From the Dean: DEI updates
For approximately a year, a committee has been working to chart a path forward for the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. The committee initially came together due to a leadership vacancy in the office to take stock of where we have been and where we want to go as a college. As part of its work, the committee reviewed past activities of the DEI office; examined activities of other colleges and offices at UGA; conducted a survey of students, staff, faculty, and other stakeholders; looked at other university and corporate approaches to DEI; and monitored the changing institutional, state, and federal landscape.
Based on this review, the committee identified three categories of activities for the office in the near term:
- Affinity groups for people who share aspects of their identities
- Events that bring people together across differences for a common goal or cause
- Opportunities to learn
The goal was to identify activities that would draw people into conversation to help build a sense of community, inclusion, and belonging. Additional activities will be added as the office is fully staffed again and based on input from the College community.
The group also spent a significant amount of time discussing language, including the name of the office. The committee was firmly convicted that we did not want to change the name of the office to disguise the important work we are doing; rather, we carefully considered multiple critiques of the phrase “diversity, equity, and inclusion” from various perspectives. DEI has some negative connotations from both people who do the work and people who are critical of the work. There have been critiques, mostly in the corporate world, that DEI work has largely been a failure. These critiques focus on organizations that use DEI language but do not invest in and do the deep work required to achieve the goals of DEI. The organizations tend to focus on the D by hiring people of various demographics, but they fail to do the work of the E and the I, which often leads to those diverse hires leaving the organization. We wanted to find a name for the office that invites people into the work, and right now the terms diversity, equity, and inclusion are divisive rather than inviting. Thus, after much discussion and review of the input from the survey, we settled on the Office of Inclusion and Belonging.
Effective immediately, you will see this name change on our website. There you will also find an explanation of what inclusion and belonging mean and how we do this important work:
We honor the legacy of our namesake, Mary Frances Early, by creating a community of inclusion and belonging: one where every member can succeed, is appreciated for the unique experiences they bring, and feels safe showing up authentically. We strive to build a community where diversity of thought, experience, and background fosters meaningful dialogue, critical thinking, and growth for ourselves and the communities we support.
Our College encompasses a wide range of disciplines that are focused on supporting the well-being and success of individuals, organizations, and communities. Inclusion and belonging are key to shaping the way educators, healthcare professionals, and innovators serve, support, and advocate for their students, clients, and patients. These values help create stronger, more resilient, and more equitable systems in our fields.
The Mary Frances Early College of Education is committed to being intentional in our work by continuing to educate ourselves, examining our practices and policies to identify barriers to inclusion, and advocating for change.
The next step for the Office of Inclusion and Belonging is to identify leadership for the office. I am sensitive to the fact that this is a precarious role at this time, and some people may be reluctant to assume such a role. Over the next few weeks, I will be consulting with people internal to the Mary Frances Early College of Education and people who hold these positions in other colleges at UGA and at other institutions to learn about their roles and how their offices are structured and resourced.
I also want to share other changes that were made for purposes of full transparency. This change was made by me and not by the committee. The University System of Georgia flagged our Jenny Penney Oliver Faculty Diversity Award for review. Because this award comes with a financial award, it falls under human resources policies and was found not to be compliant with those policies. In consultation with Jenny’s husband, Steve Oliver, and a few faculty members who were close colleagues and friends of Jenny’s, I updated the title and description of the award to be consistent with the words “inclusion and belonging,” which brings us into compliance with policy. I also updated the description of the award as it was outdated, referring to teacher education standards that are no longer current. Referring to teacher education standards is not inclusive of the range of disciplines in our College. The essential criteria for the award did not change–the award is for people who are making a difference in a community (local to global) to create a more inclusive and welcoming space, which is very consistent with Jenny’s work.
The Graduate Certificate in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion has been housed in the Dean’s Office for the last eight years and has lacked structures for faculty engagement in curriculum, student recruitment, advising, and teaching the core courses for the certificate. Thus, we will convene faculty to review the certificate program. While the certificate is undergoing review, we will not admit students to it so they do not get caught in a changing program of study. Thus, during this time, we will remove it from the listing of certificates on our website.
My goal is for us to continue doing the important work we have been doing to build a community where everyone is welcomed and valued. I want to thank the members of the committee who put a lot of time and thought into shaping the future direction of our work.
Denise Spangler
Dean