Southern Illinois University Carbondale
PA-6: Support for Underrepresented Groups

The first 3 paragraphs of the policy are included here. The rest of the policy can be found at this website: https://policies.siu.edu/personnel-policies/chapter4/ch4-all/discrimination-sexualharassmentprocedures.php

It is the policy of Southern Illinois University that all students, faculty, staff, and guests should be able to enjoy and work in an educational environment free from discrimination, and harassment. Discrimination against any person or group of persons based on race, color, national origin, ancestry, religion, sex, sexual orientation including gender identity, marital status, age, physical or mental disability, military status, unfavorable discharge from military service, or veteran's status is specifically prohibited in the Southern Illinois University community. This policy on non-discrimination and non-harassment reaffirms Southern Illinois University's commitment to maintain an environment in which ideas are pursued free of intimidation or fear, and the Policy applies to admissions, employment, access to and treatment in all University programs and activities.
Discriminatory harassment includes, but is not limited to, conduct (oral, written, graphics or physical) directed against any person or group of persons because of race, color, national origin, ancestry, religion, sex, sexual orientation including gender identity, marital status, age, physical or mental disability, military status, unfavorable discharge from military service, or veteran's status that has the purpose of or reasonably foreseeable effect of creating an offensive, demeaning, intimidating or hostile environment for that person or group of persons. Such conduct includes but is not limited to objectionable epithets demeaning depictions or treatment and threatened or actual abuse or harm.
Harassment of any kind is strictly prohibited and may also be a violation of federal and or state laws. Each Chancellor is authorized to develop or use existing procedures for his or her respective campuses to address discrimination and harassment.

SIU’s Bias Incident Team is a collaborative team that is activated to respond to a bias event. Typically, the team is initiated within the areas of the Department of Public Safety and Student Affairs. When a bias incident has been reported, the leaders of these two campus units typically meet to review the incident to determine which other campus stakeholders should be present as part of the bias incident’s response team. This group considers support and action for those who have experienced, witnessed, or otherwise been impacted by a bias incident.
The Student Affairs division includes key stakeholders including the Office of the Dean of Students, University Housing, Student Rights and Responsibilities, Student Health Services (including Counseling and Psychological Services), and the Multicultural Resource Center. Other campus stakeholders include the University Affirmative Action Office, the Office of Equity and Compliance, the Crisis Violence Prevention Committee, the Center for International Education, and the Threat Assessment Team (for physical incidents).
• The Dean of Students office typically works on an immediate response to determine what to do for the community. Stakeholders may include those mentioned above, as well as the Office of the Associate Chancellor for Diversity.
• The Office of Equity and Compliance investigates complaints of discrimination based on any protected class status. Procedures followed describing the investigation process can be found at https://policies.siu.edu/personnel-policies/chapter4/ch4-all/discrimination-sexualharassmentprocedures.php.
• The University Affirmative Action Office works with Office of Equity and Compliance as needed when those investigations are related to applications, employment, promotions, etc.
 After investigations are complete, if a faculty or staff member is found in violation, they will be sanctioned by a Vice Chancellor level representative. However, sometimes, individuals do not want an investigation because it gets resolved by the unit and a request for trainings may occur, instead. Using an example from a past incident, an employee may be required to complete a series of diversity trainings over a defined period of time. In this example, the Office of the Associate Chancellor for Diversity may become involved to support training needs.
• Student Rights and Responsibilities is involved if there is a need for the incident to go through the student conduct process.
• If there is a threat to the campus as a whole, more members of the campus police would also be involved.
-Other committees/groups which may be involved to respond to discrimination include:
• The ADA Advisory Committee, which reviews issues with ADA accommodations.
• The Crime Balance prevention committee may become involved after the fact to understand and potentially follow-up in other longer-term ways.
• If the incident includes a campus staff member represented by a union, a labor representative may be included.
• If the incident involves students who live on campus, the Director of Housing may be involved.

Please see the attachment below for supplementary information on how SIU Carbondale supports those who have experienced or witnessed a bias incident, act of discrimination or hate crime.

Students:
The Undergraduate Admissions office has efforts to recruit students from underrepresented groups. We do this by ensuring we visit high schools and community colleges that serve underrepresented populations. We also host groups on campus for daily and overnight visits that serve underrepresented students such as Upward Bound programs and students from schools serving underrepresented populations. We ensure that we have staff who are bilingual in Spanish and English to serve families who may speak English as a second language. We partner with community based organizations, such as Target HOPE, that serve populations that are typically underrepresented in higher education. For students who are economically disadvantaged, we offer application processing fee waivers. [Submitted by Jennifer DeHaemers, Associate Chancellor for Enrollment Management]
Faculty/Staff: All faculty and staff vacancies are advertised in venues (e.g. trade magazines, websites, journals) which target an underserved audience. The University Affirmative Action Office monitors all recruitment and hire actions and evaluates them for compliance with applicable state and federal requirements. The UAAO also evaluates recruitment efforts for effectiveness and recommends changes based on best practice and research. As a Federal Contractor, SIU prepares an annual Affirmative Action Plan which examines the institution’s progress toward equal representation of women, minorities, veterans, and people with disabilities in our workforce.[Submitted by Ashley Followell, Equal Opportunity Officer, University Affirmative Action Office]

Students:
1-The Student Multicultural Resource Center at SIU Carbondale serves and supports all students. The Center houses the Black Resource Center, the Hispanic/Latino Resource Center, the LGBTQ Resource Center, and the Women's Resource Center. The Center also offers programming related to Heritage and History Months.
2-The Graduate Dean’s Fellowship (GDF) is designed for individuals from underrepresented groups who have overcome social, cultural, or economic conditions. Awards will be given to students who are qualified by the usual indicators of promise for success in graduate study. When awarded, the Graduate School will enter into an arrangement with participating departments to provide a student with funding for two consecutive years. During year one, the Graduate School will fund the award for eleven (11) months as a fellowship. During year two, the academic department will fund the award as an assistantship appointment for nine (9) months. The Graduate Dean’s Fellowship is a two-year award for new and continuing students who have been unconditionally admitted to either a master’s or doctoral degree program.
The website URL:
https://gradschool.siu.edu/_common/documents/cost-and-financial-assistance/2020-GDF-Guidelines.pdf
3-The PROMPT Program (Proactive Recruitment of Multicultural Professionals for Tomorrow) is an initiative developed by the Graduate School of Southern Illinois University (SIU) to increase the number of individuals receiving advanced degrees in the United States from families which have traditionally not had access to the opportunities of higher education and who, through their life and/or cultural experiences, have unique and potentially positive contributions to make to the program, the discipline, and in the larger academic community. Website URL: https://gradschool.siu.edu/_common/documents/cost-and-financial-assistance/2020-PROMPT-Guidelines.pdf
4-In addition, there are a number of external funding sources which are specifically for study abroad or which may be used for that purpose. This includes Diversity Abroad Scholarships: where scholarships available through this site are for semester and summer terms and are associated with many programs with which SIU works. Economically disadvantaged students, African-American, Asian-American, Hispanic/Latino and Native-American students are strongly encouraged to apply. For more information, visit www.diversityabroad.com/scholarships
SIU website URL: https://cie.siu.edu/sa/getting-started/sa-funding/external-scholarships.php

Faculty:
1-The Underrepresented Tenure Track Faculty Program provides guidance and assistance to new minority faculty in navigating the ropes of the tenure track line. With the increase of a diverse society, particularly in the state of Illinois, it is imperative that our higher education institutions reflect this increase. Therefore, one goal of Southern Illinois University Carbondale is to continue to support the hiring of underrepresented faculty with a major focus on tenure, promotion, and retention. The mission of the Underrepresented Tenure Track (URTT) Program is to provide the assistance needed to accomplish that goal. Doing so would have a positive impact on the retention of students from diverse population and university inclusiveness."
The website URL: https://oacd.siu.edu/tenure-track.php
2-Every three years, SIU Carbondale awards two fellowships to minority tenure or tenure-track faculty through the Judge William Holmes Cook Quasi-Endowment. Judge Cook, a former SIU Carbondale student, had a long and distinguished legal career. His estate provides three years of funding for the fellows for the purpose of increasing and maintaining racial and ethnic diversity on campus. The website URL: https://oacd.siu.edu/cookprofessionals/

Diversifying Higher Education Faculty in Illinois Program (DFI) is a program for graduate students with aspirations of becoming future faculty. This program provides financial assistance to students during graduate school. The financial assistance is forgiven when the student becomes employed by an Illinois college/university. For more than 21 years, the DFI program and its predecessor programs have provided competitive need-based financial awards to underrepresented students who have earned graduate degrees (master’s or doctoral) from a participating Illinois higher education institution. The DFI Program annually provides competitive fellowship awards to over 100 Illinois minority graduate students. The program aids students to complete graduate degrees (master’s or doctoral) leading to a faculty or staff position at Illinois higher education institutions. Applicants must be enrolled full time in order to be eligible for a DFI award. Applicants must also meet some eligibility criteria.
The website URL: https://oacd.siu.edu/dfi.php

More links:
https://smrc.siu.edu/lgbtq/resources/

Support for responses received as noted above or here:
-Non-Discrimination Statement - Office of Associate Chancellor for Diversity (Todd Bryson)
-Bias Response Team - Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, Office of Equity and Compliance, University Affirmative Action Office, Dean of Students Office
-Recruitment Programs - Associate Chancellor for Enrollment Management (Jennifer DeHaemers), Office of the Provost (contact: David L Dilalla), and University Affirmative Action Office (contact: Ashley Followell)
-Mentoring, Counseling and Support Programs - Office of the Provost
-Support for Future Faculty - Office of the Provost
-Optional Fields - Student Multicultural Resource Center