George Washington University
PA-6: Support for Underrepresented Groups

https://www.law.gwu.edu/nondiscrimination-and-affirmative-action-policies The George Washington University does not unlawfully discriminate against any person on any basis prohibited by federal law, the District of Columbia Human Rights Act, or other applicable law, including without limitation, race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression. This policy covers all programs, services, policies, and procedures of the university, including admission to education programs and employment. Inquiries concerning this policy and federal and local laws and regulations concerning discrimination in education and employment programs and activities may be directed to: Office of Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action Suite 320 2033 K Street, NW Washington, DC 20052 Phone: 202.994.9656 Inquiries may also be directed to the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or the applicable state or local agency (for example, the District of Columbia Office of Human Rights). Questions regarding protections against discrimination on the basis of sex may be directed to: Title IX Coordinator, the Vice Provost for Diversity and Inclusion 813 Rice Hall 2121 Eye Street, NW Washington, DC 20052 Phone: 202.994.7434 Questions regarding the protections against discrimination on the basis of disability may be directed to the university’s Disability Services Coordinators. Students may contact: The Associate Dean of Students Administrative Services Office of the Dean of Students 401 Rice Hall 2121 Eye Street, NW Washington, DC 20052 Phone: 202.994.6710 Other members of the university community may contact: The Executive Director of Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action Suite 320 2033 K Street, NW Washington, DC 20052 Phone: 202.994.9633 To request disability accommodations, students should contact the Office of Disability Support Services at 202.994.8250 or dss@gwu.edu. Employees and other members of the university community should contact the Office of Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action at 202.994.9656 or eeo@gwu.edu.

The university is an Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action (EEO/AA) employer committed to maintaining a non-discriminatory, diverse work environment. The university does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, or on any other basis prohibited by applicable law in any of its programs or activities. Staff who feel that they have experienced unfair treatment discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, veteran status, disability, marital status, personal appearance, sexual orientation, family responsibilities, political affiliation, educational matriculation, retaliation, or gender identity or expression, can file a grievance, and EEO will work with the employee and the department to attempt a resolution of the matter. The GW Office of Equal Employment Opportunity & Employee Relations (EEO/ER) provides a variety of consultative services to university staff. They assist with situations that involve allegations of unfair treatment, discrimination, affirmative action, and other issues that involve fairness, as well as with disability and religious accommodations. Consultative assistance is provided to staff through meetings, on-site visits, telephone support, educational outreach, mediation and referral. The university’s efforts to resolve discrimination grievances begin at the informal stage, which: provides an informal setting for the review of issues surrounding the grievance; provides a forum for the free exchange of concerns by parties involved in the grievance; promotes communications to establish better working relationships between parties involved in the grievance; and resolves the grievance at an early stage, if possible. If the grievance is not resolved during an informal hearing an employee has the option of requesting a formal hearing. Students who feel that they have experienced discrimination or bias and who need support can contact the CARE Network. The CARE Network is a cross-departmental support system which recognizes that student concerns are often multi-faceted. Students are connected to resources through inter-departmental collaboration to provide them with appropriate and personalized outreach. An online CARE report can be submitted to detail an incident of discrimination/bias. The student is contacted within 1-2 days of the report. If the report is an emergency, individuals can contact the University Police Department. Further, the Division of Student Affairs operates a 24/7 Administrator-on-Call Duty system for after-hours response to students in crisis, campus emergencies, and for situations that potentially compromise the health and safety of students. The full-time professional staff that serve in the on-call rotation provide emergency response after business hours to support on-campus and residential student communities. The administrators include an Area Coordinator on Duty, Director on Duty, Dean on Call, and Counselor on Duty. The focus of response efforts are to provide students with immediate access to essential resources and to coordinate follow-up with appropriate departments the following business day. The administrators on call work closely with campus partners including the George Washington University Police Department (GWPD), the Colonial Health Center, Facilities Services, and GW Housing, as appropriate. Any student in crisis or experiencing an emergency should immediately notify GWPD at (202) 994-6111. For 24/7 consultation with a professional counselor or for 24/7 medical advice, students can call the Colonial Health Center at (202) 994-5300. Through the university's Mental Health services, the university supports mental health and personal development by collaborating directly with students to overcome challenges and difficulties that may interfere with academic, emotional, and personal success. Counselors provide a safe, non-judgmental and confidential environment for students to discuss concerns. Mental Health services is committed to respecting and promoting the value of diversity at the university, as well as providing culturally sensitive mental health services to the GW community. Walk-in counseling periods are staffed with clinician who have specific and relevant expertise in areas of diversity. There are walk-in sessions for faith based, students of color, LGBTQAI+, Military affiliated students and International students. Within the previous three years, the University has improved in making this information readily accessible through the university's web page. Contact: Office of Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action, Division of Student Affairs Policies, procedures and programs addressing discrimination on the basis of sex, including relationship and sexual violence and stalking, can be found in the Threats and Violence Policy and Sexual Harassment and Sexual Violence Policy and Procedures, and the Annual Safety and Security Report. The latter includes information about all possible sanctions, interim academic measures, and prevention programming. Information about confidential reporting and on- and off-campus support services can be found on the newly-created one-stop shop HAVEN website and Sexual Assault Crisis Response (SARC) team website. Contact: Office of the Title IX Coordinator Contact for questions regarding the protections against discrimination on the basis of disability: Students - Associate Dean of Students, Administrative Services, Office of the Dean of Students. Other members of the university community may contact the Executive Director of Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action.

The undergraduate admissions office has a number of activities/programs that are designed to recruit diverse students. Departments are able to use recruitment portals that highlight underrepresented applicants to diversify the applicant pool. The University has a formal Opportunity Hiring Initiative that is designed to help hire outstanding individuals who are of special interest to the University, schools and departments and who will advance GW's goal of becoming an even more inclusive and increasingly excellent academic institution. The Initiative aspires to increase the number of diverse faculty by enabling departments to hire the top two candidates from a single search or enabling departments to recruit a senior distinguished scholar. Student recruitment: College Application Week Workshops: Admissions officers help local high school student complete college applications. Cisneros Institute: offers a pre-college program to high-school juniors, with consideration given to students of Hispanic heritage who are committed to leadership and service within the Hispanic community. The institute also provides scholarships to select GW students committed to leadership and community service with aspirations to give back to the Hispanic community STEM Pipeline Partnership:GW's College of Professional Studies (CPS) has partnered with Northern Virginia Community College to provide students with an affordable opportunity to pursue GW degrees in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields. Qualified students with a STEM associate’s degree can earn a bachelor’s degree through CPS and can potentially continue on to graduate study at GW. Upward Bounds: The GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences program provides free supplemental education, resources and opportunities for low-income, potential first-generation college students to facilitate their matriculation into a post-secondary institution.Posse Foundation:In partnership with the Posse Foundation, a nationwide college access and youth leadership development program, a group of students from Atlanta with extraordinary academic and leadership potential is offered full tuition to the university. Dual Enrollment with DCPS:GW partners with D.C. public schools to provide full tuition dual enrollment opportunities through the GW Early College Program. Students complete their final two years of high school while earning an Associate of Arts degree from GW. The university also funds tuition for high school students who enroll in GW courses through the Exposure and High School/College Internship Programs. Staff and Faculty recruitment: Departments work with our HR's Talent, Acquisition and Recruitment team to ensure postings are advertised widely in ensure a diverse applicant pool, including using a number of job advertising portals to recruit for positions such as, Hispanic Bar Assoc. and the Greater Washington Area Chapter, Women's Division of National Bar Assoc.,

The University's Multicultural Student Services Center (MSSC) offers support programs for underrepresented groups on campus. MSSC is GW's central resource of support for multicultural student communication, community building, and leadership. MSSC collaborates with faculty and major university offices to develop co-curricular and experiential learning opportunities for GW students to support the shaping of a campus climate that welcomes cultural, racial, ethnic, and intellectual diversity. The Center provides peer and professional staff, services, and other resources to support the academic, cultural, social, spiritual and professional growth of students as well as to enhance the retention, inclusion and increase in participation rates of students of color. MSSC sponsors RISE (a peer mentoring program), the Black Men's Initiative (a program geared to Black males at GW and the development of their complete selves), monthly cultural heritage celebrations, culture-centered activities, brown bag luncheons with faculty, a leadership series, lectures and other events to name a few that support the academic, social, intellectual and spiritual growth of underrepresented groups within the student body. The Center also offers specialized academic tracking and retention activities to support under represented communities. MSSC conducts a conversation series called “Diversity Dialogues” for students to discuss social justice, identity, race and ethnicity. The series will strengthen the dialogue about diversity and inclusion on campus. The University Counseling Center (UCC) provides list of resources regarding culture and mental health. The UCC also provides counseling consultations at the MSSC to provide insight, support and introduction to other support resources. The Office of Military and Veterans Affairs supports the learning, service, and excellence of students who are military members, veterans and military family members. The Office of Disability Support Services provides registration assistance, readers, interpreters, scribes, individualized learning specialist support, adaptive materials and equipment, assistance with note taking, laboratory and library assistance, and test accommodations for students with a range of disabilities In 2016, the university established an Enrollment Retention Office. The Enrollment Retention Office facilitates communication between academic advisers, financial aid administrators, faculty and other members of the GW community to ensure that the best possible institutional structures and support systems are in place to enhance the student experience. The Center for Student Engagement supports first generation and international college students through providing academic development and social programing and activities

The Provost’s Diversity Awards Program is a part of GW’s effort to sustain and strengthen the highest-quality student body, drawn from the widest possible variety of backgrounds and interests, with the capacity and desire to take the best advantage of a learning community that celebrates diversity. Provost’s Diversity Awards are for incoming Ph.D. students who intend study on the Foggy Bottom Campus to help recruit a diverse graduate student body to The George Washington University programs. These five-year academic year awards include annual stipends and/or assistantships and tuition credits. The form of the award, a stipend fellowship, a graduate assistantship or a graduate research assistantship, could vary from year to year, depending on the department’s and/or student’s need. The university established a Center for Undergraduate Fellowships & Research to provide GW undergraduates and alumni with information, guidance and support as they learn about and apply for research opportunities and national fellowship competitions. Several university offices offer a number of financial opportunities for underrepresented students to pursue and continue their higher education studies. Scholarship opportunities exist for military veteran’s and/or their spouses and students with disabilities.

https://mssc.gwu.edu/lgbtqia-resource-center https://living.gwu.edu/gender-neutral-housing http://students.gwu.edu/care http://hr.gwu.edu/colonial-community http://counselingcenter.gwu.edu/campus-and-community-resources http://military.gwu.edu/mission http://disabilitysupport.gwu.edu/ http://my.gwu.edu/files/policies/SexualHarassmentFINAL.pdf http://haven.gwu.edu/sexual-assault-response-consultative-sarc-team http://haven.gwu.edu/ http://living.gwu.edu/gender-neutral-housing http://counselingcenter.gwu.edu/outreach-prevention https://services.military.gwu.edu/ https://studentengagement.gwu.edu/first-generation-student-support http://hr.gwu.edu/eeo-statement https://compliance.gwu.edu/code-conduct-policies https://diversity.gwu.edu/title-ix-office