The Office of Access and Opportunity seeks to “map” the university’s assets to better understand what and where concerted efforts towards inclusive excellence are taking place as well as to visually demonstrate to our stakeholders how we collectively manifest the university’s commitments to this work in tangible, meaningful ways.
To assist us in creating the asset inventory that will populate our map, please provide a summary of key DEI-related activities that happened in your unit/college last (AY 21-22) year or are planned for the upcoming year (AY 22-23). Note the way in which we are requesting information will assist us in tagging your entries by type (e.g., category, activity, frequency, competency) which will greatly enhance the search functions of the map to be developed.
As you fill out the form, please know that we did our best to anticipate all your responses so there are several pre-populated options from which to choose. That said, for most we included an “Other” option with a comment box. Use those boxes as needed given the more feedback we receive, the more responsive the form will become. Thanks in advance for your contributions.
Should you have any questions or require assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact Dr. Michelle Bryan at (803) 576-6162.
Asset Category Descriptions
Changes made or additions to a unit’s policies, procedures, or practices undertaken by administrative leaders to directly address DEI-related issues, such as requiring all academic hiring units to complete a “Diversification Gap Analysis” as a part of their request for a new faculty or staff line, would be included in this category.
Centers and institutes are a subset of the broader category of academic administrative units that bring together interdisciplinary groups of faculty, stuff, and students around shared interests. Centers/institutes are driven by potential research, instruction, community engagement, and/or creative activities that contribute to the University’s overall mission, but that are not academic degree or credit granting activities.
Committees/groups refer to any collective body gathered for the explicit purpose of addressing DEI-related issues within a unit (e.g., many academic units and some student affairs units have a diversity “committee” or “council” on which faculty, staff, and students serve as representatives). However, if the group doesn’t meet regularly, is on a time-limited basis, or is labeled “ad hoc,” please add it to the “Initiatives” category.
Initiatives include efforts undertaken towards the accomplishment of a specific outcome(s) wherein the efforts cease once the outcome is accomplished. Initiatives might be motivated by a need to change or update policies or create new ones. Examples might include a college creating “communities of practice” charged with interrogating unit processes for bias or discrimination or an ad hoc committee assigned with investigating the barriers in the matriculation process for international students.
Other outcomes and achievements cover all other DEI-related engagements that do not fit neatly into one of the other categories listed. For instance, entries in this category might include a unit or College’s efforts to add a diversity award(s) to their existing list of annual recognitions.
Programs include intentional, outcome-driven, engagements with a specific purpose or mission as well as explicit or implicit learning objectives. Events where the theme changes on an annual basis (such as the Woodson Distinguished Lecture series) as well as student support programs (e.g., TRIO, Grace Jordan McFadden Scholars Program, etc.) that transpire across the academic year would be included here.
Special events are often one-time engagements that may or may not have associated learning objectives and serve to acknowledge, showcase, or celebrate the work of others. Special events include but are not limited to talks or presentations by special guests, alumni events, mixers, and receptions. Sponsorship or co-sponsorship of a unit- or university-related DEI events would be included here as well.
Example Asset Description:
The 3D (Dinner and Dialogue on Diversity) Network program is a series of forums designed to provide a place and space for undergraduate students to build their capacity for engaging in dialogue around topics related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. While the forums, which occur bi-monthly, are targeted at students, members of the UofSC community and outside community are welcome to attend. During the 2021-2022 academic year, a total of four 3D Network forums were attended by 91 participants. Of those forums, the most well-attended event was facilitated by staff members from the College of Education’s Carolina Family Life Engagement Center who highlighted the numerous publicly accessible resources on family engagement available to students through the Center’s website. The forum included a panel of current school administrators and parents from around the state.