President’s View Engaging the Culture, Changing the World
Diversity, Justice, and Reconciliation at SPU
In his February 2016 Board of Trustees Report, President Dan Martin outlined the following action steps and expressed his commitment to keep the Seattle Pacific University community regularly informed of progress and results.
1 Diversity Consultant
Dr. Pete Menjares, senior fellow for diversity, equity, and inclusion at the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, has been hired as a diversity consultant to design an Intercultural Engagement and Growth plan for the Senior Leadership Team.
2 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Intra-Website
A diversity, equity, and inclusion intra-website will be created to identify and mark SPU’s progress related to various data points and reports.
3 Cultural Understanding and Engagement (CUE) Learning Outcome Requirements
CUE requirements will be implemented, beginning in 2017–18. Along with the integration of these learning outcomes, an assessment plan will be developed and finalized to ensure SPU is achieving the intended objectives.
4 Reporting System
University legal counsel will explore various options and legal requirements for instituting such a system, including how it would relate to existing discrimination complaint procedures. University counsel will also review SPU’s anti-retaliation policies.
5 Hiring and Training
Provost Jeffrey Van Duzer will work with cross-campus groups and individuals comprised of faculty, staff, students, and particularly, Human Resources, and produce a status report on action steps for the community. Preliminary details on this hiring and training plan are available online.
6 Informal Interactional Diversity
President Martin has requested University Chaplain Bo Lim and Vice President of Student Life Jeff Jordan to develop a plan to increase “informal interactional diversity” within our co-curricular and residential programming.
7 University Diversity Report
An annual University Diversity Report, with historical reports to be archived on the site, will be created.
8 Institutional Statement on Racial Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
An Institutional Statement will be created to articulate the University’s commitments and guide our actions.
9 Comprehensive Fundraising Campaign
Various programmatic and operational elements of our fundraising work will be developed as an opportunity for the broader SPU community to support our efforts.
10 Senior Diversity Leader
A Senior Leadership Team member (often entitled Chief Diversity Officer) will be hired to address issues of diversity, inclusion, and reconciliation.
11 Training for Student Leaders
We will be working on a definitive action plan for training.
Read more about these efforts at spu.edu/diversity.