Dr. Wagner Lectures Inclusive Excellence script lecture
(Could not upload the video so I had to paste the scripted lecture)
00:24:26
of the Cherokee nation and the Eastern band of Cherokee. And Um. I just want to briefly say, as an uninvited guest on Cherokee homelands. One of my obligations is to understand my responsibilities to the lands and the waters. Um, and the um rightful stewards of this place, and so I invite you from your location to reflect on your obligations.
00:24:48
Um,
00:24:49
my! I I’ve been very fortunate in with the College of Education to have the opportunity to um work with the strategic planning process over several
00:25:02
um
00:25:04
semesters, and so
00:25:06
um
00:25:08
let me go into actual presentation Mode
00:25:12
um, And so i’m gonna walk you through some of what our process is. Um as a as a faculty member. This strategic plan process is one of the first that I’ve been a part of
00:25:26
um. But as previous to becoming a faculty member in two thousand and sixteen. I spent about um sixteen years in progressively responsible positions in university housing administration around the country, and I was involved in um equity and diversity strategic planning at multiple institutions. And then a campus wide strategic plan process that didn’t foreground
00:25:53
equity per se um, Although it was very much written into the the group that I led with the um dean of agricultural engineering on the student experience, because obviously our students um represent a diversity of identities and experiences, and their belonging is paramount
00:26:16
to their success in college. Um, and afterwards. And so um
00:26:22
inclusion and equitable access and outcomes were absolutely a part of the student experience. Um because of those
00:26:33
previous experiences. When I came to Clemson and Um, we started doing some work
00:26:41
around um, putting to paper a more formalized, inclusive excellence plan. I was able to get involved in those conversations. And so
00:26:54
what I want to share with you tonight is a little bit of um sort of the evolution of the plan. How I got to where it is give you a little bit of a snapshot in terms of like what the actual plan looks like. Um! Talk a little bit about where we are currently.
00:27:11
Um
00:27:13
uh what we’ve already accomplished, leading into this academic year. Um, Who is involved currently across the college, and then um some of our prioritized goals and objectives. Um, along with some current activities. So
00:27:31
uh, that is where we are going.
00:27:34
Um!
00:27:36
To understand some of this. I ooh Sorry my advance too quickly. Um! We really have to go back to um the summer of two thousand and twenty, and and um
00:27:50
uh
00:27:52
that’s when
00:27:54
um! So many things were going on right. We had a covid um really had um launched a shutdown in March of that year. Um, Then
00:28:06
the extra judicial murder of George Floyd um in June of that year was causing um folks to take to the streets even during quarantine right um, and to express um,
00:28:22
continuing frustration at the ways in which um in particular anti blackness and racism. Um were a scourge on the country right? And it was inviting a lot of folks who had time, perhaps being at home for many folks who um weren’t in
00:28:41
um
00:28:42
service industries to start to reflect on um sort of a social level of inequity, and as a result, higher education saw lots of um
00:28:55
uh
00:28:56
initiatives task forces um special convenings to respond to the sort of um shift in the environment around people. Um, looking critically at how the institution was or was not working, especially for minoritize folks folks of color
00:29:20
um folks with disabilities. Um folks who are in the queer and trans spectrums right um institutions. We saw a lot of this. So in two thousand and twenty that summer.
00:29:46
both of those task forces started in the fall of two thousand and twenty and um as it pertains to the College of Education, which is the one i’m going to focus on
00:30:00
um the way that the Dean went about. This
00:30:05
is, he invited applications for a special assistant Um, and one of uh, Dr. Sims and I’s colleagues, Dr. Natasha Krum, ended up being that special assistant to the Dean, who sort of led the task force
00:30:22
around um social justice within the college. And so um! Her work really began
00:30:31
in the fall of two thousand and twenty, and and in some ways it was maybe a call to conscience that was happening at the institution
00:30:43
following the tumultuous months that had preceded it
00:30:47
where um some folks were for the first time really grappling with system level racism, right? It always existed. But this is when people really really start talking about it um
00:31:02
across the social environment. And so the College of Education convenes a task force. Um! And I am going to briefly see if I can stop sharing and then escape
00:31:22
or not.
00:31:24
There we go. Um!
00:31:27
Because I want to show you a little bit of what that initial task force did so, i’m going to switch over toggle to this screen.
00:31:37
So this is from the executive report that um, Dr. Chrome submitted to the college
00:31:45
about the task force. And what happened is the Dean
00:31:51
Um initially
00:31:55
set out a list of priorities. These are the things that he thinks are particularly important, and he charged a group to come together, and um
00:32:08
uh begin to share expertise and come up with some recommendations to address these priorities. And so Dr. Um Chrome convened a group of volunteers Right? So folks who
00:32:23
excuse me agreed to um
00:32:27
uh come together and talk about um. The college’s priorities related to equity and inclusion. Um and um,
00:32:39
And what could be done? And specifically, if you look at these priorities that the Dean originally set out. There was some pieces about curriculum. There was some pieces about internal grants. Um! There was a lot about recruitment and retention of students and um faculty and staff
00:32:59
um
00:33:00
uh of color um, particularly um folks who are under would be considered by the institution under represented minorities, right and under represented minorities. Um, In the Department of Education classification is um
00:33:19
African, American, Latinx indigenous, and some um groups of Pacific islanders. Um, but not necessarily um uh folks of Asian descent who sometimes get calculated as being over represented in higher education.
00:33:37
Um,
00:33:39
those priorities as a group we came together, and we discussed right um, and and over the following months we generated a lot of um conversation. What are these priority objectives?
00:33:55
Um! What? How are we really defining our problems? Um. Can we use inquiry as a process to like craft solutions. So you can’t develop a strategic plan without um
00:34:12
pursuing a strategy to address something that needs to be improved or better right. And so laying out like, what are those problems? And then what is research and best practices telling us about ways to address those problems. So a lot of that work is occurring
00:34:31
in the fall semester of twenty twenty um, and
00:34:37
the task force um
00:34:41
went through each of the priority objectives right and um generated um information insight where we had data. We looked at data sets. So, for instance, um in December of that
00:34:57
here one of the conversations
00:35:00
um was about um
00:35:06
one of the priorities was about the lack of um representation of men in the college. Um as uh amongst the students demographics. And so
00:35:20
um one of the things that we did was actually go to the fact book data. Every college is required to report on demographics to the Department of Education, and has to publish that as a fact book. So we went to the fact book data. That’s public and um literally ran analyses on retention and graduation rates for men um both inclusive of
00:35:48
um men who are racially identified as White and um other
00:35:54
um minoritized groups, including Asian, and then specifically for under represented minority. So um African, American latino um Pacific Islander and um uh indigenous um men.
00:36:12
And
00:36:14
I gave a presentation to the group about um, where we really seeing some um disparities. And um the reality is. And you know this is this is not the um request for tonight, but the reality is um. We’re not
00:36:33
as a college really struggling to graduate white men. Um, But we do have some areas for improvement around um graduation rates in particular for African, American and Latino men, and that’s um.
00:36:49
That probably could be said about a lot of the um
00:36:54
colleges in at the institution. It’s not just a college of education um area for improvement. So um! That was like the task force before the task force um, or the strategic plan before
00:37:14
um
00:37:16
the
00:37:18
uh strategic plan.
00:37:21
So going back to
00:37:24
um
00:37:26
uh my previous slide.
00:37:30
That happens in fall of two thousand and twenty. So in spraying the special assistant and she had a dedicated graduate student. They start taking all this information and distilling it into a format that matches what the institution is. Um
00:37:50
uh
00:37:52
setting out as a template. So actually we have an inclusive excellence planning process that is run out of the division of inclusion and equity here at the institution, and each academic college, the library, and then divisions of um.
00:38:13
Excuse me.
00:38:14
Divisions of student services and other um uh facilities and staff around campus also have um inclusive excellence plans that are in some um form of development.
00:38:29
So
00:38:31
um the special assistant doctor from alongside
00:38:35
her graduate, um assistant to me go small. They come together and start to collate all this information that was generated by the task force, and and tried to put it into this format um that the division and inclusion and equity had had set as a template
00:38:55
um.
00:38:57
They presented that to the leadership team of the college, and they presented that to the college writ large at a um faculty and staff meeting. They got a lot of feedback on it, and we’re able to incorporate that community feedback
00:39:12
um and deliver a sort of final report right of moving from a task force with priorities to
00:39:23
a more grounded um
00:39:27
uh articulated strategic plan.
00:39:31
Um!
00:39:32
And then the special assistant took a new job because these things happen right like people change jobs. And so um! The The Dean had to create a new infrastructure to keep the momentum going, so he creates the Dean fellows position.
00:39:52
That’s when my colleague, Dr. Fis A. Jamil, and I um apply in late summer of twenty twenty um one. He appoints both of us at the end of September,
00:40:06
and we begin um recruiting folks for an implementation team to take this um draft that we inherited from um
00:40:18
the special assistant work and the work of the task force, and taking it forward to actually um institutionalize it within the college, so that work began. Oh, that’s a weird date that should be um twenty-one
00:40:35
that be work begins at the end of September, and at by the end of October we’re convening the group. And actually, there’s a member of the group who’s on this call brandy. Douglas is a member of the implementation team, so i’m sure she can speak to some of this, too.
00:40:51
Um
00:40:53
as a part of our membership.
00:40:55
So what is the plan? Look like?
00:40:58
Um!
00:41:00
This is actually not all of it. Um. It goes for a few more columns. But this, I think, is a really good snapshot of the um of the level of
00:41:14
um scaffolded thinking and sequencing that goes into a strategic plan like this. Um. This particular pre strategic priority, which is institutionally set around climate and infrastructure climate in an infrastructure is connected to the universities.
00:41:33
Um Clemson forward Strategic plan
00:41:36
about the living environment and um. It can be further um
00:41:43
uh broken into elements of inclusive curricular practices, inclusive institutional practices and policies and procedures, and then
00:41:55
um communications within the campus environment. And these focus areas and strategic priorities. Again, these are set by the institution right. This was part of the template that was handed to us,
00:42:09
and what we did,
00:42:11
and what actually, what Dr. Krum had done before is begin to populate these focus areas with specific goals, and then for those goals um break them into more discrete parts as objectives right? The goal is sort of the aim
00:42:30
and the objective is um
00:42:34
is a more granular right?
00:42:38
Um
00:42:40
uh statement.
00:42:43
And then
00:42:44
um.
00:42:46
We even define these objectives in terms of okay, what are the specific action steps that the group needs to take. And then there’s a column of the start and end date,
00:42:59
and what you don’t see here. But there are more columns. There’s a column for who’s responsible? Is it the Dean’s role? Is it? Um, the department chairs? Is it every faculty member? Is it. Um, the implementation team. Is it the um?
00:43:16
It Is it something for students and alums to do right? So There’s also a column about responsible individuals, and then beyond that column,
00:43:28
our um metrics. Right? How are we measuring that? We’ve met this objective
00:43:35
and um,
00:43:38
And to do metrics? You usually need a baseline right? Because if you want to demonstrate improvement, where did we start? And how do we know we’ve moved towards something? Um, that’s bigger or better right?
00:43:54
And so in the actual universe, or i’m sorry. In the actual college of ed Strategic plan there are columns that get to that level of granularity, not just um! What are the steps for? How we’re going to do something? But
00:44:10
when is it due? Who’s responsible? And how are we going to measure um that it’s completed, and then it’s doing what we aimed to do right. And so,
00:44:24
as you can see here like, if we take
00:44:27
um
00:44:29
the inclusive institutional practices, policies, and procedures. One of our goals is to
00:44:37
um
00:44:38
build the college’s capacity to engage systematically
00:44:44
um with diversity and inclusion and equity.
00:44:48
And so we reasoned that in order to achieve that goal, we need hiring plans
user avatar
Unknown Speaker
00:44:55
that
user avatar
Rachel Wagner
00:44:57
um allow for folks who have expertise
00:45:02
um and skills and equity, diversity, inclusion that those um
00:45:11
competencies and skill sets are actually a part of the screening process, right? And that if you look at the job description that there’s going to be
00:45:23
language that is specific to um demonstrated behaviors. Um, that support equity, right, and inclusion.
00:45:34
And so, in order to do that, in order to develop a hiring plan of that nature.
00:45:40
Um! Well, there’s a couple of steps we need to take. We needed to review the current process Right? Um! What implications does that have, for where we advertise, where we
00:45:53
recruit. Um, what? How the job description is written, how the um interview questions are written right? So we so we need to know what all the process involves. And then where are the levers where the opportunities where
00:46:12
um uh equitable um
00:46:17
uh options can be interwoven. Right. Um. We decided that an action step is, We need to to establish a hiring rubric or metric that screens for Dei experience turns out
00:46:32
um the University of California at Berkeley has an example of that. It’s really lovely, right? So
00:46:39
at some point in our implementation of this action, step we came across that resource right, and can use it as a jumping off point.
00:46:48
Um! We knew that we were going to have to update job descriptions um to include indicators, and that we were going to have to um demonstrate through evidence that these indicators are fair, right, and and achievable. Right? So these are some of the
00:47:07
ways that you take like a beautiful aim, like prioritizing the colleges capacity to engage in equity and bring it down to a very specific level. Right?
00:47:23
So that’s That’s how the plan kind of functions, both in process And then giving you a little bit of the logic model that it’s following in terms of getting actual, meaningful work done that’s going to support equity.
00:47:38
Um,
user avatar
Unknown Speaker
00:47:40
Just one of
user avatar
Rachel Wagner
00:47:44
check
00:47:46
time. Okay, Um. So
00:47:50
uh, in terms of the timeline we spent after the implementation team convened we spent um the remainder of that fall semester
00:48:01
doing a parallel process where we were sort of building
00:48:06
the plan, and then and then also simultaneously flying it like we hadn’t really gotten permission to proceed from institutional agents. But we knew that we were on a good path, right like that. Recruitment and ret retention of faculty and students was going to be
00:48:27
a necessary element, and while we can’t, maybe start changing position descriptions, what we can do is start pulling from the Provost office and human resources.
00:48:41
Um! What are the hiring steps that are approved by the University? So we were doing a lot of like footwork to um pull together the information that we would need to review and revise should the plan eventually get accepted.
00:48:58
And so uh, That’s what the implementation team was doing simultaneously. Um, Dr. Jamil and I were working with
00:49:08
the um
00:49:10
uh college leadership team to take the feedback. We had some open forums and fall semester um with the version the most recent version of the plan, and getting folks feedback
00:49:22
and buy in, and that process was both simultaneously about
00:49:27
educating people, about what’s in the plan, but also getting some early adopters, and like persuading folks that this is something that they can see themselves in right, because these plans only work in so far as people feel like they can make a meaningful contribution right? And they see the vision, and they align with their own um ideas
00:49:51
and their own values.
00:49:53
Um! We eventually had a completed plan by May that um was vetted all the way through the college, and then it had to go to Legal Council. Legal Council approved it. In June we started entering it in Anthology, which is our campus tracking mechanism that allows us to get
00:50:13
um
00:50:15
to run reports off of some of those metrics and um put in lots of notes and connected to other um uh data sets and um,
00:50:27
I guess. Uh
00:50:30
Uh-huh.
00:50:32
Like institutional level data, it allows us to merge some of um those databases um to track progress and reporting, so that all happened over this past summer.
00:50:45
And now
00:50:47
here’s the folks who are working with the implementation myself, and Dr. Jamil. Um. Here are the folks who um
00:50:56
uh, we’re on the committee last year. Most of these folks have returned. We’ve changed out a couple of um people, but they represent um colleagues. So Dr. Carter is one of Dr. Simpsonized colleague
00:51:11
students. Um, As I said before, brandy um is on this call, and um she’s a member of the team faculty from other departments like Dr. Urgins and Dr. Broker Um, the Dean’s leadership. So Dr. Cook is an associate Dean Um, and then there’s students Taj and Rose. Um, we’re a part of it last year.
00:51:36
Um. Shoretta is a doctoral student and learning science. Um. There are staff members Um, Miss Natasha Chappelle, Miss Valerie, and and so um! We have folks from across the college who participate in our implementation.
00:51:53
These are some of the prioritized goals that we’re working on right now.
00:51:59
Um! A lot of it is. We want to get to a place where we can increase the number of minoritized undergraduate students and graduate students and faculty and um not only increase their number in terms of recruitment, but also retain them and graduate them and promote them.
00:52:19
But to do that
00:52:21
we have to have college capacity to actually um
00:52:27
uh not create a hostile climate for Wh. Where minoritize folks can’t flourish, and so that requires us to address some of the confidence issues for administrators and faculty and staff um, and among students, and that we also need to. Um
00:52:44
uh look at our curricula. And look at what we’re teaching, and how we’re teaching in ways that that might inadvertently exclude folks. So
00:52:54
that’s where we’re going in terms of
00:52:57
um our objectives and um in spring. You know some of the some of the work that we, while we were still waiting for these official approvals, we ha! We created shared language and definitions that we published. We designed the needs assessment to start understanding what capacities are members of the college bringing and where areas where they need a little help and support.
00:53:24
Um. We started doing the Intercultural Development inventory
00:53:29
um, which I know Hrd. Has um used with students. We started doing it with the leadership team at the Dean’s level and the implementation team, so we could create some energy around um folks who could be champions of that um uh
00:53:50
instrument as a way to engage people in reflection on their professional development around intercultural competence. Um and and like I said before, we gathered some institutional data and started gathering um process resources. And so now we are
00:54:08
sort of incrementally and steadfastly um beginning to work on elements of the plan. So we have disseminated a um. We have the newsletter out, so we’re trying to increase some conversation and um communication across the college. We also provided
00:54:30
a template for um, infusing diversity into search processes because we’re hiring eleven faculty
00:54:38
this um this academic year. And so we felt like this, was a good opportunity to revise some of our um
00:54:45
uh search processes to be more inclusive. Um! We also did a model plan for
00:54:53
um uh
00:54:56
a diversity plan for a Search committee so that folks could see what they could do and get some examples. And so that’s that is what’s happening. We are firmly in implementation and tracking um our progress towards um some of these goals,
00:55:14
and that’s my presentation.
00:55:16
There might be three minutes for questions.
user avatar
Cynthia Sims
00:55:22
Great job, Rachel! Sorry that was a bit of a fire drill, but uh, lots of good information. So taking something that could be considered a bit um um
00:55:36
uh
00:55:38
nebulous, and making it very concrete.
00:55:41
Uh. So what questions do you have? Because I know some of you all are in institutions where you may be uh in the process of trying to draft plans. Um. I also know that you all will be developing a plan. So what are some of the things that? Uh
00:55:59
um! What questions do you have for Dr. Webinar
user avatar
Katy Jones
00:56:09
kind of random. But are you able to share your needs assessment that you came up with
00:56:16
just like for a professional like outside of the College of Education. How could that be used like in a corporate environment?
user avatar
Unknown Speaker
00:56:26
Because it sounds like something
user avatar
Katy Jones
00:56:28
that probably most organizations could use?
user avatar
Rachel Wagner
00:56:32
Yeah, if you send me an email Um, and I can put my email in the chat. Um, I can. Uh,
00:56:42
I can add you to the um
00:56:47
uh qualtrics.
00:56:51
Oh, thank you, Doc. Mr. Williams. I appreciate you. Um!
00:56:56
I can add you to the qualtrics. Um! As a as a university, affiliated student. You have access to um
00:57:05
the um survey instrumentation that we use qualtrics. And so yeah, it’s very easily shareable, and you’re welcome to take a look at it. Um, we did develop a lot of the items.
00:57:18
Um, let me say this. We imported items from other um validated instruments, which is what one of the things I suggest folks do for these kinds of things
00:57:28
um to not recreate the wheel. But look at um. You know what industry and what higher education institutions are doing to um solicit this kind of information.
user avatar
Brandi Douglas
00:58:11
I’ll ask a question, even though i’m on the Committee on the Task Force. Um,
00:58:16
you know, when it comes to these types of implementation plans. I’m. Assuming every college is going to have to go through this where they’re going to have to keep it fresh like once Once pieces of the tasks have been completed, and you’re seeing the the fruits of that. How often do you think or did? Has it? Has comes in even thought about
00:58:37
how often we’re going to have to go through uh this piece around implementation, because it’s not just a one time thing
user avatar
Rachel Wagner
00:58:46
that’s such a great question, and and and really commentary right like um. You do have to
00:58:54
anticipate that these have to um go through revisions, and that priority shift and opportunities change, and so do external threats, right? And so,
00:59:06
um one of the things that
00:59:10
has Clemson thought about it. I’m not sure as a whole. Um, I can tell you, in the college we are not thinking past the five years of the plan. Um, and I think some of that is, we’re in a shift in leadership. And
00:59:25
to my earlier point about you know the departure of Dr. Crew and
00:59:29
the introduction of me and Dr. To me to this process. There are ways in which Turnover itself
00:59:36
um can delay, and in particular
00:59:41
um it it. It’s an indicator of like institutionalization, because if you lose one person, and your plan gets stalled for six months. That’s telling right Like to the degree to which um this is really institutionalized. And so, um!
01:00:02
There. There is a change happening in uh the Dean at the Dean’s level. So our founding Dean step down
01:00:10
at the end of last June we have an interim dean we’re currently um starting a search for a new dean. That person ostensibly would not be in place until fall of twenty twenty-three, and so um,
01:00:26
you know they might have different priorities. I think that these are rooted enough in evidence. Um, that I can’t imagine a new dean putting too much energy um, or dismissing the plan outright.
01:00:43
But I also think that there’s ways that that can happen overtly um and and sort of
01:00:51
um through neglect, right like you. Oh, yeah, we’re still gonna do that. But we don’t put any time commitment to it, or we don’t put any funding to it right Um, and so um, so that could potentially shift
01:01:07
how the um priorities exist I will tell you that there is campus conversation about that right in terms of this five years. Um!
01:01:19
These these plans can only go through twenty twenty-six. That’s sort of the institutional and time. And I know that doctor um out here. Richardson, who is also um a graduate of Um, our ed leadership program.
01:01:37
She is the I want to say, associate Vice President for inclusive um. The division of inclusion and equity, and she has basically led the process of these strategic plans. And um, I know it’s her
01:01:52
um
01:01:55
the opinion that
01:01:58
um twenty twenty-six will start the next cycle right? So folks will already hopefully have some good data and some good um key performance indicators, and maybe even um clear movement on some of the um metrics to start from, so they won’t be starting from scratch like we kind of did this time. But um she’s anticipating that that’s going to
01:02:27
um begin twenty-six, twenty-seven.
01:02:32
But besides her, i’m not sure that many colleges are really thinking beyond two thousand and twenty-six brandy,
01:02:39
and I know I won’t be. This is one of those things you get ready to turn over to somebody else. Well, we are very um
user avatar
Cynthia Sims
01:02:52
uh fortunate to have Dr. Wagner. Um, Dr. Uh Jamil um actually guiding this process for us. So uh I give them many thanks. Um, i’m going to um wrap it up. If you have further questions you can uh reach out to Dr. Wagner or for me. But uh, just want to say how much we appreciate. Um with the research is very clear. Organizations that have diversity leads
01:03:21
as well as having diversity plans. It does indeed make a difference. I just want to also point out that um.
01:03:31
Everything that was done was very research-based. They didn’t wake up one day and say, Oh, this might be a nice idea. Let’s try this. You know. They went ahead. They did the research they looked at best practices. They were able to look at what other universities are are doing, and so similar to what is being done in the College of Education. The same can be done for your organizations, you know there’s a lot of research out there in terms of best practices.
01:03:59
And so when you all start developing plans for your organizations as well as their class activity, Dr. Wagner is to take the idi group data that we received um the debrief as a class and come up with a development plan to move us to uh advance along the Idi continuum.
01:04:22
I love it. Um! And they have lots of good research out there from the textbook, as well as the um articles that they will be reviewing their Literature Review to help inform them. So. Um.
01:04:37
So uh, I will stop talking, and I just like to say thank you, Dr. Wagner, so much. I appreciate you. Um, it. It was user error, I will admit to that. I sent her a calendar. Invite this, said Tuesday uh Decem November second, and of course those two things are not the same. And so she was able to pivot and join us. So many thanks and many thanks to you, I like to be a woman of my work is eight hundred and five
01:05:06
uh. So uh good night. Good evening. I look forward to your uh summaries, your web Page summaries of this conversation around, uh inclusive excellence, and you all know where I live in the head around um. Take care, and i’ll see you uh next week, if not before. All right. Good night.