Spotlights

During DEI 2.0, one main area of strategic focus will be reducing the burdens of responsibility on–and increasing recognition for–members of the Marsal community whose work makes the school more equitable and inclusive. In order to achieve that goal, the school will:

• Provide financial support for grassroots student-, faculty-, or staff-initiated and -led DEI activities
• Compensate student involvement in committee work related to DEI
• Establish baseline funding guidelines for university-designated student organizations in the Marsal School that focus on DEI-related issues

The school will also engage in an ongoing analysis of staff and faculty participation in internal service, awards/recognitions, and compensation across diverse social identity groups and will develop solutions to remedy potential inequities. Finally, Marsal will expand the physical space of its DEI Office to better accommodate and engage with individuals of diverse social identities.

As a first step, the library will create an action plan aimed at establishing a systematic approach to reparative redescription of Bentley collections and developing a process for identifying collections that have been created by or describe historically underrepresented and marginalized communities. Staff members will also investigate tools to help identify and prioritize finding aids in need of redescription and organize them in thematic groups.

Using professional best practices and guidelines, and when possible seeking advice from communities on- and off-campus, staff members will identify specific language and tone in legacy description that may cause harm. Offensive or outdated language will be replaced with community-accepted terminology. Staff will also provide historical context regarding potentially harmful original content found within the collections.

Throughout, staff members will be transparent and accountable, documenting their process, decisions and changes. Ultimately, this work will lead to the development of policies and local guidelines that directly support institutional commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

More than 29,000 participants completed the year one course, Building Toward Belonging: Implicit Bias Training. During 2023-2024, OHEI introduced the follow-up course Building Toward Belonging: Mitigating Bias for LGBTQIA+ Inclusion, as two self-guided modules. In all, 8,000+ Michigan Medicine community members completed that learning experience in the first month of its availability. In partnership with faculty and staff experts, OHEI has now begun developing a third course focused on how implicit bias impacts individuals and communities living with disabilities and chronic conditions. In coming years, this annually expanding DEI training series will continue to educate the entire Michigan Medicine community and will also fulfill state licensure requirements for many of our healthcare professionals.

During DEI 2.0, Student Life will invest in cultivating more equitable access to campus resources and opportunities. This will be achieved by gathering pertinent facts, incorporating existing reports and efforts, and developing strategic data collection mechanisms to help rethink existing policies and align them with current needs.

Year 1 will focus on advancing students’ awareness of and access to available opportunities. These efforts will generate a fact-based foundation for concrete actions during the next five years. Initiatives will include:

• Performing pilot audits to identify any barriers and uncover opportunities for enhancing equity in access to people, places, systems, and resources
• Conducting a review of any financial challenges in student organization programming and providing recommendations for policy, process and/or systems changes
• Assessing student experiences, particularly in marginalized campus communities
• Launching a group to recommend strategies for improving the experiences of LGBTQIA+ stakeholders
• Piloting a Conflict Resolution Liaison program with schools/colleges to deepen campus-wide competency and capacity for conflict resolution
• Identifying data that can inform our collective work

Universal Design is a systematic approach to accessibility across many contexts including physical spaces, learning environments, and communication and technology. In communications, the objective is to build in features and options that meet the needs of a wide range of individuals rather than requiring them to request specific accommodations to enable viewing, reading or listening.

In adopting Universal Design Standards in all communications and activities, UMSI is striving to broaden access and meet a wider array of individual needs, while still enabling individuals to request additional accommodations. During Year One of the DEI 2.0 plan, the school will develop, document and deploy caption/transcript standards for social video. Current compliance with Universal Design Standards will be measured as part of an accessibility review process, and best practices will be shared across the school.

Originally adopted in 2022, Rackham’s Distressed or Disruptive Student Response Protocol aims to “provide guidance to staff and faculty who encounter students in distress while using Rackham facilities.” The purpose of the guide is to provide guidelines and practical tips on the signs of distress, how to respond to students in distress, and the appropriate resources for assistance.

As one of its priorities during DEI 2.0, Rackham will revisit its current Distressed or Disruptive Student Response Protocol and seek out ways to update and improve the content on a continuous basis, with the goal of assuring optimal outcomes.

As part of this effort, Rackham will seek to partner with relevant campus units such as Counseling and Psychological Services in order to educate its staff about QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) training and other techniques for supporting distressed students.