Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Inventory

DEI Inventory Review

 

Dr. Aswad Allen, Chief Diversity Officer, partnered with Dr. Damon A. Williams and a team of researchers with the Center for Strategic Diversity Leadership and Social Innovation to accelerate our efforts to achieve Inclusive Excellence at CSU San Marcos.

 

In Summer 2022 through the end of Fall 2022, Dr. Williams and his team conducted an external assessment of our institution’s DEI infrastructure. An Executive Summary summarizing the results of the assessment and corresponding recommendations is available to view below:

 

DEI Inventory Executive Summary Report

 

This initiative included:

 

• A comprehensive, campus-wide, Inclusive Excellence inventory of our programs, initiatives, resources, and tools specific to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). 
• A series of virtually facilitated Listening and Dialogue Sessions with CSUSM students, faculty, and staff. 
• Finally, several virtual Strategic Diversity Leadership Forums will be hosted to report on and interpret the findings of the project with faculty, staff, student, and administrative leadership.

This research will allow us to better understand our current state and offer a strong evidence-based foundation for us to build forward.

 

This initiative will help us better understand the diverse perspectives regarding DEI at CSUSM, establish an activity baseline for analysis and future tracking, and position us to take important steps—now and into the future—to improve the experience of all students, staff, and faculty at CSUSM.

 

Inclusive Excellence Inventory

All schools, colleges, and divisional areas of the university were invited and encouraged to complete and submit the strategic DEI inventory questionnaire.

 

(Note: All areas of the campus had representation for their units/departments/or divisions as identified by the leadership of that area. Each area identified a DEI Facilitator, and Cougar Team to help them complete submission)

 

• Gather comprehensive information regarding what CSUSM is "collectively" doing to advance DEI
• Determine to what degree these efforts are evidence-informed or evidenced-based
• Identify the various "outcomes" and areas of "impact" associated with these efforts

This project broadly defines diversity efforts as “any activity or program that promotes the active appreciation of all campus members in terms of their backgrounds, identities, and experiences, as constituted by gender, socioeconomic class, political perspective, age, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, disability, and language, among others, as well as any activity or program that brings together any of these aspects cross-sectionally.”

 

The inventory exercise asked for each school, college, and division to provide detailed information regarding DEI efforts that align with the following areas:

 

• Strategy & Infrastructure [School, College, Division Level]
• Strategy & Infrastructure [Departmental or Unit Level]
• Recruitment & Retention Initiatives
• Campus Climate & Inclusion Initiatives
• Preparing Students for a Diverse & Global World Initiatives
• Research & Scholarship on Topics of Diversity
• Opportunities to infuse Diversity & Inclusion into Current Efforts

Listening and Dialogue Sessions

 

Throughout the initiative, the CSDLSI Research Team hosted a series of online listening and dialogue sessions for current students, faculty, and staff. Those who were interested in sharing more about their lived experiences at CSUSM were invited to attend at least one of these sessions. Please note that all data gathered throughout this process remained confidential and secure, accessible only by Dr. Williams and the research team.

 

Listening and Dialogue Sessions Schedule

 

Strategic Diversity Leadership Virtual Forums

 

These virtual learning events were hosted by the OIE and the CSDLSI Research team to report on and interpret the findings of the initiative with faculty, staff, student, and administrative leadership.

 

Recording of Future of DEI Forum

 

Password: @dawphd

 

Accelerating Inclusive Excellence Report & Discussion

 

FAQs

• Why is this Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Inventory effort important?
  Because CSUSM has made inclusive excellence a core value in its new strategic plan, we are moving from inclusive excellence as a philosophy to inclusive excellence as an operational framework. Our next step specific to the DEI goal and inclusive excellence value involves connecting your stage one submissions with the deeper work required to build a robust DEI activity database. The Office of Inclusive Excellence (OIE) has engaged the services of the Center for Strategic Diversity Leadership and Social Innovation (CSDLSI) to guide these efforts.

  
  Ideally, this database (open to all CSUSM credentialed professionals) will be a high-functioning tool used to:

  • assess department, unit and division DEI efforts;
  • discover opportunity gaps and challenges with students, staff, faculty, administration, alumni and friends of CSUSM;
  • identify a clear strategic purpose, specific initiatives and governing entities for DEI (in support of our strategic goals);
  • implement DEI alignment within and across campus departments, units and divisions in support of student success; and
  • identify goals and metrics that will facilitate and measure progress.

  This will be a practical resource used to support your strategy and improve our outcomes.

• How is the DEI inventory different from past efforts?
  The goal in this effort is for us to improve our understanding, our ability to collaborate, and outcomes specific to DEI. This initiative is also designed to advance the next phase of our larger strategic implementation planning effort. Ultimately the data collected will be used to develop a robust DEI database (open to all CSUSM credentialed professionals) which will be a high-functioning tool used to:

   

  • assess department, unit and division DEI efforts;
  • discover opportunity gaps and challenges with students, staff, faculty, administration, alumni and friends of CSUSM;
  • identify a clear strategic purpose, specific initiatives and governing entities for DEI (in support of our strategic goals);
  • implement DEI alignment within and across campus departments, units and divisions in support of student success; and
  • identify goals and metrics that will facilitate and measure progress.
• What are the roles of the lead strategic plan submitter, Inclusive Excellence Champion, DEI Facilitator,and Cougar team? What is the relationship between them?

  The lead strategic plan submitter is a unit level designee dedicated to gathering and submitting information for the campus-wide strategic implementation planning process.

  The Inclusive Excellence Champion will be anywhere from 1-3 total individuals for all of the campus who will have broad overarching responsibility working with others to develop and share best practices about how to embed these values.

  The DEI Facilitator is a point person designated by their area’s Senior Leadership Member. The DEI facilitator is responsible for exclusively facilitating the completion of submitting DE&I Inventory information within their respective division, unit, or department in a timely manner.

  A Cougar Team is a small group of 2-3 leaders appointed by the Senior Leadership Member, school, or college in collaboration with the DEI facilitator to assist with ensuring the successful completion and submission of the strategic DEI Inventory. This team may be comprised of people with key knowledge of DEI programs, initiatives, policies, etc., within the school, college, or division, in addition to other strong leaders within the school, college, or division who may (or may not be) DEI content experts. To assist the Cougar Team with collecting information across numerous stakeholders in a given area, an optional Excel template containing the questions from the DEI Inventory instrument will be provided to Cougar Teams and may be circulated accordingly via a SharePoint link.

  The lead strategic plan submitter is responsible for fulfilling the initial step of the strategic plan implementation process and submitting related activities for each goal, objective, and value. The Office of Inclusive Excellence is facilitating mapping the strategic plan submissions that were reportedly related to the value of Inclusive Excellence to the DEI Inventory categories. OIE will provide a mapping spreadsheet to the DEI Facilitators for each area to assist them with connecting the strategic implementation plan submitted activities to the appropriate category in the DEI inventory. The DEI Facilitator will act as a project lead for their Cougar Team by convening and coordinating efforts in the collection of activities in their respective areas to submit to the DEI inventory. Once the DEI Inventory process is complete and the database has been developed, the Inclusive Excellence Champion will utilize the database as a tool to inform campus-wide strategic planning efforts related to the Inclusive Excellence value.

• What are the DEI inventory sections and categories?
  The DEI inventory instrument is divided up into the following 9 sections:

  • Section 1: Background
  • Section 2a: Strategy & Infrastructure [Division Level]
  • Section 2b: Strategy & Infrastructure [Departmental or Unit Level]
  • Section 3: Recruitment & Retention Initiatives
  • Section 4: Campus Climate & Inclusion Initiatives
  • Section 5: Affirming Diverse Identities and Community-Building Initiatives
  • Section 6: Preparing Students for a Diverse & Global World Initiatives
  • Section 7: Research & Scholarship on Topics of Diversity
  • Section 8: Opportunities to Infuse Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Into Current Efforts
  • Section 9: Open-Ended for Additional Information

  Within the instrument sections, the following are specific categories under which activities must be categorized and submitted under.

  • Recruitment & Retention Initiatives
  • Campus Climate & Inclusion Initiatives
  • Affirming Diverse Identities and Community-Building Initiatives
  • Preparing Students for a Diverse & Global World Initiatives
  • Research & Scholarship on Topics of Diversity
  • Opportunities to Infuse Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Into Current Efforts

  If you find that a program or initiative fits into more than one of the category sections, we ask you to decide which section it best aligns with based on its primary focus and mission and only enter the program and initiative once in the instrument underneath the primary category.
• How is this connected to our current Strategic Implementation Planning efforts?
  The goal in this effort is for us to improve understanding, ability to collaborate, and outcomes specific to DEI. This initiative is also designed to jump start the next phase of our larger that was provided. Within the strategic plan implementation submission that was provided, there are several objectives that will generate DEI related activities. This served as an excellent starting point (first step) for the more detailed information regarding DEI programs, activities, curriculum, policies, and practices that OIE is looking forward to collecting from your respective areas. The strategic plan submissions have been mapped to the DEI Inventory categories and will be provided to the respective DEI Facilitators.
• How do I find out who my DEI Facilitator is or who is apart of the Cougar Team in my area?

   

  DEI Facilitator

  Division/Department	Senior Leadership Member (responsible for designating DEI Facilitators)	DEI Facilitator	Cougar Team	OIE Team Leader
  Planning & Academic Resources (Office of Undergraduate Studies, Office of Graduate Studies & Research, Academic Advising, Industry Partnerships, Faculty Center), Provost Office, & Faculty Affairs	Dr. Carl Kemnitz - Provost & Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Mary Oling-Sisay, Vice Provost	Dr. Charles De Leon, Dean of Graduate Studies & Research	Melissa Teetzel, Criselda Yee, Melvin Sen, Dr. Adam Petersen, Benita Ramirez	Dr. Allen, Ariel, & Cheryl
  Associated Students Inc. (ASI)	Julia Glorioso, President CEO	Ilianna Ramirez, D&I Representative	Ashley Fennell	Cheryl
  College of Business Administrator (CoBA)	Dr. Ronald Ramirez , Dean	Dr. Rebeca Perren, Associate Professor, CoBA Marketing	Dr. Abigail Nappier Cherup	Dr. Allen
  College of Education, Health & Human Services (CEHHS)	Dr. Jennifer Ostergren- Dean	Dr. Darin Woolpert- Assistant Professor CEHHS Speech-Language Pathology/Chair of CIDE: Committee for Inclusion, Diversity and Equity.	Dr. Richard Armenta	Ariel and Cheryl
  College of Humanities, Arts, Behavioral & Social Sciences (CHABSS)	Dr. Elizabeth Matthews-Prior Interim Dean/Dr. Liora Gubkin- Dean	Dr. Kimberley Knowles-Yanez- Associate Dean of Faculty Development & Inclusion	Dr. Carmen Nava	Ariel and Lucero
  College of Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (CSTEM)	Dr. Jackie Trischman-Dean	Bradi Zapata, Communications Specialist	Laurie Schmeltzer, Jeffrey Morales, Leila Abrous-Sasanka, Dr. Rick Fierro, Suzanne Hizer, Betsy Read, Xiaodan Francis (Frankie) XU	Dr. Allen and Ariel
  Community Relations & University Engagement (CRUE) & Palliative Care	Dr. Patricia Prado Olmos-Chief Community Engagement Officer	Dr. Patricia Prado-Olmos, Chief Community Engagement Officer	Melinda Jones	Cheryl
  Extended Learning	Dr. Godfrey Gibbison-Dean of Extended Learning & Global Programs	Joseline Dyas	Aaron Guy, Ann Logan, Robert Carolin, Tricia Henlon, Danielle McMartin	Dr. Allen, John, and Lucero
  Finance & Administrative Services (FAS)	Leon Wyden Jr.- Vice President of FAS	Shannon Honour, Process & Operations Manager	Dr. Barbara Taylor, Floyd Dudley, Juliana Goodlaw-Morris, Kristin Erickson, Jason Drake, Lisa McLean, Michelle Hinojosa	Dr. Allen and Ariel
  Office of Inclusive Excellence	Dr. Aswad Allen- Chief Diversity for Inclusive Excellence (Leading Diversity Inventory Project)	Lucero Ordonez, Confidential Administrative Assistant	Ariel Stevenson, Cheryl Landin, John Rawlins III	Dr. Allen
  Institutional Planning & Analysis	Sarah Villarreal	Cameron Stevenson, Interim Director of IP&A	N/A - per Cameron, no Cougar Team required for their small unit	Cheryl
  Student Affairs	Dr. Viridiana Diaz, Vice President of Student Affairs	Alan Brian, Director of Planning, Assessment, & Professional Development	Andrea Leonard	John
  University Advancement	Jessica Berger-Vice President	Michelle Romans- Director of Alumni Engagement	Lori Brockett, Jocelyn Wyndham	Dr. Allen and Cheryl
  University Communications	Margaret Chantung, Chief Communications Officer	Margaret Chantung, Chief Communications Officer	Christine Vaughn, Alicia Lores, Kelli Urabe, Eric Breier	Ariel and Cheryl
  University Library	Dr. Jennifer Fabbi-Dean	Dr. Jennifer Fabbi, Dean, University Library	Char Booth,  Toni Olivas, Lauren Magnuson,  Angelique Vasquez	Ariel and Cheryl
  Academic Senate		Dr. Yvonne Meulemans

  Contact the office of Inclusive Excellence at diversity@csusm.edu if you have any questions about the Cougar Teams or DEI facilitators

• I am not a DEI Facilitator, so what is my role?

  If you have been/are identified as part of the Cougar Team then your role is to gather information on activities to be submitted into the DEI Inventory. If you are not a DEI Facilitator or part of the Cougar Team, your role is to provide information on any activities you are involved in related to any of the DEI Inventory categories requested of you by the DEI Facilitator and members of the Cougar Team.

• What is the timeline for the Diversity Inventory? What are the next steps after submission?
  • Strategic DEI Inventory: June – September
  • Inventory Orientation #1 – Week of June 20th
  • Open Inventory – June 22nd
  • DEI Facilitator Inventory Overview session – July 13th
  • Inventory Orientation #2 (Faculty) – End of August/early September
  • Close Inventory – September 30th (Date may be flexible for faculty submissions, contact diversity@csusm.edu during submission)
  • Dialogue and Community Building Sessions (20-35 sessions) – July/August/September
  • Final Report by the end of Fall 2022
  • Database set up by start of Spring 2023
• What are dialogue and community-building listening sessions?
  These will be virtual small-group listening sessions facilitated by our CSDLSI partners. Sessions will be segmented by social identity to drive understanding of DEI success, challenges, and recommendations. Examples of social identity segments include, but are not limited to, Black faculty, disability community students, international students, women staff, etc. CSDLSI will work with the OIE team to identify the segments to participate and ideal times in which to conduct the listening sessions.
• How is communication about this process being intentionally delivered and to what audiences?
  • May 23rd – Chief Diversity Officer Dr. Allen sent an email to senior managers providing an overview of the DEI Inventory efforts and asking them to designate a DEI Facilitator.
  • June 15th – A university communication was sent to all staff, administrators, and faculty on contract during the Summer as a follow-up for the next steps of the DEI Inventory process and to ensure that the campus was fully informed early on of the efforts being carried forward towards progressing our DEI efforts and initiatives.
  • June 15th - OIE identified key leadership members on campus to be invited to the orientation meeting along with the DEI Facilitators and sent a calendar invite inviting people to the orientation. The purpose of including key leadership members was to ensure they were informed of the overall efforts and were able to support their DEI Facilitators throughout the process.
  • June 21st – DEI Inventory Orientation meeting held with CSDLSI and key leadership members along with identified DEI Facilitators.
  • June 29th – Internal CSUSM debrief meeting held with key leadership members and DEI Facilitators.
  • July 13th – DEI Facilitator Orientation Meeting held to provide guidance on how to project manage efforts.
  • Mid-August – PAT will be updated on DEI Inventory submission progress.
  • End of August/Early September – Faculty back on contract will receive an email invitation to another DEI Inventory Orientation meeting. The email will include details about the DEI Inventory process and the work that has been conducted so far.
  • September 15th and ongoingly –  University Communication shared with campus community in addition to invitations sent to various stakeholders based on identity groups to be identified to participate in the dialogue & community building sessions.