Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 60.97
Liaison Natalie Hayes
Submission Date Aug. 6, 2020

STARS v2.2

Bentley University
PA-5: Diversity and Equity Coordination

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.67 / 2.00 Natalie Hayes
Associate Director of Sustainability
Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1 

Does the institution have a diversity and equity committee, office, and/or officer tasked by the administration or governing body to advise on and implement policies, programs, and trainings related to diversity, equity, inclusion and human rights?:
Yes

Does the committee, office and/or officer focus on students, employees, or both?:
Both students and employees

None
A brief description of the diversity and equity committee, office and/or officer, including purview and activities:
Bentley has a robust Diversity Council which is comprised of staff members from throughout the campus who have explicit responsibility for diversity issues, the Diversity Council meets monthly to facilitate communication and collaboration, and develop input to senior administration. The Council serves as a resource to the community and administration to address issues that arise either on the general campus or in individual offices.

The Office of Diversity & Inclusion is responsible for fostering an inclusive community by leveraging interactions between offices, educating the entire community and working to increase the diversity at all levels of the University. While the office coordinates university-wide, diversity-related programs and initiatives, many other departments, centers, offices, and organizations at Bentley contribute to improving the diversity climate through varied and persistent efforts.

Part 2 

Estimated proportion of students that has participated in cultural competence, anti-oppression, anti-racism, and/or social inclusion trainings and activities:
Most

Estimated proportion of academic staff that has participated in cultural competence, anti-oppression, anti-racism, and/or social inclusion trainings and activities:
Most

Estimated proportion of non-academic staff that has participated in cultural competence, anti-oppression, anti-racism, and/or social inclusion trainings and activities:
Most

If trainings are made available, provide:

A brief description of the institution’s cultural competence, anti-oppression, anti-racism, and/or social inclusion trainings and activities:
Faculty and Staff
Diversity Training Retreats: The diversity retreat has been offered annually since in August 1993. The Diversity Task Force that was developing a strategic plan for diversity at Bentley recommended the first retreat. Following that retreat the President’s Cabinet decided that similar experiences should be made available to all members of the staff and faculty. The college has sponsored retreats every year since then in which approximately 75% of the staff and almost half of the faculty have participated.

The retreat includes a two-hour session on campus, followed by 2 days (8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.) at a nearby off-campus conference facility. The retreat focuses specifically on the issues of nationality, race, gender and sexual orientation by way of discussion and introductions to ongoing support networks.

Students
The opportunities for students include Freshman Year Seminar (FYS) and other classes and diversity and inclusion training for all Residential Assistants. FYS, a required course for Freshmen, includes learning objectives which focus on multicultural aspects. When students partake in Service Learning, they are given diversity and equality training as well.

In the Fall of 2016 the Office of Diversity and Inclusion has launched a Bentley Brave initiative to continue the work that our campus community has done to examine difference among people. Bentley Brave, is a series of events and programs offered to provide meaningful opportunities in our community for education, conversation and reflection on topics like race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, ability, and socio-economic status.

Minors at Bentley include Diversity and (In)Equality.

Optional Fields 

Website URL where information about the institution’s diversity and equity office or trainings is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Bentley Brave website: http://www.bentley.edu/offices/diversity-inclusion/bentley-brave

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.