructors and First Year Seminar 102 faculty.
Pathways and Mentoring in Sciences
- Create an inventory and conduct review of current pipeline programs (number of students served, target populations, funding and staffing, obstacles to increasing enrollments). Leads of the pipeline programs have been asked to evaluate the programs and to document the impact of their programs, potential for improvement and possible obstacles.
- Expand and fund existing pipeline initiatives, which most directly support increasing the enrollment of underrepresented students.
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Provide $15,000 to WISE, I-STEM and the Center for Inclusive Education to support
a Mentoring Program Community Building Workshop for 100 mentees (first two years WISE
Honors students) and 25 mentors (students in last year of WISE Honors Program or female
graduate students).
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Provide $15,000 to develop and implement a course on Leadership and Mentoring in
the STEM Disciplines for female graduate students in STEM disciplines (pilot offering
to 50 students).
- Expand and fund the existing CSTEP Summer Bridge Program as a conditional admission
program supported by year-round advising and tutoring. Provide $25,000 to add additional students to the Summer Bridge Program.
Admissions and Financial Aid
- Incorporate diversity and inclusion messaging in undergraduate and graduate materials.
In progress: As
an example, Stony Brook’s full-page entry in the recent Newsday college and university supplement focused
exclusively on our diversity efforts. - Expand recruitment efforts with regional veterans groups, Native American students and other groups as determined by Enrollment Planning and Management. Among other efforts, the Office of Government and Community Affairs partnered with Admissions to support the annual Long Island Latino Teachers Association conferences for male and female high school students. $3,000 was allocated for this from Community Affairs and the Office of the President.
- Conduct a review of financial aid information in current recruitment brochures and website. This is done annually.
- Review current aid and scholarship levels and unmet need of underrepresented students. By repurposing existing funds and adding $50,000 in new funds, approximately $200,000 in additional money will be used for scholarships for URM students. The expectation is that this will yield an additional 25–35 students.
- Increase enrollment of underrepresented freshmen to 350–400 through increased scholarship. $50,000 in additional money was added to recruitment activities for URM students. These include additional visits to targeted schools, campus overnights for admitted students, additional admitted student receptions, and a call campaign for admitted students. To date, we have seen over 200 more applications from Black students than last year and over 400 applications from Latino students. Yield efforts will be critical. The Office of Multicultural Affairs has solicited student assistance and yield work will involve currently enrolled students who have already agreed to work with staff on yield development. Additionally, $250,000 has been added to the base funding for the EOP/AIM program.
- Promote tour guide openings to URM students through key offices and programs, and
competitive
compensation. In progress and ongoing. Outreach is currently conducted through EOP, Dean of Students/OMA, Career Center and CSTEP. Fall 2016 tour guide staff was diverse and included four Black, four Latino, four Asian and four White students along with international and other students of various national origins. - Enhance transfer recruitment efforts with local community colleges by establishing relationships with access programs and multicultural student organizations at two-year campuses. The Office of Admissions works closely with area community colleges. As an example, this past fall the Suffolk CC African American Student Organization sponsored a Student Diversity Conference and Stony Brook recruitment and admissions staff attended. SBU has hosted the males of color student club from Kingsboro CC in Brooklyn and provided sessions on how to prepare to transition to a four-year school.
- Develop a larger photo and video library and utilize new multimedia elements in recruitment materials and include in Happenings, on the news site, via social platforms, etc. $20,000 allocated for external photographer/videographer to capture relevant imagery that can be used by all campus offices.
- Increase visibility of Native American students through website and social media. Will be part of development of photo/video library for use in all campus communications.
- Establish University liaison for outreach efforts, including efforts with Long Island tribal communities. The Chief Diversity Officer will help to establish liaison relationships. Liaisons have been established with tribal council members, social workers and guidance counselors in the Shinnecock and Unkechaug communities. Admissions workshops and a Native American Scholarship program is offered to Southampton and Center Moriches school districts with scholarships available to tribal members in other districts.
Graduate/Postdoc
Pathways and Mentoring
- Provide $7,500 in matching funds to Science Works, a grant-funded SBU initiative to provide graduate students with internships and career training as a means of providing STEM PhD students with skills to prepare them for positions inside and outside of academia.
- Establish a mentoring program between faculty of color and minority medical students, with regular meetings (at least 2x per semester). SBU SOM SNMA Chapter has support from School of Medicine (SOM) leadership to plan an event that will facilitate mentoring relationships with URM SOM faculty and students. Additionally, the SOM Faculty Diversity Advisory Council (FDAC), in an effort to build community among URM faculty, has planned a faculty “Meet and Greet” to be held in late March, 2017 that will include a call for volunteers for medical student mentors.
- Improve the POD mentoring program. Currently in SOM, each student is part of a POD, where they have an assigned faculty advisor and two or three fourth-year students. The POD meets once per semester and students meet individually with the faculty advisor once per semester. SNMA students and SOM administration are working together to determine ways to better utilize the PODS mentoring program or to develop alternatives that will assist students who are at risk of struggling academically, socially or emotionally.
- Develop pipelines from undergraduate programs for URM students to the School of Medicine (e.g., new partnership with SUNY-Old Westbury).
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In 2016, the SOM was the recipient of a Stony Brook University Presidential Mini-Grant
for Departmental Diversity to establish the SB SOM Pre-medical Access to the Clinical
Experience (PACE) Program. The program accepted ten (10) Stony Brook students (1-junior;
8-seniors and 1-graduate
student). This intensive six-week program prepared students for medical school by
providing clinical and research opportunities with SB faculty members, along with
relevant workshops. Stony Brook graduate and medical students and faculty facilitated
the workshops. A second cohort will run in
fall 2017.
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A proposal has been developed for the establishment of a pipeline program for minority
physicians and other healthcare providers, and philanthropic funds are being sought
to support it.
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Stony Brook Medicine (SBM) is preparing a mailing regarding the SOM and School of
Dentistry to be sent to Chief Academic Officers at historically black colleges and
universities.
- Develop a university-wide, highly prestigious and selective Presidential Fellows program, funding 1–2 new postdocs/year, with a pathway to becoming faculty. Seeking outside philanthropic support ($125,000 per fellow per year) for this initiative. Will provide seed funding if successful in philanthropic quest.
- Develop programs that support the creation of pathways to faculty and leadership positions.
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Will offer professional development, mentoring and network opportunities for women
in STEM fields to better equip them for leadership roles through the newly created
Women’s Leadership in STEM Program offered by the SBU Center for Corporate Education.
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Host a summer biannual Preparing Future Faculty Workshop at Stony Brook. Design and
implement a workshop for promising URM scholars (late-stage doctoral students and
postdoctoral scholars — or even junior faculty elsewhere). The program will provide
15–20 participants with hands-on activities, panel discussions, participant presentations
and individual mentoring on all aspects of the job search process in academia, as
well as how to succeed in the teaching, research and service aspects of a faculty
job. Participants will have the opportunity to network with current SBU faculty and
will be recruited actively from programs aimed at URM students and postdocs, such
as NSF AGEP (Advancing Graduate Education and the Professoriate) and NIH IRACDA (Institutional
Research and Academic Career Development) programs at universities across the country.
$50,000 has been allocated for the pilot conference. Departments should assist with
support of travel for target participants.
Recruitment
- Evaluate the collaborative Diversity Outreach Coordinator position, and examine whether this model can be expanded to other research centers and institutes on campus. The School of Medicine Administration is currently working to create a job description for an administrative support position for the HSC Diversity Office. Following work with the Center for Inclusive Education (CIE) staff, this position can be expanded to include serving as a liaison between the SOM, CIE and other research centers and institutes on the Stony Brook University campus. The job is expected to be filled in mid-2017.
- Look for ways to combine recruiting effort with School of Medicine and Dental School. The Discover Dental School Summer Scholars’ program is an extensive five-day tuition-based course for pre-dental students. Approximately three scholarships are awarded, with one being designated to promote diversity within the program.
- Initiate contact with non-profit organizations that strive to increase recruitment of minority students in medical school, such as Dr. Lynne Holden’s Mentoring in Medicine (MIM) and Medical Pathways Program (MPP). A team from SBM has been in discussion with Dr. Holden to determine ways to work together on pathway programs like the MIM and MPP programs. They will attend Dr. Holden’s programs this spring to get a better understanding of ways the organizations might collaborate. Additionally, students involved in the MPP will come to Stony Brook for a one-day mini-recruitment fair. SBM leaders are also working on grants that will help to offset the costs of supporting medical and health-related pathways for URMs at Stony Brook School of Medicine.
- Find and participate in health profession fairs that target minority populations. Information regarding the SBU Discover Dental School Summer Scholar’s Program, as well as SOM health care offerings, will be provided at the Latino Medical Student Association (LMSA) and Student National Medical Association (SNMA) annual and regional conferences. SBU SOM students will represent SBU at the LMSA and the SNMA conferences. As a member of the National Medical Association (NMA) and active participant in the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and American Society for Microbiology (ASM), Dr. Jennie Williams will assist in making connections between URM students and SBM.
- Strengthen ties to other AGEP, IMSD, etc., programs for URM graduate students, to make sure they have full information about postdoc opportunities here, including those specifically targeting URM students, such as IRACDA and AGEP-T. The SOM and the CIE are working together to develop ways to share resources, programs and best practices so that the CIE mentoring and pathway activities are expanded to potential SOM and SOD students. The goal would be to expand Dr. Jennie Williams’ work in mentoring students who are interested in cancer research and a career in STEM, and the CIE work in increasing the numbers of students from underrepresented groups in biomedical research who complete PhD, MD or MD/PhD degrees in these fields. CIE programs like the AGEP-T FRAME, Bridge to the Doctorate Fellowship, GEM Fellowship, IRACDA NY-CAPS, REU Site: Nanotechnology for Health, Energy & the Environment and Turner Fellowship are being used as models for improving mentoring of students, training of mentors and developing a sense of community.
- Incorporate diversity and inclusion messaging in undergraduate and graduate materials. In progress: As an example, Stony Brook’s full-page entry in the recent Newsday college and university supplement focused exclusively on our diversity efforts.
- Increase funding for recruitment activities, to allow for more participation in national meetings and trips to schools with significant URM undergraduate populations, and to allow for increased activity outside of STEM fields, the CIE’s current recruiting focus. An additional $10,000 has been allocated to enhance non-STEM recruitment efforts at CIE. Additionally, $8,000 has been allocated to support the conference fee for 23 graduate students to attend the University of Waterloo’s EQUALS Conference this May. It is focused on pathways of academic success in STEM with an explicit focus on gender equity and its intersections with other identity markers. UW is a fellow IMPACT 10x10x10 HeForShe partner.
- Increase TA/GA stipends and/or increase number of Turner Fellowships available. Research shows that in choosing where to attend graduate school, our URM students pay more attention, compared to the student body as a whole, to the size of the financial offer. $50,000 of base funding has been allocated for the Turner Fellowship program in an effort to maintain current levels.
Employees
Training
- Hold R.E.D.I. project seminars for faculty/staff. In Progress. To date, over 500 staff and faculty have been trained. The six-hour seminar is offered twice per week; the first Training of Facilitators happened in late February, 2017 and should expand the number of offerings. There will be an effort made in the coming months to do seminars in the evening for afternoon and nightshift workers. $100,000 has been set aside in both AY 17 and AY 18 to accomplish this effort to expose and manage hidden bias.
- Have admissions staff and UPD participate staff in R.E.D.I. project seminars. While all staff and faculty have been asked to take the seminar, special attention will be paid this year to making sure that key areas, such as admissions and UPD, participate.
- Explore additional online training module for faculty/staff; e.g., DiversityEdu. We will first be offering the R.E.D.I. seminars and training of facilitators before branching out into online work.
- Engage patrol officers or community police representatives in additional University trainings, such as R.E.D.I. project, Diversity Fellows, etc. During 2016, all 64 sworn members of the UPD were trained in Fair and Impartial Policing, a national implicit bias awareness training program. Several officers will also attend the R.E.D.I .seminar.
- Continue/finalize development for R.E.D.I. project train-the-trainer model. First Training of Facilitators took place in February, 2017. Will allow for more offerings of the R.E.D.I. training.
- Provide training to faculty about the role of mindset in success, “WISE” feedback, and other research-based techniques for effective mentoring. The Chief Diversity Officer will work with the Office of the Provost to determine how best to offer such training and how it dovetails with the R.E.D.I. seminar.
Building Community
- Combat negative stereotyping of SBU in neighboring communities by promoting campus
diversity as a
community resource. Enhance community outreach by:
- Adding a pull-down menu to the Stonybrook.edu opening website that outlines services and opportunities provided by the campus to community. Office of Community Services will build content.
- Creating a standing group of diverse faculty/staff volunteers (members can roll over each year) who lecture and describe research in local schools, libraries, museums and galleries on current topics of interest. The Office of Community Services will engage faculty and staff to do community events.
- Following the model of businesses and corporations, establish an Employee Family Outing
Day (e.g., on campus fields) held once a year where faculty of diverse backgrounds
will be able to meet each other informally/socially. Establish themed programs for
faculty members and their families to encourage networking and social opportunities
across various faculty groups and to improve campus climate (e.g., at athletic events,
Staller events, Red Club Simons Cafe events or around activities; e.g., baseball,
bowling, walking, biking, etc). The Office of Community Services will take the lead in planning a Communiversity Day
that is open to SBU employees and their families and the neighboring community. If
feasible, the event will be held in Fall 2017 or spring 2018.
Communications and Marketing
- Ensure the value placed on diversity is evidenced in all our external communications (e.g., local and campus-level websites) as well as the development of promotional materials that specifically demonstrate the priority that SBU places on diversity at the faculty/staff levels. This will enhance our visibility as a leader in AAU/APLU/SUNY and accrediting bodies of our active role in developing and implementing innovative strategies to improve diversity in the professoriate. Current efforts on campus to support this goal (i.e., NSF AGEP-T, NIH IRACDA, Howard Hughes) should also be leveraged and highlighted. Communications and Marketing is working with various campus offices and colleges to ensure that diversity is represented in our internal and external facing communications.
Faculty Recruitment
- Establish and connect with a broad network of professional organizations with defined diversity constituents and require that all search committees contact such networks during the search process. Provost and Senior VP for Health Sciences to mandate use of these recruitment options. Chief Diversity Officer will assist with developing the network.
- Provide funds to support “Opportunity Hires,” which will be an active effort to recruit underrepresented faculty and postdoctoral trainees from various pools, including current adjunct/visiting professors, collaborators in industry who are looking to transition into academia and existing networks that have referred candidates in the past. $350,000 has been allocated.
- Cultivate relationships with diversity-centered professional societies/organizations and minority institutions (HBCUs, MSIs) by maintaining regular contact through invites to our public events, conferences, workshops and announcement of open positions at SBU. A database of faculty diversity recruitment and retention resources will be created/maintained and made accessible to departments/programs. Where opportunity exists, encourage units to work with President/Provost office to invite a faculty member from a minority institution to attend a campus event; i.e., offer to pay or defray travel/accommodation cost. During the visit, promote SBU recruitment interest. $25,000 has been allocated to defray travel and advertisement costs. Chief Diversity Officer will manage the funds and help to make the connections.
- Conduct the R.E.D.I. seminar for chairs, search committee members and Promotion and Tenure committee members. The Provost and Senior VP for Health Sciences will request that all chairs and Promotion and Tenure committee members take the R.E.D.I. seminar and will encourage search committee members to do so.
- Biannually post omnibus ad for post docs to ensure that the opportunity to apply for these positions is widely known. $20,000 has been allocated from the Office of the President.
- Post an annual omnibus ad for lecturers. $10,000 has been allocated.
Staff Recruitment
- Increase hiring of staff with diverse backgrounds.
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Human Resources met with Suffolk County Department of Labor, Licensing & Consumer
Affairs, and will be inviting Timothy Carew, Labor Specialist and Disability Resource
Coordinator, to further discuss SC Disability Employment Initiative Project.
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West Campus Human Resources met with YAI and is working on developing partnership/volunteer
opportunities for their clients (people with developmental disabilities).
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Human Resources is working with Brentwood Library on a jobs presentation.
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HR (WC, UH and LISVH) and OIDE are assessing current outreach being conducted.
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Working with Direct Employers on our microsite platforms to create higher visibility
and brand to show our commitment to diversity, veterans and people with disabilities. $15,000
has been allocated.
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LISVH HR, WC HRS and OIDE participated in the 3rd Annual Veteran Career Fair & Expo
at SCCC Brentwood Campus on Friday, October 14. The fair was open to Veterans only in the
morning and to the public in the evening.
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HR and OIDE will continue to utilize the many services offered by SC One-Stop Employment
Center and participating at job fairs that SC host at public libraries throughout
Suffolk County.
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Identify venues to conduct off-site job fairs within the community, create an estimated
budget and identify staffing resources needed. Human Resources Services has allocated
$1,200 for fees.
Retention
- Have regularly scheduled forums and invite experts to give talks on a broad range of diversity issues such as implicit bias, campus climate, work-life balance policies, etc. Human Resources, the Chief Diversity Officer and other campus staff will work to bring in occasional speakers on these topics.
- Offer monetary support and encouragement to faculty to attend both discipline-specific scientific meetings and skills development/leadership programs that will enhance their professional development. Encourage unit leadership (i.e., deans, chairs) to seek opportunities and to encourage participation. $50,000 has been allocated to this, and deans and departments may supplement where possible.
- Encourage faculty to participate in diversity-specific gatherings in their professional meetings. Generate a database of such meetings and make it accessible/available to minority faculty. Such interactions will generate networks of scholars and will possibly lead to additional pools of potential diverse recruitments. Chief Diversity Officer will determine best course of action.
- Implement and ensure continuity of department- or discipline-specific mandatory mentoring as outlined in the Provost’s guidelines. Encourage diverse faculty to serve as mentors to ensure a range of mentoring/advising perspectives and to promote networking and community with new faculty of all backgrounds. Provost and Senior VP Health Sciences will promote within their areas. Additionally, the Faculty Diversity Advisory Council on the East Campus is working on holding more events for faculty to get to know one another.
- Increase retention of staff with diverse backgrounds.
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HR is working on developing a calendar of outreach events.
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HR is working on enhancing the onboarding process for new employees. This will include
assessment as to new employee perceptions of workplace climate, diversity, equity
and inclusion.
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The working group has researched best practices, updated the survey questions currently
used for the Hospital HR and implemented a Likert Scale in order to make the analysis of
results easier to understand.
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The working group has documented the current onboarding process used in the Hospital
HR, with the guidance from the Hospital HR Generalist currently responsible for the
process and has drafted an enhanced process for consideration.
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HR has completed a review and documentation of the current onboarding process and
is working on the exit interview process review, including developing a process for
addressing issues presented.
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HR working on adding relevant diversity/implicit bias training into current mandatory
training modules for WC, Stony Brook Medicine and LISVH.
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HRs are working on adding relevant diversity/implicit bias training in the mandatory
training for members of search committees and other mandatory training modules for
WC, SBM and LISVH.
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HRs are committed to having their employees take the R.E.D.I. seminar. The Working
Group members will register for the R.E.D.I. Seminar.
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Key HR staff member attended the SHRM Diversity and Inclusion Conference. This conference
focuses on best practices and actionable tools for implementing a forward-thinking
strategy that will build positive change in the workforce.
- Implement a process that will assist departments with the transition of new employees to WC, SBM and LISVH. $40,000 has been allocated for this effort.
Building Community
- Develop BROOKOLOGY, a social connection platform for campus faculty and staff. The gateway website would include links to on-campus entertainment and social interaction opportunities as well as real-time communication options such as MeetUp, Twitter and Facebook. Links to CollegiateLink for community service opportunities and the Welcome Wagon from HR would be included. Internal marketing to drive awareness will be needed. The Office of Community Relations is working with Office of Communications and Marketing staff to develop the webpage architecture. $10,000 has been allocated for assistance with the development and marketing of this project.
- Hire full-time community relations coordinator to help manage increased outreach opportunities for students, faculty and staff with community groups and schools. Incumbent to assist with posting of community service projects on CollegiateLink, planning and organizing special events, and creating brief write-up for post-project promotion. $16,000 has been allocated to hire an intern to assist the Office of Community Relations with developing community connection, maintaining Brookology and updating CollegiateLink.
- Connect with community-based organizations and non-profits; e.g., LIGALY, LILTA and
East Harlem Tutorial Program.
Provide faculty, students and staff with volunteer opportunities to share their expertise and studies to improve community groups. The Office of Community Relations has begun to develop these relationships and to seek out volunteer opportunities. - Add an additional staff member to the Center for Inclusive Education to expand activities in community building, professional development activities and mentoring to professional and non-STEM doctoral students. To be considered in conjunction with the 2017 or 2018 budget process.
Communications
- Communicate progress on implementation of the 2016 Stony Brook University Plan for Equity, Inclusion and Diversity and make results available to the campus community through town hall meetings and other communications. Media relations team to develop a media alert inviting student media for first town hall meetings on Nov. 30, Dec. 2 and Dec. 14. Create specific messaging and promotion across channels: Web, Happenings, collateral, social media, video. Website created for all diversity plan materials along with FAQ section, promotional materials created for town halls and events; ongoing work to be done to support getting out the message to campus community on progress made to date.
- Develop one cohesive statement/message that can be used as the boilerplate on all diversity-related communications. Continue to share this message with other working groups and diversity leaders and encourage use in respective materials. Implemented.
- Create a one-stop shop for everything diversity online. Modify stonybrook.edu/diversity to include a description or link to diversity related initiatives and events. Encourage use of this site as the one place to go to for updates on diversity efforts. Implemented.
- Add a direct link from University calendar to collect events. To be implemented.
- Reach out to working groups and other groups to have site included in marketing and communications. Ongoing.
- Update events site with diversity-related programs/events. Ongoing.
- Promote the R.E.D.I. project, the first program developed internally by University staff, including testimonials and post-discussion group feedback. Create specific messaging and promotion across channels: website, collateral, social media, emails targeted to different audiences, in-person communications by Robbye Kinkade, video. Implemented.
- Op-ed/blog content authored by President, Provost and campus thought leaders. Ongoing.
- Secure media coverage in targeted publications. Ongoing (see recent Newsday supplement on inclusion at SBU).
- Work with the other working groups to promote and communicate initiatives as they are approved and funded. Ongoing.
- Refine how we promote the research and scholarly accomplishments and awards of our faculty and staff. Ongoing review and promotion.
- Work with Provost Office and Research to capture accomplishments in a more consolidated manner. Create specific messaging and promotion across internal and external channels: Web, Happenings, collateral, social media. Team effort has begun.
Facilities
- For all new construction and renovations, restrooms should be designed to achieve greater privacy, adhering to best practices, and should include at least one gender-neutral restroom in each building. All single-occupancy restrooms should be designated as gender-neutral. Restroom signage should incorporate best practices with respect to accessibility and gender inclusivity. Ongoing.
- The President’s Americans with Disabilities (ADA) Advisory Committee should continue
to address physical ADA-related issues and work to spread education and awareness,
and also inform/work with the Facilities Working Group moving forward. Over this academic year, the Committee’s role and place in our overall diversity and
ADA-related efforts have been under review. The Committee’s structure, goals and membership
have all been revised to better serve our campus. Moving forward, the Committee will:
1) provide feedback and recommendations related to the ADA and physical accessibility
on campus; and 2) assess, educate and promote awareness in the SBU community on issues
of inclusion, equal opportunity and accessibility. The Committee will maintain its
$15,000 budget to be used on activities that support its mission and carry out its
goals. Smaller critical maintenance projects (e.g., automatic door openers, curb cuts,
etc.) that traditionally have been funded with the Committee’s budget
will be coordinated and funded under the auspices of the Office of Administration. - The ADA and Technology Committee should continue to work on efforts related to Web/technology accessibility. As part of our ADA and Technology efforts, a small initial working group has been put together to look at ways to improve messaging and resources related to online accessibility for faculty and staff. This group will be considering the impact of emerging technologies for faculty and staff and will assess online accessibility from a student perspective. The Committee is also looking at ways to strengthen accessibility-related protocols and guidelines in the procurement process.
Assessment
- Stony Brook is participating in the Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) faculty survey, sponsored by SUNY in spring 2017. The item bank for diversity items has been requested. Funds needed: administration supported by SUNY in 2017. Implemented: Survey was sent out in March 2017 by the Office of Provost.
- Monitoring climate for staff is under review, but the committee expects to recommend monitoring through a periodic survey. Possible instruments include the Noel-Levitz College Employee Satisfaction Survey (CESS) and the Chronicle of Higher Education Best Places to Work survey. $30,000 has been allocated for a staff climate survey.
- Because the collection and reporting of race/ethnicity data is complex and effectively hides the diversity of some groups, especially individuals identifying as African American or Black and American Indian and Alaskan Native, the Office of Institutional Research in conjunction with Communications and Marketing should prepare a primer for a lay audience to explain how diversity of Stony Brook community is more expansive than these statistics demonstrate. To be implemented in 2017.
- As part of the effort to promote diversity of perspectives, thought and understanding, examination of learning outcomes in areas of diversity will be relevant. The Assessment Committee will examine developments in the Stony Brook Curriculum for undergraduates and recommends that the University continue current practices to monitor success rates (admission, yield, retention, graduation, promotion) by gender and race/ethnicity. Ongoing.
- The institution should develop policies for internal use and external release of diversity-related data to improve institutional effectiveness and monitor progress while protecting individual privacy and confidentiality. For example, under what circumstances could a list of students or employees be released to an administrative or academic office by gender? By race/ethnicity? By sexual orientation? What provisions to protect privacy should be established? The Office of Institutional Research is working on this guidance.
- Measure progress on implementation of the 2016 Stony Brook University Plan for Equity, Inclusion and Diversity and make results available to the campus community. Will utilize student, faculty and staff survey instruments to do baseline assessments.
- Continue to track the data regarding the diversity of our students and employees. Ongoing.
- Partner with other committees to identify outcomes and appropriate metrics for all other objectives in the plan. Ongoing.
Other Initiatives
- Hire a Chief Diversity Officer. $220,000 has been allocated from base funding. LeManuel "Lee" Bitsóí, EdM, EdD was named Chief Diversity Officer effective July 28, 2017.
- Develop a Preferred Name Policy. The policy has been developed and instituted. It says that preferred names will be allowed wherever possible and that legal names will be used when required by law. Systems changes are ongoing and will be done in priority order as funds and staff time allow. Key systems are to be modified in 2017.
- Upgrade ID card printing systems to allow the preferred name to be printed on the front of the ID card and the legal name on the back. $10,000 allocated for ID card machine upgrade.
- Continue efforts to meet HeForShe Impact 10x10x10 Champion commitments related to gender equity on campus. $10,000 has been allocated to support a graduate assistant and other activity.
Diversity Plan Working Groups
MEMBER LIST • March 28, 2017
Assessment/Evaluation
Braden Hosch
Patricia Aceves
Diane Fischer
Steve Riccobono
Jenille Johnson
Carrie-Ann Miller-Engel
Ahmed Belazi
Iris Fineberg
Bonita London-Thompson
Tayisha St. Vil
Catherine Scott
Ambika Mukhi
Sandy Janssen
Karian Wright
Ayyan Zubair
Communications/Media Relations
Susanne Walsh
Alida Almonte
Michael Gasparino
Joan Dickinson
Shaquille Cheris
External/Internal Community including UPD
Joan Dickinson
Larry Zacarese
Jaliel Amador
Jeff Barnett
Spencer Busia
Naveen Mallangada
Emily Snyder
Maria Sukhanova
Chris Tanaka
Traci Thompson
Rabbi Joseph Topek
Cheryl Hamilton
Manuel Cortes
Chris D’Orso
Regina Marshall
Chris Murray
Facilities
Dallas Bauman
Robert Megna
Glenn Dausch
Lorre Cahill
Louis Rispoli
Chris Tanaka
Robert Lenahan
Terence Harrigan
Faculty
Stella Tsirka
Carol Carter
Mersema Abate
Andrei Antonenko
Julia Bear
Mary Bernero
Ellen Broselow
Monica Bugallo
Carlos Colosqui
Liliana M. Davalos
Carlos De Los Santos
Laurie Krug
Roy Lacey
Bonita London-Thompson
Kamazima Lwiza
Gary Marker
Nina Maung-Gaona
Yizhi Meng
Rosalba Perna
Rowan Phillips
Robert Rizzo
Dror Varolin
Carlos Vidal
Harold Walker
Jennie Williams
Yuanyuan Yang
Elmer Flores
Graduate, Post-Doc and Professional Students
Jennie Williams
Nancy Goroff
Emmanuel Asare
Tonya Bellamy-Bisson
Emilie Bouda
Isaac Carrico
Carelle Cherebin
Sheri Clark
Kathleen Flint Ehm
Grace Gathungu
John Peter Gergen
Dilip Gersappe
Robert Harrison
Vanessa Lynn
Allison McLarty
Ann Nasti
Larissa Pamen
Melissa Sims
Yalile Suriel
Karian Wright
Bonita London-Thomspon
Non-teaching Staff and Human Resource Services
Antonio Ferrantino
Lin Wu Tiedemann
Jennifer Rossler
Cindy Brodsky
Marilyn Haig
Denise Muscarella
Undergraduate Students
Rachelle Germana
Jerrold Stein
Amanda Alicea
Ahmed Belazi
Chris Tanaka
Christine Noonan
Deborah Serling
Derrick Wegner
Dominique Wolff
Jamie Puglin
Jarvis Watson
Judith Burke-Berhannan
Judy Jaquez
Kimberly Dixon
Regina Marshall
Sydney Gaglio
Dorothy Corbett
Kyle Capobianco-Hogan
Yu-wan Wang
Zebulon Miletsky
Stacey Horath