Subcommittees
Below you will find the areas of focus and member listings for our seven subcommittees:
Equitable Physical Campus Environment
This sub-committee will focus on how WMU can create a physical campus environment (buildings locations, spaces, landscaping, naming of spaces and awards) that aligns with institutional values and the principle of equity. This sub-committee will also address how the campus in regard to buildings and geography could demonstrate inclusion. Activities could include creating a process for naming buildings inclusively and/or addressing a course of action if we learn that a named building is named for a person whose values are not aligned with a campus that is diverse, equitable and inclusive.
Equitable Programs
This sub-committee will focus on the best way WMU can create programs of study that foster, promote and include equity and inclusion of diverse perspectives and ways of knowing. The recommendations of this sub-committee should focus on how we can better include DEI principles into our academic programs, by making some broad recommendations that could assist curricular programs in adopting these principles. Some questions to explore include, how can academic programs that reflect DEI principles, how can our honors program reflect DEI principles. This would include undergraduate and graduate programs. The overall objective is to have academic programs that better reflect the students in the programs and to provide our students with an understanding of their discipline from broader perspectives.
Reporting Incidents & Equitable Policies and Practices
This sub-committee is a merger of identifying means to report bias, microaggressions and bullying incidents and the review of policies and practices in order to ensure they foster racial and other types of equity. The sub-committee will focus on policies and reporting microaggressions, bias and bullying by suggesting policies and parameters for reviewing university policies to ensure they are equitable. This sub-committee may consider how to create university-wide systems of reporting to address bias, microaggressions and bullying. This committee work will also lay the foundation for a more in-depth review of policies from an institutional diversity and equity audit by providing critical insight on which policy areas to prioritize for future institutional audits and potential criterion to consider for the audit. They may explore current policies that should be prioritized for further review because they have the potential of perpetuating systemic racism.
Recruiting and Retaining Faculty/Staff of Color
This sub-committee is responsible for exploring best practices and making recommendations related to recruiting, supporting and retaining faculty and staff of color. The recommendations will help WMU improve our recruiting, retention and support of marginalized faculty, staff, and administrators.
Recruiting and Retaining Students of Color
This sub-committee is responsible for exploring best practices and making recommendations related to recruiting, supporting and retaining students of color. The recommendations will help WMU improve our recruiting, retention and support of marginalized students.
Training Faculty & Staff
This sub-committee is responsible for exploring best practices and making recommendations related to training and education of faculty and staff to create an equitable and inclusive work environment. They are responsible for considering how DEI principles can be applied to all aspects of training, not just trainings focused on DEI. The recommendations should focus of how WMU can create more effective training and an overall DEI education program for faculty and staff that covers a broad range of topics such as learning environments and instructional techniques.
Training Students
This sub-committee is responsible for exploring best practices and making recommendations related to training and education of students to create an equitable and inclusive campus culture. They are responsible for considering how DEI principles can be applied to all aspects of training, not just trainings focused on DEI. The recommendations should focus on how WMU can create more effective training and DEI education for students because our student employees and leaders on campus play a key role in creating an inclusive campus environment.