Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) is publicly appreciated for its commitment to diversity, inclusion and equity. Many of its outward facing initiatives are designed to explore how its diverse student population and the cultural wealth of the diverse communities which these students represent are celebrated and supported through curricular and co-curricular policies and practices. The College’s current goals include a commitment to “advance diversity, inclusion and equity in all areas of the College and integrate the cultural wealth of our students, faculty, staff and communities into the life of the institution.” However, only two of the six strategies intended to support achieving this goal point inward to the exploration of the College’s internal culture and related policies and practices. While the College is committed to assuring that diversity is promoted “in all areas of the College Workforce” and that the campus community is “rooted in collaboration, inclusivity and engagement,” there has yet to be a coherently organized and sequenced college-wide effort to articulate how diversity, inclusion and equity are manifested in how the College currently does its work internally. The recent creation of a campus-wide Equity Work Group (EWG) during the Spring of 2018 initiates this work by articulating a concerted three-year process to (1) assess the current climate, culture and structures of the campus; (2) design a planned sequence of strategies to align these three aspects of the College so they are grounded in commonly shared definitions and values of diversity, equity and inclusion; and (3) assure that an administrative infrastructure is identified to implement, assess, develop and sustain the outcomes of its work.
Strategies
Under the leadership of the EWG, the College will:
Year One
- Develop a Leadership Profile for a Chief Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Officer to guide the next phase of the College’s work toward equity, inclusion and economic justice through education;
- Participate in a campus-wide self-assessment of the status of equity, diversity and inclusion on campus;
- Define a range of professional development goals and related outcomes based on analysis of campus-wide self-assessment and climate survey; and identify appropriate in-house and off-campus resources to design activities that address them; and
- Assess progress during monthly meetings and assure communication with campus at large is an ongoing progress.
Years Two and Three
- Modify strategic plan and assess progress in order to modify goals and outcomes; and
- Define professional development calendar for campus constituencies based on modified plan.
Equity Work Group (EWG) Progression Timeline
Spring 2018
“Call To Action”
President requests volunteers in forming the Steering Committee of the Equity Work Group (EWG) with two subcommittees:
- Leadership Profile for the Director of Diversity & Inclusion
- Climate Assessment & Professional Development
Summer 2018
- Identified Lead Consultant
- Developed Scope of Work for Consultant
- Meeting with Consultant and Co-chairs of Steering Team
Fall 2018
- Meetings with Consultant and Full EWG Steering Team to define the purpose of the group, clarify roles of the group and consultant, and develop strategies for reaching goals
Spring 2019
- Off-Campus, full-day action planning meeting
- Subcommittee monthly meetings
- Additional subcommittee added, “Infrastructure & Sustainability,” for a total of three subcommittees