Georgia State University
PA-4: Diversity and Equity Coordination

• The Diversity Strategic Plan Implementation Committee’s mission is to oversee implementation of the GSU Diversity Strategic Plan (DSP) and support the University’s overall diversity goals. This Committee meets bi-monthly or as necessary to discuss work that is being done to address the four goals identified in the Diversity Strategic Plan. Further, this Committee looks for possibilities for university-wide collaboration and discuss metrics that each area has identified as appropriate for the initiatives respective of their area responsibility. • The University Senate Cultural Diversity Committee’s purpose is to advise and make recommendations to the University Senate on any matters concerning cultural diversity. The duties of this committee shall include: 1. advocating equal treatment for the groups identified under the University Discriminatory Harassment Policy, which include race, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, national origin, and religion, and recommending ways in which the campus climate might be made more supportive of diversity; 2. reviewing the annual report by the Affirmative Action Office on faculty, student, and staff diversity, and providing an annual Cultural Diversity Report on campus progress and areas of concern to the Senate at the Spring meeting as well as to the Senate Executive Committee for referral to the appropriate standing committee(s); 3. supporting the continued diversity of incoming students and their retention by assisting the appropriate bodies; 4. assuring diversity in the recruitment and retention of staff at all levels; 5. disseminating information to the colleges as needed to implement their guidelines for recruiting and retaining underrepresented faculty; 6. advising the Senior Faculty Associate for Underrepresented Faculty on strategies for recruiting and retaining underrepresented faculty, and advising the Senior Faculty Associate for Women as needed; 7. reviewing and recommending changes in the University Harassment Policy and its implementation; and 8. participating in the development, review, and recommendation of changes in University policies supporting equal treatment for the groups identified above. • University Diversity Strategic Plan (UDSP) calls for the establishment of College and Library guidelines for the recruitment and retention of a diverse faculty. Special consideration should be given to those groups that are identified as historically underrepresented faculty. At the time of the 2011/16 Diversity Strategic Plan, all Colleges at Georgia State had approved Guidelines on the Recruitment of Ethnic Minority Tenure Track Faculty and two Colleges also had guidelines for their retention. The UDSP calls for these guidelines to be expanded to include other colleges, schools and the Library and should encompass the range of diversity defined in the UDSP.

The Office of Diversity Education Planning offers two core diversity awareness courses, Managing Yourself in a Diverse Workplace and Managing Others in a Diverse Workplace. Each of workshop is three hours in length. The Managing Yourself workshop engages participants in interactive learning exercises to increase self-awareness about their strengths and challenges around differences and similarities. Participants are required to take the Discovering Diversity Profile instrument before the workshop so that they will gain personal insight into their comforts and challenges regarding race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, culture, etc. The Managing Others workshop is designed for those who manage others. It explores cultural characteristics that are visible as well as those that are hidden and helps participants identify and begin to cultivate the diversity competencies needed to manage others more effectively in a diverse and global workplace. The Office of Diversity Education Planning has also developed a Workplace Inclusion & Global Competency Certificate Program which is designed to engage staff and administration (faculty and students may also participate) in courses and projects about the various dimensions of diversity identified in the university’s Diversity Strategic Plan 2011-2016. Additionally, the Office of Diversity Education Planning offers one-to-one consultations, small group consultations, departmental trainings, and collaborates with other offices on forums around diversity issues to spark courageous conversations for a culturally competent campus.

www.odaa.gsu.edu/diversity www.odaa.gsu.edu/profile/john-r-day-med/