Anti-Racism at SIUE

February 19, 2021

Campus Community,

We recognize that there is some confusion in our community regarding current and future actions pertaining to the Anti-Racism Task Force (ARTF) recommendations. While we prioritized action on a subset of items, we intend to continue work on all the recommended actions. Some recommendations will need coordination with the System and have a more complex implementation. Others require more clarity regarding implementation and outcomes, and we are using the groups already in place (e.g., curriculum committees, enrollment and retention committees) to establish the best path forward.

Anti-Racism at SIUE Dashboard

In an effort to provide on-going updates on the status of ARTF recommendations, we will launch a dashboard to track actions in progress and those underway. Members of our University Marketing and Communications team are in the process of creating the dashboard. Once developed, the dashboard will be placed on the Anti-Racism at SIUE website and will be routinely updated in a timely fashion.

Quality Initiative

We want to emphasize that the University’s Quality Initiative (QI) for the Higher Learning Commission, our institutional accreditor, will focus on Black student retention and graduation. All ARTF action items that align with this focus will be rolled into the QI proposal. We have committed at least a $500,000 budget to the QI. We will also have the added public accountability measures brought by making it our QI. We are working with the goal of sharing a draft with the ARTF Core Council in the coming weeks and at the Diversity Summit in March to get more input from the University. 

A summary of the purpose and goals of the QI follow:

Purpose: To acknowledge structural racism as a predictor of educational and career outcomes among Black students and to build a multi-level program designed to enhance their daily experiences by reducing incidence, prevalence, and impact of minority stress and cultural trauma perpetuated by the institution. The interventions designed for this QI will directly address students, and indirectly address faculty and staff concerns as they may be currently impeding progress toward the goals stated below. 

Goals:  

1. Support Black students along the educational pipeline by developing a pathway for their enrollment at SIUE 
2. Improve retention and graduation rates of Black students at SIUE by achieving year-to-year increases in retention, and by increasing the six-year graduation rate 
3. Develop and nurture pathways to graduate and professional school and/or employment for Black students graduating from SIUE 
4. Provide on-going diversity, equity, and inclusion education, training and resources, through various modalities to support faculty and staff self-awareness and professional development  

University Marketing & Communications/East St. Louis Center

In response to the recommendation made by ARTF Subcommittee #1 to hire a “A full time client manager/communications specialist devoted to the East St. Louis Center,” the Chancellor’s Office has approved a graduate assistantship position in University Marketing and Communications to assist with promotional and marketing efforts for the East St. Louis Center. This will allow UMC Media Specialist Patricia Merritt to more completely focus on East St. Louis Center success stories and initiatives. The GA will not only supply support for the Center and DEI initiatives, but also assume some responsibilities in UMC. The hiring process is in its initial stages. 

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