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Snapshot:

• SOC Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee launched in 2018, first at AU
• Deep focus throughout School on DEI in teaching, recruiting, scholarship
• SOC offers $20,000 in grants to study racial representation in communication fields
• New courses were created to address DEI issues
• Professor Sherri Williams named 2021 NABJ Educator of the Year
• Politico Journalism Institute (above) was co-founded by SOC, POLITICO & Maynard Institute

Executive summary:

SOC has long been committed to diversity and inclusion in terms of race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity and political perspective. The School works to foster an atmosphere that allows for frank and open discussion about important issues. The most recent reaccreditation visit found the School in compliance on all standards relating to diversity and inclusion. It noted that SOC “takes diversity seriously” and that, on the graduate level, the School “makes a concerted effort to attract a diverse student body … and has done an excellent job in recruiting Black/African American students.”

As part of the University-wide effort to recognize the continuing importance of dealing with diversity and inclusion, AU’s Center for Diversity & Inclusion works to advance the University’s commitment to respecting and valuing diversity by serving as a resource and liaison for students, staff and faculty on issues of equity through education, outreach and advocacy. The center is dedicated to enhancing LGBTQ, multicultural, first generation and women's experiences on campus. In academic year 2008-2009, SOC created a School-wide Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee and appointed a faculty member to serve as the Inclusion Officer. A staff member, who has other administrative duties in the School, is the Inclusion Coordinator. The goal is to create and sustain a diverse, fair and inclusive environment within SOC through supporting staff and faculty development, student groups and programming.

In 2020, the University created a new position, Assistant Vice President for Equity and Title IX, and Leslie Annexstein was hired to fill that role. The University noted that the appointment was the “culmination of months of work across our community that produced a new, coordinated approach to addressing structural racism, gender-based violence, and barriers that prevent members of our community from full participation and access. … The Office of Equity and Title IX will oversee all [University} efforts to prevent and respond to discrimination, harassment, and sexual assault on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy or parenting, age, religion, disability, or other bases under local and federal laws and regulations. It will also enhance education and training in these areas, serve as a dedicated resource and point of accountability for our community, and respond to all claims in these areas from students, faculty, and staff. Having a centralized function with a dedicated leader will provide a direct avenue for individual concerns to be promptly and meaningfully addressed; enhance our approach to preventing and responding to discrimination, harassment, and sexual assault complaints; and provide everyone in our community with a space to be heard.”

The School, too, is focused on enhancing students’ understanding of the diverse issues facing today’s communicators and has created and adapted courses to enrich the classroom experiences. Those courses include Race, Ethnic and Community Reporting; Race, Gender, and Sexuality in the Media; Identity, Power, and Misrepresentation; Comedy for Social Change; Multicultural Strategic Communication Campaigns; Reporting on Immigration; and Advanced Data-Driven Journalism: The Data of Divides.

Opportunities for students from underrepresented groups continue to grow. Students may join student chapters of NABJ and NAHJ (the first NAHJ student chapter in the nation’s capital) and PRSSA. The Blackprint is a student-run online and print publication that serves as a platform for raising minority issues and an amplifier of marginalized voices and is advised by Professor John Watson, who was given the prestigious Ida B. Wells Award in 2018. Visible is a new publication advised by Professor Jeremiah Patterson that wants to amplify queer voices.

The RACE (Race and Communication Exploration) Matters initiatives use scholarship, teaching, and public engagement to sustain and build upon racially fair and inclusive organizational practices within SOC. (Appendix E)

In addition, SOC is prioritizing internal processes to increase equity and inclusion for staff and faculty, as well as continued support of opportunities for students from underserved communities to gain access to the media and communications professions.

SOC targets its goal of “Inclusive Excellence” by integrating inclusion into every aspect of the School -- from curriculum to student experiences, to research and professional opportunities. Inclusive Excellence has been the focus of several School-wide retreats and several outside facilitators were hired to improve the School’s practices. SOC is recognized as a campus leader in diversity, equity and inclusion and has created processes and tools that have served as a model for the rest of the University.

Diversity means much more than race. SOC strives for and encourages diversity in terms of race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and political perspective. The School works to foster an atmosphere that allows for frank and open discussion about critical issues. The last ACJMC reaccreditation report noted that while SOC had created both a Diversity Plan and a permanent Diversity Committee, there was no evidence of follow through. The team also noted that although the School had several courses that presented a variety of approaches to diversity and inclusion it appeared that “students failed to grasp the meaning of racial and ethnic diversity.”

Since the last reaccreditation visit, the school has taken several measures.

Starting in AY 2015-16, the Dean’s office and the Diversity Committee sent a climate survey (which has become a model for other campus academic units) to the faculty and staff on issues related to diversity, equity and inclusion. It was administered twice more in AY 2016-17 and AY 2018-19 to measure change and progress. After the first two years, SOC decided to administer the survey bi-annually, so conducted this survey again in AY 2020-21. The instrument’s questions have been kept standardized to allow for a more valid comparative assessment of quantitative data. An expansion of the demographic section occurred after AY 2015-16 post-survey feedback, aligning options with categories represented in the U.S. Census as well as the addition of an open-ended field for participants to express an identity that may not be represented on that list.

In addition, SOC issued an RFP in 2016 to identify an organization that could work collaboratively on the creation of a three- to five-year strategic inclusion plan to contribute to positive achievable actions. HG Venture was selected for this role and in 2017 conducted focus groups of faculty, staff, alums and students. They provided a final report in summer 2017, and the Dean shared a synopsis of the report with the school in September 2017.

Utilizing this review, SOC established nine key priority areas related to improving its performance of diversity, equity, and inclusion matters. These included:

1. Expand the composition of the School Diversity Committee: In response, the committee was expanded to include two student representatives, more staff, and faculty from each division.

2. Clarify the charge of the Diversity Committee: In response, the Committee revised its mission statement, which is publicly available.

3. Clarify systems for reporting incidences of bias and discrimination: In response, the Inclusion Officer and Senior Associate Dean worked with the University Title IX office to address any allegations.

4. Dedicate staff resources to implementation of the Inclusion Plan: In 2017, the Dean created an Inclusion Team made up of a dedicated part-time Inclusion Officer (faculty), Inclusion Coordinator (staff), and graduate assistant (student) to lead and coordinate the DEI work at the school to dedicate more staff resources to this priority. The Inclusion Officer reports to the Dean and is a member of SOC’s leadership team and this position receives a stipend, a course release and a budget.

5. Provide diversity, equity, and inclusion training for staff and faculty; implement targeted training for managers and supervisors. In response, the Committee and Inclusion Team share information about or offer training approximately once a month for faculty and staff. (Appendix F)

6. Facilitate faculty peer knowledge sharing on inclusive classrooms. In response, the Inclusion Team holds regular workshops and provides resources for creating more inclusive practices including syllabus language, tips for inclusive language, and other materials.

7. Offer formal leadership development opportunities for administrative staff. In response, the Inclusion Team has offered training and resources to the School’s leadership on managing diverse teams, IDI training certifications for three people, and assessments and action plans for the whole leadership cohort and conducts a bi-weekly book club to discuss DEI topics.

8. Create a diverse faculty recruiting initiative. In response, the Inclusion Officer worked with the Dean to make the recruitment process for faculty and staff more inclusive by rethinking ad language, expanding where ads are placed and how applications are reviewed. The IO reviews all tenure-line appointments.

9. Engage and support student groups. In response, the Diversity Committee and Inclusion Team have worked with student groups to co-host events, support their events with funding and promotion, and provide mentoring and professional development opportunities.

In addition, the Inclusion Team has crafted a strategic plan that aligns with the University’s Inclusive Excellence strategic plan. It also created the first Inclusive Excellence award, a cash award to an outstanding faculty and staff member each year, which is now emulated on the University level. In 2019, the university’s inclusive excellence award went to Journalism Associate Professor Sherri Williams and in 2020 the SOC award by the same name went to Journalism Professor and Managing Editor of the Investigative Reporting Workshop Lynne Perri. Moreover, the Inclusion Team curates and provides an AU-wide calendar of events related to DEI and has created an expansive diversity website and video that provide information about student experiences, classes, scholarship, events, and articles related to DEI. In addition, the Inclusion Officer works closely with the Diversity Committee on programming, such as workshops and events that bring a variety of diverse voices to campus and support student groups. The School has continued to increase its commitment to diversity by supplying professional opportunities aimed at students from underrepresented groups such as the Politico Journalism Institute, Black on Campus, Vision 2020, and the MWWPR Z Suite.

In AY 2020-21, the Dean’s office and Inclusion Team launched the RACE Matters grant process, which gave nearly $20,000 in funding for SOC faculty and staff proposals that aim to confront racism in areas such as research, production, events, curricular development, and student-focused communication.

Across SOC, faculty are incorporating into classes a variety of guest speakers who offer significant perspectives on race, class, gender, and ethnicity; and expanded curriculum with issues and projects that reflect diversity and inclusiveness. Some faculty and SOC centers address topics of social justice in their research and projects including the Center for Media and Social Impact, the Investigative Reporting Workshop, and the Center for Environmental Filmmaking.

Members of SOC serve on University-wide committees dedicated to expanding DEI efforts, including the President’s Council on Diversity and Inclusion. Other University efforts include the IDEA committee, which brings together DEI officers from all the schools; the Core Curriculum Committee, which reviews proposals to meet the diversity and equity requirement; the Inclusive Pedagogy working group; AU Connects; The Task Force on Equity in Reappointment, Promotion, and Tenure Standard; the American University Experience Advisory Committee; and the selection committee for the Frederick Douglass Scholars.

The University is committed to diversifying the overall profile of the student body and in the past several years and in supporting students who are first generation or who come from low-income backgrounds. Of the current undergraduate population, approximately 20 percent are considered Pell eligible and 10 percent are first-generation college students. As of October 2020, SOC had 47 undergraduate students who fit into at least one of those categories, while the university has 587.

We are striving to increase enrollment and retention of undergraduate students from historically underrepresented racial and ethnic groups; to increase enrollment and retention of graduate students from historically underrepresented minority groups; and to strengthen the recruitment and retention of female and faculty and staff of minoritized backgrounds. Approximately 35 percent of the undergraduate student body identify as people of color, and nearly 50 percent of graduate students identify as people of color. The School also continues to work to increase the diversity of its faculty, the majority of whom are women and 17 percent are people of color.