Equity and Inclusion Plan

Normalize

Central to the Equity and Inclusion Plan is the recognition that racial inequities have deep historical origins and current realities perpetuate these. Calling out race in the educational outcomes tracked at Madison College is the first step to our commitment to institutional and cultural change.

Our plan includes an agreed upon set of definitions of key terms. We developed a set of vision statements to guide our collective work and gathered input from the college community to clarify meaning and intentions.

We include plans with actionable goals, metrics, time frames and responsibility to guarantee accountability. We express a commitment to sustain this work as undoing the historical damage takes time. Yet we recognize the sense of urgency. We affirm our collective responsibility and accountability by proposing a State of Equity Report to be completed annually to track our progress.

We commit to transforming the culture at Madison College by creating a shared vision and language similar to how the college introduced and advanced Interest Based Problem Solving (IBPS). We heard the suggestion that the College create a “social justice” dictionary to identify common words and expressions that are used that tend to exclude and institutionalize biases.

Organize

Simply pledging to diversity, inclusion and equity is not enough. As an educational institution, we promote life-long learning and need to embed this philosophy in equity work.

We must develop leaders to be voices for equity at each level of the College. Support from the Board of Trustees and the Executive Leadership begins the process yet building an infrastructure at the ground level will ensure the work is sustainable and the ideas are transmissible. Madison College does not operate in a vacuum as an educational institution and must work with our partners to address racial inequities that start long before our students enter our campuses. How we work with our K-12 partners across our district is one step to influencing and enacting change beyond our walls.

The elimination of institutional biases requires deeper cleans and a deeper conversation about how to influence and demand social justice.

Operationalize

We must design and implement a “toolbox” specifically for Madison College and we need to train all how to use these tools. Tools will be used to analyze policies, programs, and practices, questioning their purpose and examining the intended impact.

In the review of existing policies and the development of new policies and programs, Madison College must use an equity lens (See Section VI). We will use data, both internal and external to develop baselines, set goals, and measure progress. An analysis of the data will be provided and a report created that is usable and easy to understand.

Innovation Further, grants for Equity, are being proposed to encourage creative ways to change the culture and drive results. As directed by Dr. Daniels, each school and major division of Madison College will create their individual plans in alignment with the overall College’s plan. These individual plans will need to demystify the data making these indicators usable and easier to understand.

We include in this larger plan the individual plans from each school and work division to include actionable steps with measurable goals and accountability. The process for integrating elements of the plan into the culture of the College and the existing processes such as unit planning is key. Accountability will be monitored through performance evaluations of managers and assessment of school and divisional plans.

During the review of the 2016 Equity and Inclusion Plan, we maintained three of the following statements. Plus, one evolved out of recent national events protesting the murderous violence against Black people and the necessity to adopt an anti-racism approach to equity work at Madison College.

We agreed to changing these from goals to statements as we acknowledge that these are aspirational and important as a “north star” for our institution on this journey to equity. We need to be inspired and to aspire to a state of equity: looking toward a future that is free of racism and all other “isms”; and where all our students attain their educational goals and where employees have a safe culture to do their best work.

These statements boldly declare what Madison College believes and aims to accomplish. Working toward eliminating racism benefits us all as a college, as a community, and as a nation. We have read the studies about the health impacts of racism, the high societal cost of incarcerations, and the personal devastation and damage to children not learning to read. It is imperative we all share and shoulder the responsibility to eliminate racism and other “isms.”

Through a series of information sessions, employees and students have agreed that race be explicitly referenced and prioritized in all equity work. Some employees expressed concern that Madison College should not neglect identity characteristics such as age, socioeconomic status, gender or LGBTQ identity.

The Four Statements

Statement One

Madison College will eliminate racist policies, practices and procedures to achieve more equitable outcomes.

Madison College will apply an equity lens to determine if current policies, practices and procedures have an adverse impact on one group. Employees asked how we will know if our policies are racist and therefore which ones should we eliminate. Careful examination of all the data collected will get us started in this process be it examining existing policies, practices, and procedures or applying an equity lens to proposed ones.

Statement One Goal

To provide opportunities for employees and student to engage in focused conversations on race as well as other current topics using the 2020 – 2021 academic year as the benchmark.

Statement Two

Students of color and traditionally underrepresented populations will persist and succeed at greater rates in order to achieve more equitable outcomes.

Statement Two is derived from one of the goals in the 2016 Plan with additional and specific language around racial and ethnic populations. Current data shows that African American and Latinx students are not persisting or being retained at the same rates as White students. Madison College needs to address gaps by delving into the root cause of the inequities.

One interest we heard was the need to separate out Hmong and Southeast Asian groups from the overarching Asian category used in collecting demographic information, especially in STEM programs.

By no means is the intentional calling out of race aimed at excluding other groups. We need to understand the historical and social forces that create and perpetuate the greatest disparities between groups of students.

Statement Two Goal

Increase the persistence and completion rates of students of color as compared against the benchmark academic year 2019-2020.

Statement Three

Employee demographics will mirror student demographics.

Studies show that students of color do better when they see themselves in faculty, staff and administrators. Important to consider for this statement are the different employee groups represented at Madison College including administrators, full and part time faculty and PSRP.

Talent acquisition strategies need to vary for each group as do promotional and professional development opportunities. Examination of current demographics for schools and work divisions prior to posting positions will be a necessary first step. Adding balanced interview panels and other strategies to reduce biases during the hiring process will add to the achievement of this vision.

Care needs to be taken to ensure that we do not tax current employees of color adding to the racial battle fatigue many are experiencing. We heard clearly that in addition to hiring, the college will consider strategies for retaining employees of color by expanding professional development and promotional opportunities, as well as addressing some of the external community variables that impact retention.

Statement Three Goal

Develop a comprehensive hiring process from crafting a position description to on-boarding. Employee demographics will be reported annually with changes in inclusive hiring using the academic year, 2019-2020 as the benchmark.

Statement Four

Every employee, student and guest will experience a welcoming and inclusive Madison College.

Current surveys may capture some attitudes and feelings about feeling connected and engaged at the College but we have heard employees express reservation about being
forthcoming for a number of reasons. We need to address those reasons, educating on the process and methods used to gather information.

It is essential that we create “Safe Spaces” for unabridged discussions and openness. Differences of opinion should be valued and respected. Currently, climate and culture programming serves to counter dominant narratives through speakers, art, films and poetry. True inclusivity manifests itself in more than a speaker series; it is reflected in the language and
intercommunications with each other.

Statement Four Goal

Provide a welcoming and inclusive environment for faculty, staff and visitors through climate and customer service surveys using the 2020-2021 academic year as the benchmark.

Awareness to Action and Accountability

For each school and work division, staff will be designated with the responsibility for ensuring these are met with the given time frame. The annual review for each will be evaluated and reported to measure progress. The schools and divisional plan will be in alignment with the overall College Equity and Inclusion Plan and will be housed in the office of Schools’ Deans and divisional executive leadership.

In addition to annual reviews, the proposed State of Equity at Madison College report will be produced in alignment with the WTCS Equity Report required from each of the Colleges. The State of Equity Report will serve as one of the review points for refining the Equity and Inclusion Plan.

We align the statements and goal setting of the Equity and Inclusion Plan with the unit planning process to add to the layers of accountability and increase the integration of equity and inclusion at all levels of the college.

Holding our college community accountable and keeping us all on track for meeting the outcomes of the statements within the plan is crucial. The sense of urgency in the aftermath of the protests around the country must be maintained or else the efforts to make necessary improvements will decrease with time.

Sustaining Equity

One of the essential components of the 2020 Equity and Inclusion Plan is sustainability. Building capacity of employees and students beyond the Office of Equity, Inclusion and Community Engagement has been one of the specific goals of this office. Last year with a Perkins Grant from the WTCS office, we began the implementation of a model to create a structure at Madison College in order to advance equity throughout the entire organization.

Doing so will ensure that the entire college community has a shared understanding of equity principles and utilizes equity tools and data to drive results. The training the equity coordinators receive will cultivate a new equity leadership equipped with skills, knowledge and tools for operationalizing diversity, inclusion, and equity. Cohorts of equity coordinators added each year will then form around Equity Change Teams specific to a work division to address equity gaps.

Equity coordinators through training on facilitation methods that promote participation, consensus building, and action planning will be the beginning of an infrastructure to advance equity. The coordinators will develop skills to facilitate Focused Conversations about race, and other critical issues. They will support institutional culture change using equity tools and data to drive results. And they will strengthen partnerships to support students and employees.

• Year One: Cohort #1, Equity Coordinators
• Year Two: Cohort #1 and #2, Equity Coordinators and Equity Change Teams
• Year Three: Cohort #1, #2 and #3, Equity Coordinators and Equity Change Teams

We Need:

1. Data
2. Facilitation Skills
3. Equity and Inclusion Knowledge

The Equity Coordinators must demonstrate a commitment to racial equity and social justice and exhibit a growth mindset with a collaborative working style. Organizing around racial equity includes building capacity for other leaders to emerge to champion and advocate for racial equity and inclusion.

We must develop leaders throughout the college that employ tools and processes to address equity gaps and find innovative ways for closing those gaps. They must create Equity Change Teams to work together advocating for equitable educational outcomes for Madison College students.

In How to be an Antiracist (2019), Dr. Ibram X. Kendi outlines a strategy to continuously address anti-racism at an institution by creating teams. This strategy is in line with the Equity Change Teams model we have been implementing at Madison College.

According to Dr. Kendi, some of the steps he lists are:

• Admit racial inequity is a problem of bad policy, not bad people
• Identify racial inequity in all its intersections and manifestations
• Investigate and uncover the racist policies causing racial inequity
• Invent or find antiracist policy that can eliminate racial inequity
• Figure out who or what group has the power to institute antiracist policy
• Disseminate and educate about the uncovered racist policy and antiracist policy correctives
• Monitor closely to ensure the antiracist policy reduces and eliminate racial inequity
• When policies fail, do not blame people. Start over and seek out new and more effective antiracist treatments until they work.
• Monitor closely to prevent new racist policies from being instituted.

The Academic Diversity Officer (ADO) is a unique leadership position created during the development of the Equity and Inclusion Plan to further commit to sustaining this critical work. The position is intended to drive diversity and inclusion strategy and foster an inclusive environment within the units and operations of Academic Affairs. 

The ADO will collaborate with the Provost and Deans to lead, create, coordinate, support and execute Equity and Inclusion plans in the academic arena within the Schools and collaborate with Office of Equity and Inclusion to integrate the Schools’ plans into the College’s broader Equity and Inclusion plan.

The ADO will support the planning and implementation of systems and processes to coordinate, resource, monitor, and assess activities within the following key areas of focus:

• Articulating and disseminating a shared vision, language, and practice of equity and inclusion
• Coordinating the development of curriculum and pedagogical practices that foster equity, inclusion, and inter-cultural understanding as a part of all students’ learning
• Facilitating structured professional development that supports equity and inclusion among faculty, staff and academic leadership;
• Supporting college-wide efforts to increase the diversity of the college employee base through innovations in recruitment, retention and employee engagement and establishing systems for Schools and programs to monitor academic success data and translate findings into meaningful interventions that lead to more equitable outcomes for students.

Operationalize - Madison College Equity Lens

An “equity lens” is a process used in decision-making, in analysis of existing procedures or practices, or in examination of data to determine if that decision has or will have an adverse impact on one group of individuals, specifically racial/ethnic groups.

Usually that process includes asking a set of questions for a deeper analysis. To develop an equity lens, either as an individual or as an institution, is best if it is developed by the individuals and the organization intending to employ the lens.

The Madison College Equity Lens adapted from Sonali S. Balajee’s Equity and Empowerment Lens for Multnomah County adds to their four “Ps” by examining the purpose. Some possible questions for each of the five elements of this adaptation are:

People

• Who needs to be at the table? How do we engage them?
• Who will be most affected – negatively and positively?
• How does the policy, decision, program and/or practice build student and community capacity and power?

Process

• How are decisions made?
• Are there root issues that need to be reviewed?
• What barriers do we and our staff encounter in making changes?

Purpose

• What is the problem?
• What are we trying to solve? Why?
• What is missing? What additional information do we need?
• How do we currently use existing data to inform our practice?

Place

• Where will this have the greatest impact?
• What are the limitations?
• What barriers do we and our staff encounter in making changes?

Power

• What are the barriers?
• What are the opportunities?
• Who is accountable?
• What decision-making process is being used?

2021 Strategic Actions

1. All Shared Governance Councils will have a minimum of one person of color for the 2020-21 academic year and beyond.
2. Standing work teams will endeavor to examine the make-up of members with an equity lens for the 2020-21 academic year and beyond.
3. Creation of Short-term project work teams, including impact teams, will be developed through an equity lens for the 2020-21 academic year and beyond.
4. Madison College will review and analyze recognizing Juneteenth and Indigenous People’s Day as official College holidays by December 1, 2020.
5. Review the current hiring processes and develop a comprehensive hiring process from job description development to on-boarding by March 1, 2021.
6. Develop Equity Innovation Grants to incentivize and encourage creative solutions to addressing racial inequities by December 1, 2020.
7. Develop Statement of Equity Report by April 1, 2021 to be presented to the college community and the Board of Trustees during the July, 2021 Board of Trustees meeting. This report will be reported annually.
8. Develop schools’ and divisional equity and inclusion plans to be completed by February 1, 2021.
9. Develop mechanism for assigning resources to further equity and inclusion by March 1, 2021.

Diversity is defined as the different identities and cultures represented in the Madison Area Technical College District.

Inclusion refers to the authentic participation across identities and cultures specifically for students, participation addresses persistence, retention and completion as well as a number of other metrics commonly used to determine students’ progress through the college. For employees, participation can encompass serving on a Shared Governance Council to retention, promotional and professional opportunities.

Equity is the creation of policies, practices, and processes that ensure equitable educational outcomes for all students.

Anti-racism is approach that examines, reviews, questions, and eliminates all policies, practices, and processes, informal and formal, that cause racial inequities.

Racism is discrimination and prejudice directed against a person or group based on their membership in that group.

Stereotypes are ideas or images held of a person or group that categorizes them without regard to individual differences.

Individual biases are discriminating and prejudicial attitudes and actions by an individual towards another individual or group because of their membership in that group.

Institutional biases are practices and procedures that work better for one group over other groups, sometimes unintentionally or inadvertently created without examination of data.

Systemic biases are a collection of historical individual and institutional biases across multiple institutions combining with current realities and disregard to create a system that negatively impacts one group (also referred to as structural bias).

Microaggressions are discriminatory statements or actions against members of a group especially racial and ethnic groups. Other terms associated with microaggressions include microinsults and microassaults.

The term “traditionally underrepresented groups” designates certain racial, ethnic and gender groups of people denied or not accounted in certain fields of study or professions. For example, in STEM fields, Blacks, Latinos and women tend to be categorized as underrepresented in those fields. The large umbrella term of Asian is not but in breaking out the many national, ethnic groups under that term finds that Hmong are underrepresented in the sciences.

The term "race" is defined and influenced by the U.S. Census Bureau and demographic collection requirements by WTCS and DOE for reporting purposes. Race includes White, Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander.

Ethnicity, as defined by the Census, includes individuals of “Spanish/Hispanic/Latino” origins. A controversial categorization and various changes by Census Bureau not to include Race as part of this category. For some, race and national origin are intrinsically linked.

Gender Identity is a self-concept and perception as male, female, a combination of both or of neither which can be the same or different from what identity was assigned at birth.

Sexual Orientation is the emotional, romantic or sexual attraction to other people.

BIPOC is an acronym referring to Black, Indigenous, People of Color.

A caution about the use of terms such as minority and majority as these terms are not accurate in considering population numbers nationally and globally but rather connote a judgement and power. Equally terms such as white and non-white creates a negative “othering” of those who are not white.

2016 Equity and Inclusion Plan Review and Recommendations

The following review lists each goal, strategies and partners, key highlights accomplished for each, evidence of progress and evaluation of each determining whether the result of the activities were met, partially met or unmet.

Also included under each goal is a recommendation to continue, modify or eliminate for the 2020 Equity and Inclusion Plan. One of the principle lessons learned from the 2016 Plan is in the naming of these statements as goals as these were not specific and measurable. The 2016 goals were aspirational statements describing a vision for the college.

Goal 1: Every student and employee experiences a more welcoming and inclusive Madison College.

Planned Activity 1

Review all existing professional development and training opportunities to incorporate equity and inclusion concepts.

Evidence of Progress – Staff reviewed professional development and training opportunities offered by Human Resources, CETL, Center for International Education and Student Life. Staff participated in diversity trainings offered by CETL to better understanding the curriculum presented required by the FQAS. Collaboration with CETL to offer sessions of “Bias, the Brain, and the Backwards Bicycle” as well as specific trainings to the Leadership group meeting monthly that HR organized. Collaborations with Student Life revolved around Climate and Culture Programming.

Staff did not review specific trainings organized by Schools, departments or required by grants as those are not communicated out through existing all employee offerings. Staff did not assess each year.

Staff modified the trainings to provide two options:

1. Equity and Inclusion Training (transformational workshops to create a space for participants to increase self awareness and provide tools for changing) and Diversity Training (informational workshops presenting information about the specific groups represented in our District).
2. Staff modified the length and times trainings were offered to increase the number of PSRP employees attending. Staff offered more “customized” trainings to specific work units such as the Food Service staff, Enrollment Center, Testing, Technology Services, and Disability Services.

Evaluation of Activity - Partially Met.

Planned Activity 2

Develop an “Inclusive Madison College” campaign for internal and external audiences to recruit, increase, and welcome potential diverse students, employees, and community members.

Evidence of Progress – Staff did not develop this campaign.

Evaluation of Activity – Not Met.

Planned Activity 3

Establish employee affinity groups to create a space for employees to organize activities, welcome new employees, and connect employees with student clubs and groups.

Evidence of Progress – We did not establish affinity groups in the time period for the 2016 Plan as the first Employees of Color reception was held in March 2019 to introduce the idea of affinity groups. The first groups formed organically were the Black Women’s Affinity Group and the Hmong&Allies as they developed their charge, by-laws and membership. The Latino Affinity group is the latest to start as their first meeting was postponed due to the shutdown but now have been meeting remotely on a regular basis.

Evaluation of Activity – Partially Met.

Overall Evaluation of Goal 1: Partially Met

Ongoing Goal

The language used in the 2016 Plan defining these as “goals” should be changed as these statements are not specific, measurable goals but rather aspirational statements. This statement should be retained in the 2020 Equity and Inclusion Plan. The statement for the 2020 Equity and Inclusion Plan should read: Every employee, student and guest will experience a welcoming and inclusive Madison College.

Goal 2: Madison College strives to have its employee demographics minimally reflect the student body and the communities we serve.

Planned Activity 1

Create a system of regularly tracking employee demographics and monitoring underrepresentation as part of an Executive Dashboard.

Evidence of Progress – In year one for this activity, staff met with HR, Enrollment Center, and IRE to review how demographic information was collected for students and for employees. HR had different categories than what was used for students. HR staff changed those categories in Workday to match race and ethnic labels used by the Census; Provost worked with HR, Technology Services to create Diversity Dashboard; Use of either dashboard is not routinely reviewed prior to posting positions.

Evaluation of Activity – Partially Met.

Planned Activity 2

Increase the hiring of employees that reflect our student body and communities through pilot programs such as the Faculty Fellows Program for increasing faculty of color especially in areas that have low to no representation of racial/ethnic or gender.

Evidence of Progress – Staff met with Provost, School of Human and Protective Services, and Human Resources to discuss an existing “fellows” program that had been used and collaborated on revamping this program. A pilot “fellows” program for administrators was never created.

Evaluation of Activity – Not Met.

Planned Activity 3

Create customized recruitment strategies including more intentional outreach efforts to academic and professional associations aimed at racial/ethnic and
gender groups.

Evidence of Progress – Collaborated with HR to expand talent acquisition strategies by attending national and regional conference aimed at professionals of color; began building relationships with HBCUs, HSIs and graduate schools with high numbers of students of color. Staff attended conferences with the aim of marketing Madison College and highlighting open positions.

Evaluation of Activity – Partially Met.

Overall Evaluation of Goal 2: Partially Met

Ongoing Goal

Include this statement in the 2020 Equity and Inclusion Plan with the following changes: “Employee demographics will mirror student demographics.”

Goal 3: Every student persists and succeeds at Madison College.

Planned Activity 1

Assess the demographics of prospective students in the communities in our District to determine if the College is meeting the potential market penetration rate.

Evidence of Progress – Staff collaborate with regional campus on increase of Latino
community in the regions.

Evaluation of Activity – Partially Met.

Planned Activity 2

Examine key gateway and high enrollment courses to analyze the breakdown of students by racial/ethnic, gender, and socio-economic status and educational outcomes.

Evidence of Progress – The Focus on Focus Team was charged with examining all the gatekeeper courses and developing strategies for improving progress of students of
color.

Evaluation of Activity – Met but not by Equity staff.

Planned Activity 3

Create an Impact Team to inventory and evaluate support programs, analyze successful interventions and scale those appropriately to enhance persistence
and success.

Evidence of Progress: An Impact Team was not created. Equity staff met with RISE staff to look at the Students of Color Mentoring Program as well as some of the earlier mentoring programs. We examined and review data from these separate programs in the development of the Men of Excellence Program.

Evaluation of Activity – Partially Met.

Overall Evaluation of Goal 3: Partially Met

Ongoing Goal

Include this statement with changes to the language to focus on students of color and underrepresented populations. The new statement will read: “Students of color and traditionally underrepresented populations will persist and succeed at greater rates in order to achieve more equitable outcomes.” In addition, for all the goals in the 2020 Equity and Inclusion Plan add accountability and person(s) responsible.

Goal 4: Madison College engages the community in meaningful and authentic ways.

Planned Activity 1

Identify opportunities around each campus to increase collaborations and connections to the college by leveraging partnerships with community-based organizations, faith-based organizations, businesses, schools, and community centers.

Evidence of Progress – Equity staff organized Community Connections gatherings at Truax and all the regional campuses. Staff expanded collaborations with Community Based Organizations and Faith Based Organizations including them in Madison College Talks, Madison College Film Circles and other climate and culture programming.

Evaluation of Activity – Met

Planned Activity 2

Create a pipeline from middle school to Madison College through career exploration, mentorships, and academic readiness.

Evidence of Progress – Staff worked with recruiters to bring middle school students from MMSD for tours of the Truax campus. Staff worked with Greater Inter-Tribal Council to bring middle and high school students to learn about health careers.

Evaluation of Activity – Partially Met.

Planned Activity 3

Strengthen the pipeline from high schools to Madison College through career exploration, mentorships, and academic readiness including application and assistance with Scholars of Promise Program.

Evidence of Progress – When recruitment was under the Equity Office, we worked with SOP staff to increase presentations especially with CBOs and FBOs. Recruitment re-organized individual and group tours.

Evaluation of Activity – Partially Met.

Overall Evaluation of Goal 3: Partially Met

Ongoing Goal

This goal should not be included in the 2020 Equity and Inclusion Plan, but community collaborations should be added as an approach in other goals.