Initiatives of The Plan for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Colgate will make use of both the quantitative data from the HEDS Sexual Assault Survey, and the stories shared by survivors through various channels to develop new programs and/or refine existing programs for preventing sexual violence and addressing the contexts in which it occurs on and around campus.
- Responsible: Counseling center, Office of Institutional Analysis, Dean of the college division, Haven
- Target date: By summer 2021
Colgate will continue its subsidy for online counseling sessions with counselors of color at any time the demand for such counselors exceeds the available supply.
- Responsible: Counseling center, dean of the college division
- Target date: Ongoing
Given the importance of the athletics environment in shaping the experience of student-athletes, the division of Physical Education, Recreation, and Athletics (PERA) will provide a consistently available space for student-athletes of color and other historically underrepresented identities and regular opportunities to provide feedback regarding their experiences at Colgate.
- Responsible: Physical education, recreation and athletics division
- Target date: By spring of 2020
Because Community Leaders (CLs) play a crucial role in shaping the experience of students, and particularly new students, the Office of Residential Life will provide expanded training and development opportunities to support CLs in building community among diverse groups of residents. (This training might well be appropriate for other student leaders as well, including Link staff and departmental ambassadors.) This training will meet the standards defined in Appendix A of this planning document.
- Responsible: Residential life, dean of the college division
- Target date: Already begun; details to be shared in first DEI report in the summer of 2020.
The ALANA Cultural Center will continue to expand on programming designed to help students from historically underrepresented groups to thrive, including programming aimed at building the skills and strengths of self-care (e.g., the recently launched Thrive Lunch), and funding will be secured to support these efforts.
- Responsible: ALANA Cultural Center
- Target date: Immediately and ongoing
Colgate will develop and implement a marketing strategy that fosters an inclusive gameday experience at all competition venues, including but not limited to announcer training on inclusive communication, ethnically diverse entertainment and other affinity-oriented events.
- Responsible: Physical education, recreation and athletics division
- Target date: Over the course of the 2019-2020 academic year
The Office of Advancement will seek to identify resources to endow the emergency student aid fund currently administered through the office of Undergraduate Studies (OUS), so that it can be reliably available when students need its support. The Office of Financial Aid will work closely with the administrators of this fund to ensure that disbursements are compliant with federal regulations and do not have a negative impact on students who receive them in terms of their eligibility for federal aid.
- Responsible: Admission and financial aid division; Office of Advancement
- Target date: As soon as possible
Colgate will support the work of the ad hoc group working to strengthen support for undocumented students in a period of shifting federal immigration policy. Colgate will also create resource materials for our international community (including faculty, students, and staff) as regulations evolve.
- Responsible: Senior adviser to the president, Office of International Student Services (OISS), admission and financial aid division
- Target date: Begun; report on strategies by summer 2020
Colgate will provide dedicated funding to subsidize educational/disability testing for students of limited means.
- Responsible: Dean of the faculty division, dean of the college division
- Target date: 2020-2021
Not all parents or guardians of students at Colgate are equally able to engage with our campus. Colgate should develop supports for family members of limited means to engage with Colgate. This support could range from online groups for families to funding for a family member to visit campus. Programs should consider all the challenges to engagement facing some families, including resources, distance, single-parent status, visa status, etc.
- Responsible: Finance and administration division, communications division, dean of the college division, senior adviser to the president
- Target date: Resources to be made available beginning in academic year 2020-2021; funding as resources can be identified
The most heavily utilized social spaces on campus, the fraternity houses on Broad Street, are controlled by a minority of the student body. This produces an inequity in which some students feel excluded from social opportunities and others feel sole responsibility for hosting large-scale student events, a responsibility they are not always capable of managing well. Therefore, Colgate will develop a plan for expanding social space options available to all student groups, equal or superior in equipment and outfitting to the facilities now available.
- Responsible: Dean of the college division, Office of Advancement
- Target date: Ongoing
Inasmuch as limitations in the financial aid budget can make it impossible to admit some qualified students with significant need, Colgate will develop ambitious financial aid fundraising goals to increase our capacity to offer places to these students.
- Responsible: Office of Advancement
- Target date: Ongoing, with a focus on the upcoming campaign