University Equity & Inclusive Excellence Councils
All across the University, division- and college-level equity and inclusive excellence councils meet regularly to discuss opportunities for improvement and growth within their area. The chairs of these councils unite for monthly meetings as part of the University Equity and Inclusive Excellence Council. Together, we'll make Bucknell a more diverse, equitable and inclusive place.
2023 EIE Councils
Current chair:
Natasha Wilson (nlw007@bucknell.edu)Recent activities and accomplishments:
- Held sessions called "Donuts, Diversity & Discussion (DDD)." The sessions' objective was to allow people to get to know each other better while discussing DEI topics that are relevant and important to our department.
- Supported the department's Title IX Committee in honoring the 50th Anniversary of Title IX (year-long programming with a final celebration event held in the spring semester).
- Wrapped up a three-year partnership for staff developmental training with the Institute for Sport and Social Justice.
Upcoming events & goals:
We will continue the DDD sessions and look to partner with other departments on campus to expand and grow those conversations. We will continue providing coach and staff developmental opportunities for diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) training. We will plan a DEIB event that engages student-athletes in varsity sports and students who participate in club sports.Current chair:
Anjalee Hutchinson, EIE Faculty Fellow (adn001@bucknell.edu)Recent activities and accomplishments:
- Met with consulting firm regarding assessment of public safety.
- Launched Anti-Racist Pedagogy Learning Community and affiliated MLK Week event for spring 2022.
- Researched postdoc to tenure track programs at other institutions to inform the emerging program at Bucknell.
Current co-chairs:
Amal Kabalan, EIE Faculty Fellow (aak012@bucknell.edu)
Brad Putman (bjp025@bucknell.edu)Recent activities and accomplishments:
- Created a "State of the College" report for the Working Group for an Inclusive Engineering Community.
- Crafted our Moonshot Case for Support.
- Made plans to make our EXCELerator program at least double in size.
- Developed proposal for the postdoc to tenure track fellow program, with the goal of recruiting and retaining a more diverse engineering faculty.
- Launched “Taking the Pulse” and “What Would I Say?” qualitative story collection for students.
- Opened the new Engineering Success Alliance space in Dana Engineering Equitable Experiences: Started the update on myBucknell to include faculty/staff resources on the College of Engineering page.
Current chair:
Tom Lydon (t.lydon@bucknell.edu)Mission statement:
The Division of Marketing & Communications embodies in its work the University's strategic commitment to building and sustaining a diverse community. Our goal is to create an environment in which all students, faculty and staff experience a sense of belonging supported by a foundation of inclusion, equity and access. Our commitment to these principles underlies all Bucknell communications, in all media, with the University's myriad audiences, as well as our daily interactions with people in our community. In our partnerships with one another and members of our community, we recognize and prioritize not only our goals and intent but also our work's impact to ensure that all are respected, fairly treated and authentically portrayed.Recent activities and accomplishments:
- Held a division-wide viewing of the film Peanut Butter Falcon.
- Hosted a discussion on the 2023 Common Reading, Sitting Pretty by Rebekah Taussig.
Upcoming events & goals:
We are currently working on a fall presentation.Current co-chairs:
Becca Haupt Aldredge (rch032@bucknell.edu)
Lee Dawson (lad025@bucknell.edu)Recent activities and accomplishments:
The goal of the council was to continue our progress on our DEI Plan which includes eight objectives and specific strategies under each. Each objective has a working group comprised of admissions and financial aid staff. Every member of our division is on one or more objectives.- Equity & Inclusive Excellence related events: Welcomed Saul Flores to campus for his presentation, "Walk of the Immigrants" — the invitation was extended to campus partners. Continued partnership with MSS with the recruitment of Bauer Scholars and on-campus programming. Contracted with ASL agency for each large-scale event.
- Gateway Scholars awarded.
- High School Diversity Index coding was implemented; face-to-face international travel was resumed where possible. Updated the International Recruitment Plan for 2022–23. Improved student experience for undocumented students and included training for staff about undocumented students.
- Completed an audit of the application review material to ensure that race is not a driving factor in the application review. Updated our international financial aid application forms. Enhanced and clarified our communication with families and applicants around the merit application process. Launched DEI self-assessment tool.
- Updated communications and training related to financial aid and merit scholarships. Added Spanish for closed-captioning, and completed new financial aid/scholarship print piece. A three-part podcast series was recorded in August 2022 and distributed.
- We met 100% of demonstrated institutional need for the Pell Grant recipients.
- Camaraderie building: Converted the workroom into a shared space where staff can gather informally or for a meal, held a decision-release celebration and ice cream social. Facilitated a book read of They Called Us Enemy, facilitated a service trip to the Bucknell Farm, and held a conversation about our relationship with the land/agriculture.
Upcoming events & goals:
We hope to do a summer book read of the Common Reading book, and we will begin using our bimonthly division meetings to facilitate training(s) and conversations related to DEI topics. We are exploring approval of applicant fee waivers for (some) group visitors to campus. We are in the early stages of sending more text messages to prospective students to remind them about scholarships, incomplete applications and visit updates, among other things. The website will be further reviewed and discussed with the communications division.Current chair:
Kate Suslava, EIE Faculty Fellow (ks063@bucknell.edu)Current chair:
Nicole Whitehead (nw018@bucknell.edu)Recent activities and accomplishments:
- Charging talent acquisition specialists to continue to work with faculty and staff search committees, with a goal of having all search committee members attend the proactive search strategies training before serving on a committee.
- Initiated several training programs over the past few months that specifically address biases when conducting performance reviews. This training was also provided to the HR Roundtable and will be continued for other groups of front-line supervisors going forward.
- Updated staff reviews to include a question specifically focused on diversity, equity and inclusion.
- Added a specific question related to DEI to the exit survey provided to all staff who resign voluntarily.
Current co-chairs:
Gerald Beauvais (gb024@bucknell.edu)
Claire Cahoon (cc065@bucknell.edu)Recent activities and accomplishments:
- Reassessed divisional DEI efforts through a staff survey.
- Held They Called Us Enemy book discussions.
- Developed a robust guide highlighting disability services & accessibility in the library: https://researchbysubject.bucknell.edu/accessibility.
- Developed and delivered a digital accessibility workshop to L&IT staff and the Center for Alumni and Family Engagement.
- Hosted ageism discussions in response to staff interest.
- Conducted outreach to student groups to understand DEI-related needs that L&IT can work on.
- Three members of the L&IT DEI Council have joined staff from the Office of Accessibility Resources and a faculty member to form an OAR/Campus Partners group to discuss accessibility issues in a broader context.
Upcoming events & goals:
Offering an active bystander training series in summer 2023 for new employees and a refresher for anyone in L&IT who missed it or wants to attend again. We will continue outreach to student groups to understand DEI-related needs that L&IT can work on.Current co-chairs:
Mary Ann Stanton (mstanton@bucknell.edu)
Sarah Porell (slp023@bucknell.edu)Mission statement:
The mission of the UA DEI Council is to promote positive organizational improvement through inclusion and provide advice, leadership, accountability and participatory support on matters related to diversity, equity & inclusion on behalf of the organization. The key objective of the UA DEI Council is to fully utilize and engage every stakeholder (internal and external) to strategically build a more integrated, sustainable, diverse and inclusive environment — where everyone involved has a sense of belonging both within our division and Bucknell as a whole.In partnership with the vice president of University Advancement and the Advancement Leadership Group (ALG), the UA DEI Council develops and leads current and future diversity, equity & inclusion efforts of the University Advancement Division of Bucknell University and is aligned with the Plan for Bucknell 2025.
Recent activities and accomplishments:
- Collaborated with UA Enrichment Conference planning co-chairs to provide DEI sessions during the conference.
Upcoming events & goals:
The UA DEI Council will develop activities that are aligned with the division’s vision of diversity, equity & inclusion, especially as it relates to people, culture, partnership and engagement while leaving space for future initiatives. Goals will be tracked utilizing a variety of data points to ensure accountability and continue the momentum of the council.Current chair:
Victor Udo (vu002@bucknell.edu)Recent activities and accomplishments:
- Re-position the Council – formal charter and call for new members.
- Met with new Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.
- Drafted a formal charter pending adoption.
Upcoming events & goals:
Adopting the charter and proceeding with the charge. Conducting a baseline Survey. Conduct Training Sessions and other Interventions based on survey results.