Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Goals

Five Common Goals

As our campus community works to align these collective efforts, having five goals as an organizing structure will help us focus more clearly and improve collaboration and communication across the campus.

In February 2022, a collaborative group met and identified听the following five goals to advance diversity, equity and inclusion on our campus:

  • Employee skills and development
  • Student achievement outcomes
  • Community building
  • Employee recruitment outcomes
  • Preparing students to participate in a diverse democracy

Many campus units, groups and colleges have been working to advance diversity, equity and inclusion for years, and it will be critical to understand the impact of ongoing work and new initiatives in relation to the university鈥檚 goals and priority areas.

This approach will provide clarity on what is or is not working well and where the campus might coordinate efforts to achieve its goals more efficiently and powerfully.

Goal 1

Units will build capacity for advancing diversity, equity and inclusion by focusing on employee skills and development.

Outcomes may target:

  • Education and training听听
  • Expanding accountability mechanisms (e.g., job descriptions and qualifications, performance appraisals, awards and leadership positions)听
  • Rewarding and incentivizing professional behaviors that contribute to organizational change听听
  • Education around and use of institutional data听
  • Building accountability structures to address a lack of engagement with advancing diversity, equity and inclusion, or failure to demonstrate contributions or support听

Demonstrated Impact:
Improvements in sense of belonging; knowledge acquisition; skills building; retention of people with minoritized identities

听

Goal 2

Colleges, schools, and support units will prioritize and invest in initiatives that address inequities in undergraduate, graduate and professional student achievement outcomes.

Outcomes may target:听

  • Identifying and interrogating common stop-out points or alienation experiences (e.g., prerequisite courses and curriculum sequencing, lab experiences, residence life experiences and transfer processes) and taking actions for remedies听
  • Evaluating and recreating or pruning programs that do not address inequities听
  • Creating, expanding or institutionalizing initiatives that improve the capacity of faculty and staff to interact, advise and teach across differences听
  • Creating or expanding student-facing initiatives that support student success (e.g., mentoring, living-learning experiences, coaching and research experiences)听

Demonstrated Impact:听
Student retention; amended or streamlined structures; grant funding eligibility听

Goal 3

Academic and administrative units will collaborate to support new and existing community-building initiatives; to communicate the imperative of advancing diversity, equity and inclusion; and to enhance everyone鈥檚 sense of belonging.

Outcomes may target:听

  • Education and social events that amplify cultural heritage months听
  • Creating incentives for student and employee participation or attendance in campus events听
  • Creating 鈥渨elcome wagon鈥 buddies for new employees听
  • Creating or supporting employee affinity groups听
  • Identifying and interrogating alienation experiences in existing programs

Demonstrated Impact:听
Satisfaction; sense of belonging; retention

Goal 4

Units will cultivate a diverse, equitable and inclusive workforce by investing in initiatives that address inequalities in employee recruitment outcomes.

Outcomes may target:

  • Creating and institutionalizing candidate assessment procedures that address inherent biases (e.g., in-group or implicit bias that influences assessment and interview questions)
  • Identifying and interrogating alienation experiences during recruitment (e.g., job descriptions with alienating language) and amending processes
  • Expanding recruitment searches to address reinforcing cycles of inequality (e.g., recruiting only from friends or homogeneous professional networks)
  • Rewarding and incentivizing best practices in recruitment efforts or search committees
  • Creating specific and measurable recruitment goals

Demonstrated Impact:听
Achievement of recruitment goals; increased talent pool diversity; enhanced employer brand

Goal 5

Colleges, schools and support units will prepare students to participate in a diverse democracy and be thoughtful citizens.

Outcomes may target:

  • Creating a required Colorado state history course that addresses historical inequities
  • Creating experiential learning to address systemic racism and discrimination
  • Creating, expanding or institutionalizing initiatives that improve students' civic engagement knowledge and capabilities
  • Including global perspectives in engagement of work focused on diversity, equity and inclusion

Demonstrated Impact:
Retention of students with minoritized identities; knowledge acquisition; skills building