Anti-Racism Task Force Update
Posted March 5, 2021
March 5, 2021
Students,
This week’s update on the advancement of Anti-Racism Task Force (ARTF) recommendations centers on training. We are focused on enhancing access to and the utilization of high-quality diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI) and anti-racism programming that has been facilitated and recorded, as well as the creation of new opportunities that encourage and guide our reflection, education, and growth as individuals and as a campus community.
Training
In August 2020, NCCJ St. Louis, a leading provider of diversity education programs in the St. Louis region, facilitated diversity trainings for campus administrators, including the Extended Chancellor’s Council, Provost’s Senior Staff and Deans Council. We look forward to continuing to build our relationship with NCCJ as we look ahead.
In fall 2020, the Office of the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs launched the Immersive Meaningful Practices for Accountable Campus Transformation (IMPACT) Academy, which offers workshops providing faculty and staff with comprehensive tools and resources to assist with the successful utilization and incorporation of anti-racist and anti-bias practices in the campus community.
SIUE’s Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation Campus Center, in partnership with the Office of Online and Education Outreach, offered this fall and is currently offering again this spring, a three-part interactive workshop series, “So You Want to Be an Anti-Racist?” The goal of the series is for community members to have the knowledge and skills they need to dismantle hierarchies of human value on SIUE’s campus and in our local communities, and to understand how racism affects all of our daily lives.
The SIUE Division of Student Affairs has developed a tentative training plan for its professional and student staff for FY22. It will offer a “Choose Your Own Adventure” style opportunity to support identifying how and when to offer content and dialogue around matters of DEI in a developmentally-scaled, role-specific manner. They are considering a pilot of the training program at the Student Affairs Mini-Conference in July 2021.
In an effort to ensure that DEI training efforts for staff, faculty and students are coordinated across the University, Dr. Jessica Harris, Vice Chancellor for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, has convened a DEI Training Working Group that will build upon these existing efforts. The working group will meet bi-weekly, with the goal of developing an infrastructure for a University-wide DEI training hub, offering ongoing educational opportunities through various modalities to campus and community stakeholders. It is important to note that campus efforts will also develop in alignment with the broader goals for DEI training across the SIU System.
We are proud to serve with you.
Randy Pembrook, Chancellor
Denise Cobb, Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
Jessica Harris, Vice Chancellor for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
Rachel Stack, Vice Chancellor for Advancement
Morris Taylor, Vice Chancellor for Administration
Jeffrey Waple, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs
