University of Cincinnati
PA-5: Diversity and Equity Coordination

The University of Cincinnati has a Division of Equity, Inclusion and Community Impact. This unit is staffed by a Vice President and houses four areas: the Office of Equity & Inclusion, the Office of Equal Opportunity & Access, the Office of Gender Equity & Inclusion, and The Cincinnati Ethics Center. The impact statement for the division is: “We work to bring out the best in our students, faculty, and staff by valuing their unique backgrounds, experiences and perspectives – welcoming and leveraging individual contributions to collaborate, create, innovate, and compete in a global society. We address issues of discrimination, harassment, sexual misconduct, and retaliation so members of our community can work, learn, grow and thrive in a safe and supportive environment. Ultimately, we aspire toward inclusive excellence by leading with courage and compassion, treating everyone with dignity and respect, and enhancing the quality of life for everyone with whom we connect.” Though each office has a different focus, there is alignment and synergy in practice. Each office provides programs and services to support the personal and professional development of students, faculty and staff. Two offices serve as the main complaint resolution areas for the university focused on addressing matters of discrimination and harassment. Each office has a team that either monitors or is engaged in practices to support our equity and inclusion efforts.

The Vice President convenes the university’s DEI Council. This is comprised of members of the President’s Cabinet or their designee. The DEI Council strives to build institution-wide capacity to accelerate our inclusion efforts. The Council will strive to create an environment that celebrates the rich backgrounds, perspectives and contributions of our students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members – developing a culture of inclusion, removing barriers, and providing opportunities to excel.

The Council is empowered to set its own annual agenda aligned with the Inclusive Excellence Framework and Next Lives Here. The Council may establish committees and the Chair may invite other members of the university community to serve on the committees. Products from the Council will be forwarded to the President’s Executive Committee or President’s Cabinet for information purposes, consideration, or endorsement.

The Council:
• Reviews climate, demographic, and project data to focus on trends and develop strategies for long-term positive change.
• Determines metrics and tracks our progress across several areas: DEI education; the recruitment, retention, and advancement of talent (students and employees); inclusive performance management; inclusion in the curriculum; alumni engagement and inclusive fundraising; and supplier diversity.
• Administers the Inclusive Leadership Challenge Grant program. This Presidential priority will provide transformational funding to promote opportunity, advancement, and parity within our university community.
• Develops a communications plan to share updates and receive feedback.

In addition to the university-wide DEI Council. The Office of Equity & Inclusion is in the process of reconvening the Student Diversity & Inclusion Council. The propose of the Council is to advocate for diverse voices, to create spaces for discussion in order to foster inclusion, to implement innovative approaches to promote equity on campus, and to develop a sense of community among all student at UC. see https://www.uc.edu/about/equity-inclusion/about/student-diversity.html

The Division Equity, Inclusion & Community Impact offers more than two dozen standard workshops and can customize workshops and experiences for colleagues and students based on college, unit, or organizational need. In general sessions run one to four hours, with team retreats as an option. Session topics range from DEI 101 and Creating a Culture of Respect to Exploring Implicit Bias and Creating a Culturally Responsive Classroom. The Division hosts an annual Equity & Inclusion Conference that features a keynote speaker, concurrent sessions, and the Marian Spencer Equity Ambassador Awards for students, faculty, and staff who exhibit whose inclusion efforts inclusion have positively impacted the university. In addition, the Office of Equity & Inclusion partnered with our Center for Organizational Leadership and the Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning to create the DEI Toolkit. The Toolkit is designed to not only reinforce or introduce participants to key terms and concepts but more importantly, it is designed to allow participants to look at diversity and inclusion on UC’s campus from the perspective of our students. As a facilitated experience, all the eight topics covered in the toolkit are real. They are based on critical incident research in which qualitative data were used to develop scripts and subsequently video reenactments of experiences our students had with faculty or other students on or near campus. (https://www.uc.edu/about/equity-inclusion/dei-toolkit.html)

The Office of Equal Opportunity & Access has several workshops focused on anti-harassment and non-discrimination and provides search committee education to colleagues. (https://www.uc.edu/about/equity-inclusion/equal-opportunity/education-workshops.html) In addition, the office developed an EOC Academy which is a nine-month cohort-based program designed to teach the fundamentals of equal opportunity, understanding and developing affirmative action plans, engaging in equitable hiring practices, writing inclusive job descriptions and creating objective scoring rubrics, developing succession plans, creating an inclusive culture, and supporting veterans in the workplace. Graduates are recognized during the annual Equity & Inclusion Conference hosted by the Division.

The Office of Gender Equity & Inclusion hosts workshops focused topics related to sex and gender as well as support resources for individuals who have experienced sexual harassment and discrimination. The office also hosts an annual Sex and Gender-based Misconduct Symposium which is designed to raise awareness about the programs and services provided through the office as well as to introduce campus and community partners to each other. (https://www.uc.edu/about/equity-inclusion/gender-equity/community-education.html)

Our Cincinnati Ethics Center leads several workshops that are external facing for high school students to help them work from an ethical framework and to develop critical thinking skills (https://www.cincyethics.org/students/high-school-ethics-lectures-and-workshops/). The Center also provides workshops for faculty and staff including Lesser-Known Cognitive Biases, Supremacy for Beginners, and Anti-racism as a Virtue. The following is a brief description of each.

Lesser-Known Cognitive Biases - Most work on cognitive bias focuses on Implicit Bias, but there are so many other cognitive biases that influence how we form judgments about people, how we form our own beliefs, and how we think about right and wrong action that negatively impact DEI goals. These biases also impact our ability to work across differences and have difficult conversations. This workshop introduces you to all those lesser-known biases as well as practical tips to help mitigate the effects of those biases.

Supremacy for Beginners - This session provides participants with a analogy to an experience that most participants will be familiar with that will help them understand concepts like “supremacy” in a way that will help them make sense of the ways in which those words are used today to talk about white supremacy and racism in America.

Anti-Racism as a Virtue - This session draws on some tools from philosophy and ethics; namely virtue theory to help participants appreciate key concepts and background assumptions of anti-racist work and make their own work a little easier.