Keene State College
PA-5: Diversity and Equity Coordination

Keene State College’s Diversity & Multiculturalism Office “provides institutional leadership of diversity initiatives; policy and practice development; programming; recruitment and retention efforts of underrepresented faculty, staff, and students; and creation of a strategic inclusive excellence plan for the campus.” https://www.keene.edu/campus/diversity/office/
The Office of Multicultural Student Support and Success (OMSSS) provides opportunities for students to honor their authentic selves by facilitating exploration of their role in, and responsibilities to, local and global communities.
Keene State also has a Title IX Office and Title IX Coordinator, to organize the College’s response to incidents of sexual assault, gender-based harassment, and dating or domestic violence; with the directive of ensuring compliance with federal law and state statutes, while helping to ensure fair, equitable, and prompt grievance procedures.
A summary of actions across the campus to improve KSC's culture and to assure we provide a safe, welcoming, student‐centered community are provided in "Additional documentation to support the submission."

Keene State College offers a variety of cultural competence trainings and activities. Some of which include: speaker series, workshops (co-sponsored by employee or student groups), and film series. In addition, the Counseling Center and other student support services are working specifically to address the cultural differences and needs of students from diverse backgrounds. Discussions occur in faculty meetings, staff meetings, and during the President’s cabinet meetings to ensure Keene State is actively engaged in equitable practices. Various staff groups including student staff (resident assistants, orientation leaders, student center staff) are provided with opportunities to participate in diversity, equity, and cultural workshops throughout the academic year. Incoming students are required to attend a session during orientation that has a focus on living and learning in a diverse setting. Student athletes have participated in workshops related to diversity, inclusion, or equity. In August 2015, Keene State College launched the option allowing all students to indicate their chosen first name regardless of whether or not they have legally changed their name. (https://www.keene.edu/campus/diversity/chosen-names/) . The “Safe Space” training team provides workshops to faculty, staff, and students in order to promote a welcoming and rich campus community across all genders, sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions. Residential life on campus has a fairly robust program associated with diversity and equity training and opportunities. Human Resources works closely with the Office of Diversity and Multiculturalism during the employee search process and to provide workshop and training opportunities for employees.
Keene State promotes an open and inclusive environment, and supports students through groups like KSC College Pride and Common Ground Multicultural Club. (https://www.keene.edu/campus/diversity/pride/) (https://www.keene.edu/campus/diversity/common-ground/)
A summary of of some of these actions is provided in "Additional documentation to support the submission."

Julia Yates, Sustainability Associate, compiled information for this section's responses from the Keeene State College website and through consultation with Dottie Morris, Associate Vice President for Institutional Diversity and Equity.