Strategic Plan for Inclusive Excellence

Update and publish Loyola’s Bias Incident Reporting Protocol, including information about the roles and functions of the Chief Equity & Inclusion Officer, Bias Response Team, ombudspersons, Chief Student Conduct Officer, mediators, and Title VII investigators.

An assessment of the Bias Incident Reporting system began in the Fall; In Spring 2021, the updated protocols and clarification of duties will be presented to campus community.

Establish a team of four trained Title VII investigators: two each to investigate formal grievances against faculty and staff.

Effort to enhance training of investigators began in Fall; With Chief Conduct Officer, will complete a needs assessment in Spring to establish more streamlined processes; Currently have four investigators to handle bias cases.

Identify one or more trained mediators to supplement Loyola’s university ombudspersons and Chief Student Conduct Officer in mediating bias-related conflicts between faculty, staff, and students.

This process will begin in Spring 2021 with assistance from Human Resources, Provost’s Office, and Chief Student Conduct Officer

Establish a team of trained volunteer advocates to support complainants and respondents during Title VII/bias incident procedures.

This process will begin in Spring 2021 with assistance from Human Resources, Provost’s Office, and Chief Student Conduct Officer

Publish accessibility protocols for use during outages and other emergencies that limit or inhibit student, faculty, and staff access to buildings, offices, classrooms, and other spaces.

Process will begin in Spring 2021 in coordination with Accessible Education and the Physical Plant

Publish reports of annual assessments of the accessibility of Loyola’s buildings, grounds, and spaces. Include improvement plans.

In consultation with Accessible Education, OEI will begin a full audit of campus in Spring 2021 to understand any impediments to success that exist.

Allocate funds annually to the Office of Equity & Inclusion to ensure Loyola’s success in achieving the goals of this plan.

In addition to funds from the Office of the President, OEI is currently seeking funds (in the form of grants and private contributions) from outside entities to support goals of office

Develop, with the Office of the Provost, diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice (DEISJ) learning objectives for Loyola students.

Creation of January term in which all courses (spread across several disciplines) revolve around issues of race, equity, and inclusion.

Devise criteria for assigning Loyola courses a DEISJ designation, and create a database of existing DEISJ offerings.

Working with Provost’s office to strengthen and clarify which courses fall under DEISJ classification. J-term has increased our number of DEISJ offerings.

Establish on-boarding DEI education and training programs for new students, faculty, and staff that demonstrate Loyola’s institutional commitment to its mission and conveys the University’s expectations for community member conduct.

• Currently have Paws and Reflect, a diversity and inclusion presentation, that is given on demand to various organizations throughout the campus.

• Working to create additional diversity programs for community.

• Creating a new LGBTQ+ workshop that will complement our current training

• Staff development and leadership training program for underrepresented staff is in the pipeline.

Implement annual DEI training that informs faculty, staff, and students for Loyola’s institutional responsibilities and community members’ right and responsibilities with respect to Title IX (which prohibits sex discrimination and sexual misconduct) and Title VII (which prohibits discrimination against federally protected groups) and as articulated in Loyola’s Discrimination and Harassment Policy.

Will begin working with university Title IX officer in coming weeks to more effectively present this data to Loyola community.

Establish a staff development program with workshops and programs featuring meaningful critical decisions of DEI subjects (e.g., inclusion of historically marginalized groups that are not federally protected, such as LGBTQIA+ persons; cultural competency, implicit bias, microaggressions, etc.).

The first program in this category for staff is currently being developed with initial presentations in February 2021. Program will focus on LGBTQIA+ issues.

Establish a faculty development program with workshops and programs featuring meaningful, critical discussions of DEI subjects (e.g., inclusion of historically marginalized groups that are not federally protected, such as LGBTQIA+ persons; cultural competency, implicit bias, microaggressions, etc.).

The first program in this category for faculty is scheduled for a presentation in February 2021. Program will focus on gender pronouns.

Conduct national searches for all open academic positions. Advertise positions proactively in employment resources accessed by diverse candidates. Recruit actively and widely, utilizing personal and professional networks to expand reach to diverse audiences. Prominently feature, in job ads and throughout the application process, Loyola’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Work is being undertaken by DEIC subcommittee with progress to be reported by end of Spring semester 2021.

Conduct regional or national searches, as appropriate, for all open executive/administrative and professional positions, and advertise positions proactively in employment resources accessed by diverse candidates. Recruit actively and widely,utilizing personal and professional networks to expand reach to diverse audiences. Prominently feature, in job ads and throughout the application process, Loyola’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Successfully launched national searches for open positions that landed diverse hires.

Provide training to all search committees in strategies for actively recruiting underrepresented candidates and for ensuring equitable interview and selection processes (e.g., managing implicit biases).

In conjunction with the Provost’s Office and Human Resources, planning for this work will be initiated in Spring 2021.

Offer DEI management training to all department heads and department chairs, covering topics such as implicit bias in evaluation, equitable and effective employee development practices, etc.

This work started in the Fall with presentations to begin rolling out Spring 2021.