Workshops Invite Input on Diversity
| Brian Gittens, Ed.D., who joined UAMS in June as its new vice chancellor for diversity, equity and inclusion, hosted two town hall-style meetings to welcome dozens of employees and students to help shape his division’s strategic plan to invite and support greater diversity on campus.
Workshop participants brainstorm ideas to contribute to the strategic plan for the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
Both workshops were part of the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion’s Diversity Month festivities, a month-long celebration of differences on campus, and were the first in an ongoing series Gittens calls Breaking BREAD.
“The point is to have conversations about bias, racism, exclusion, apathy and discrimination, which together make up BREAD, so sometimes those are hard conversations,” he said, adding that he wants a “psychologically safe space” for such discussions, open to any and all input.
For these two inaugural diversity dialogues, Gittens introduced himself and the overall concept of inclusive excellence, which challenges all members of campus to contribute to diversity efforts by making the campus an open, welcoming place.
Attendees divided into groups to offer input into various aspects of the division’s strategic plan, which is organized to support UAMS’s Vision 2029 strategic plan. Each group offered an analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to diversity on issues such as: inclusive community building; diversity and recruitment; education, research and scholarship; responsibility and accountability; and strategic partnerships.
Taking only a few minutes to brainstorm, the groups then shared their ideas.
“The reason we only allow a couple minutes to come up with ideas is because we want those ideas to be unfiltered,” said Gittens. He encouraged participants not to hold back in constructive criticism, nor limit their imagination of opportunities to improve.
Groups share their ideas during a brainstorming session.
“We want to be a national leader in this space, and that’s a bold vision. It’s audacious,” said Gittens. “And it’s not something we in our division can do alone. This is an effort that involves everyone, and that’s why we’re here today.”
After the group meetings, Gittens said he and his staff would catalogue the input as they work to formalize the strategic plan, which will be published later this year.
The next Breaking BREAD diversity dialogue will be scheduled for early 2020.