State University of New York at Cortland
PA-6: Institutional Climate

Disability Resources Office:  The Disability Resources Office leads SUNY Cortland’s commitment to create a diverse, accessible, and socially just community that welcomes all students, whether or not they identify as disabled.  

Our transformational leadership includes:  

• Ensuring the lived experiences, goals, and aspirations of students are central to our work.

• Collaborating to eliminate barriers so all have equal access.

• Promoting disability as an aspect of diversity.  

• Challenging ableism and advocating for disability justice.  

• Backing students as they develop their disability identity and advocate for access, inclusion, and visibility.  

• Recognizing that students' disability identity is interconnected with their other identities. 

Students for Access and Ability in College: We aim to address the needs and concerns of the disability community as well as its allies on SUNY Cortland’s campus regarding all issues around disabilities. Club members strive to be mentors by starting meaningful conversations around the various struggles students who identify as having a disability deal with on campus. We promote an inclusive environment in our community by advocating for their rights, promoting on-campus resources, and educating everyone on the wide range of disabilities. 

Ally Development workshops, Re-Thinking Abilities: The mission of Re-Thinking Abilities is to educate and identify allies who promise to advocate and support all students of different abilities so that all individuals have an equal opportunity to be successful. By training individuals to be more inclusive and advocate for more accessible spaces, we hope to provide students with disabilities spaces where they feel welcome, included, and supported.

Institutional Equity and Inclusion Office- The mission of the Institutional Equity and Inclusion Office is to provide campus-wide leadership and support on matters relating to diversity, equity, and inclusion for all members of the SUNY Cortland Community. The IEI office supports the University's efforts to ensure that students, faculty, and staff learn and work in environments that actively promote a culture of inclusive excellence. 

• The goals of the Institutional Equity and Inclusion Office are to: 

• Ensure an institutional focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion
• Eliminate the systemic and historical barriers of discrimination in order to provide equal opportunity and education for all
• Foster a welcoming, engaging, and inclusive environment through the recruitment and retention of underrepresented and minoritized students, faculty, and staff that reflects the diversity of New York, the nation, and the world
• Address and respond to the goals of the SUNY System Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policy (2015) and the 25-point DEI Action Plan (2021) as well as develop, implement, and monitor the University's Strategic Diversity and Inclusion Plan
• Provide data that informs college decision-making on equity, and inclusion efforts
• Establish educational programs and initiatives on inclusive pedagogy, cultural competency, and equity-mindedness
• Celebrate and affirm the strengths of our vibrant, and diverse community. 

President's Council on Inclusive Excellence- 

• Purpose  

• The President’s Council on Inclusive Excellence is comprised of faculty, staff, and students who lead the process of ensuring that our community promotes inclusiveness in every aspect of college life. The Council works with President Bitterbaum, the Cabinet, and the Chief Diversity Officer to address institutional and system-wide diversity goals including but not limited to the planning and implementation of the College’s Strategic Diversity Plan.
• Mission 

• The primary charge of the Council is to review campus climate, recruitment and retention practices, curriculum, and community outreach efforts in order to recommend initiatives, policies, and procedures that will enable SUNY Cortland to achieve and sustain inclusive excellence. The scope of work includes one or more of the following: 

• Defining and articulating Inclusive Excellence as well as diversity terminology at Cortland;
• Proposing institutional policies, procedures, and practices on the use preferred pronouns and religious observances;
• Serving as a sounding board and provide recommendations on major college initiatives from a diversity lens/perspective;
• Requesting presentations and meetings with college officials regarding College and SUNY System updates on diversity;
• Preparing for incoming transfer and international students by improving intercultural competency on campus;
• Leveraging and increasing the visibility of courses, programs, resources, and opportunities within the college that are already promoting inclusivity;
• Sponsoring and hosting major workshops, trainings, or speakers on diversity;
• Conducting diversity climate assessments to provide a baseline against which to measure future progress toward inclusive excellence on campus. 

Anti-Racism Task Force 

• Mission Statement  

• To proactively identify and address matters related to racism on campus that serve as barriers or inhibitors of maximum academic, social and personal success for our BIPOC students. Furthermore, we strive to contribute to the creation of a campus climate that is socially and racially inclusive, diverse and just for ALL our students. We intend to fulfill this mission through:   

• Education: Developing tools and appropriate methods for educating our campus on issues of racism and ways to properly address these matters in an anti-racist manner  

• Multimedia and Communications: Creating content that is inclusive and represents all our students equally and properly. Using all forms of media in communicating information that addresses racism head-on and sustains anti-racist practices  

• Policies and Procedures: Identifying policies that may contain racially bias and racially charged implications that consistently affect our BIPOC students, faculty and staff negatively. Reviewing and identifying policy and procedures that may not support, protect and benefit the welfare and interests of our students, particularly our underrepresented students.   

• Data collection/Analysis: forming to help focus on helping the other sub-committees measure the impacts of their initiatives. The idea behind this is we want to be able to communicate what we're doing to make Cortland a more inclusive and Anti-Racist community and the data to back up the improvements—or actions that had inadvertent negative impacts and should be changed or avoided. 

Intergroup Dialogue 

• We welcome all faculty, staff and community members to participate and sign up for any of the intergroup dialogue sessions. Dialogues assist participants in enhancing their skills in the area of multicultural competency development, cross-cultural communications, problem solving, teamwork and collaboration. 

Multicultural Male Initiative

• Purpose
  
  
• The Multicultural Male Initiative (MMI) was created to help men of color (African American, Asian, Latino, Native American, Native Hawaiian, and Alaska Native) access education, stay in school, and graduate. MMI provides academic help, career development and mentoring. The program's goal is to support the success of men of color in both their college and career paths. MMI does this by taking a holistic approach that encourages a sense of brotherhood and community through cultural awareness and identity development.

Multicultural Life and Diversity Office plays a crucial role in fostering a living, learning and working environment that encourages all members of the SUNY Cortland campus to engage in promoting dialogue, collaboration, and community building around the intersections of personal and social identities in relation to diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice. It is through these efforts that we strive to empower and educate students, faculty, staff, and the greater Cortland community with skills and knowledge to advance their personal, cultural, intellectual, and social development to work towards building a more inclusive campus climate.

Voice Office - a physical space in the Corey Student Union which culturally based clubs can hold weekly meetings. It also serves as a safe space on campus. 12 active culturally based organizations meet in that space for the meetings. 

Kente is a celebration for graduating seniors to symbolize and commemorate the rite of passage for learners and scholars who are transitioning from institutions of higher learning to the next chapter of their lives. The Kente Celebration has deep institutional history and is an important experience for our multicultural students.

Ally Development workshops, Understanding and Advocating for Racial Justice Workshop- workshop with the goal to help educate the campus community on how to better understand racial injustice and how to be better allies and advocates for people of color. The learning objectives are:

• To spend time examining our own racial identities and experiences
• To be able to identify our triggers and challenges around issues of race and racism
• To accumulate tools that better prepare us to engage others in conversations about race and racism

Annual Diversity Conference - student run and lead, presentation done by students, bring in key note speaker, all day event on a Saturday, teach each other 

Cortland LSAMP: The Central New York Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) program assists universities and colleges in their efforts to significantly increase the numbers of students matriculating into and successfully completing high quality degree programs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines in order to diversify the STEM workforce. Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation were created by the NSF in 1991 to diversify the nation’s STEM workforce by increasing the number of STEM degrees awarded to historically underrepresented people, including those who identify as African American, Hispanic American, American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian and Native Pacific Islander.

BLM Mural Committee: To plan, organize and implement a Black Lives Matter mural on campus.

Black Student Union: The Black Student Union critically centers on raising awareness of social, cultural, and political phenomena in the Black community and in the African diaspora. With an emphasis on social justice and inclusivity, their goal is to empower our students with new knowledge and perspectives on Black people's experiences within the diaspora while providing a safe space where students can enjoy hanging out and getting to know others like themselves. Their goal is to educate themselves and the SUNY Cortland community through discussions including race, racism, and mass incarceration. 

Caribbean Student Association- CSA strives to promote political and cultural awareness among all Caribbean students, as well as others that are not of Caribbean descent. Their motto “Oceans divides us, but our culture unites us” shows their dedication to promoting unity and family amongst our community on campus. Their meetings serve as a social, educational, and supportive service for everyone, with an emphasis on educating on Caribbean history and culture. Members are able to share their ideas and experiences and learn about current events pertaining to the Caribbean and the campus. It will also benefit everyone and help build a sense of community. 

Curly Kinky Coily is a club where SUNY Cortland students can come together to have a good discussion about hair and just to express viewpoints on the various topics. They encourage using your voice to be heard and to learn from our many experiences that we receive while living in this society as young adults with natural hair. 

La Familia Latina: Our mission is to educate SUNY Cortland students about Latino culture including its core values. We seek to promote the core values of the Latino culture which are Respecto (Respect), Aprecio (Appreciation), Humildad (Humbleness), Confianza (Trust) y Unidad (Unity). We stress the total development of all our members with a sense of Familia. Our vision is to create a safe environment open to everyone and create a united family of different cultural backgrounds 

Minority Association of Pre-Medical/Pre-Health Students (MAPS)- the group's mission is to provide a community for the underrepresented student in the health care field by providing the knowledge and experience to flourish in the post baccalaureate world. We help our members gain opportunities for community service, research, internships, CPR/First aid certifications and more.

Men of Value and Excellence

SUNY Cortland NAACP: The mission of the NAACP Youth & College Division shall be to inform youth of the problems affecting African Americans and other racial and ethnic minorities; to advance the economic, education, social and political status of African Americans and other racial and ethnic minorities and their harmonious cooperation with other peoples; to stimulate an appreciation of the African Diaspora and other people of color’s contribution to civilization; and to develop an intelligent, effective youth leadership. 

Pan African Student Association: PASA, strives to raise awareness about African communities throughout the diaspora. PASA focuses on providing a supportive and welcoming environment through the promotion of the traditions and history of African Americans in the United States, people of African descent, and those of different ethnicities and background. Our goal is to provide a supportive and welcoming environment for all SUNY Cortland students, faculty, and staff and the broader community. In this organization we want to promote an understanding of and respect for diversity, multiculturalism and equity issues through fun and engaging events and activities which provide opportunities for cultural enrichment of all students, faculty, and staff. We would like to encourage African American students to have a growing sense of pride and dignity based on their rightful cultural heritage, and to assist them in acquiring a growing cultural awareness. We hope to educate our members then challenge them to act both internally and externally. Essentially, we would like to create unity amongst the different types of people on campus, reflecting on our shared characteristics and differences.

Women of Color: a multicultural club on campus that focuses on reaching issues pertaining to all women of every color.  We hold weekly meetings that encourage discussion, breakdown stereotypes, and build sisterhood.    

• Female Force: The focus of Female Force is to EMPOWER individuals through health & fitness. ALL are welcome to join our discussions regarding the issues & stigma women face in the world of fitness.  

• Student Veterans and Military Club: The mission of the Student Veterans and Military Club (SVMC) is to foster collaboration between students and the community while upholding the values of honor, courage, integrity, and selfless service. Our purpose is to provide a sense of camaraderie for all past, present, future military, their dependants, people with military interests, and the community, all while continuing the mission of service. 

• Lambda Sigma Upsilon Latino Fraternity, Inc.
• Hellenic Society: The Hellenic Society at SUNY Cortland provides a place to celebrate Hellenism and the Eastern Orthodox Religion. It's a place where Greeks and non-Greek can come together to immerse themselves in Hellenism through cultural events, networking opportunities, and fundraising events. Come join and keep Greek culture alive at SUNY Cortland.
• Non-Traditional Students Organization: NTSO encourages students to attend social and information events to engage with other adult students and feel engaged on campus.

• Veterans Affairs  - SUNY Cortland is proud to support the educational goals of our students and families who have served their country. The Student Accounts Office provides information and assistance with certification paperwork for Veterans Affairs educational benefits. All students eligible for VA Education Benefits must file application forms with the VA Certifying Official according to their specific situations.

Anti-Racism Task Force 

• Mission Statement  

• • To proactively identify and address matters related to racism on campus that serve as barriers or inhibitors of maximum academic, social and personal success for our BIPOC students. Furthermore, we strive to contribute to the creation of a campus climate that is socially and racially inclusive, diverse and just for ALL our students. We intend to fulfill this mission through:   

• • Education: Developing tools and appropriate methods for educating our campus on issues of racism and ways to properly address these matters in an anti-racist manner  

• • Multimedia and Communications: Creating content that is inclusive and represents all our students equally and properly. Using all forms of media in communicating information that addresses racism head-on and sustains anti-racist practices  

• • Policies and Procedures: Identifying policies that may contain racially bias and racially charged implications that consistently affect our BIPOC students, faculty and staff negatively. Reviewing and identifying policy and procedures that may not support, protect and benefit the welfare and interests of our students, particularly our underrepresented students.   

• • Data collection/Analysis: forming to help focus on helping the other sub-committees measure the impacts of their initiatives. The idea behind this is we want to be able to communicate what we're doing to make Cortland a more inclusive and Anti-Racist community and the data to back up the improvements—or actions that had inadvertent negative impacts and should be changed or avoided.

President's Council on Inclusive Excellence- 

• Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE) Committee: The mission of the SOGIE is to foster a safe and positive environment for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) communities at the State University of New York College at Cortland. The committee provides advocacy and supports the development of curriculum, scholarship, events and programs that are both educational and social and are designed to cultivate positive attitudes toward LGBTQ individuals and issues. 

• • This committee: 

• • • Will provide advocacy for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals to make it possible for LGBTQ individuals to benefit from a positive personal and professional experience while members of the of the SUNY Cortland community. 

• • • Will encourage full implementation of the New York State law and the SUNY Cortland policies barring discrimination and harassment on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression. 

• • • Will recommend plans and policies that promote diversity and mutual respect. 

• • • Will explore ways of expanding the curriculum to include opportunities for scholarly research and teaching in the area of LGBTQ issues and other ways to support intellectual activities in these areas. 

• PRODIG+ (Promoting Recruitment, Opportunity, Diversity, Inclusion and Growth): 

  • Diversity, equity, and inclusion is one of SUNY's four priority pillars and integral to all that we do. As part of this commitment, SUNY is working to increase the number of excellent diverse faculty committed to advancing the ideals of diversity, equity, and inclusion who are selected for and excel in tenure-track positions. PRODiG+ (Promoting Recruitment, Opportunity, Diversity, Inclusion and Growth) will create a pipeline for over 400 postdoctoral fellows to enter tenure-track faculty positions at State-operated campuses over the next 10 years.

  • PRODiG+ focuses on two goals: (1) increasing the number and share of excellent diverse faculty committed to advancing the ideals of diversity, equity, and inclusion; and (2) strengthening the pipeline for retention and support of these candidates.

• PRODiG Committee

  • Chair: Andrea Lachance

  • Members: 8

  • Meeting frequency: As needed

  • Charge: Develop, implement and oversee a plan for increasing diversity of our faculty in line with the guidelines of SUNY System Promoting Recruitment, Opportunity, Diversity, Inclusion and Growth (PRODiG) program.

• Ally Development Workshop, SafeZone Workshop, particpants of this workshop will:
  • Gain a general understanding of core tenets and language within the LGBTQ+ community. ​
  • Form an understanding of inclusive language and practices needed to build allyship skills for the LGBTQ+ community. ​
  • Form an understanding of what it means to be in the role as an ally to the LGBTQ+ in the context of your own identities.