Equity, Diversity & Inclusion

Update on Anti-racist Campus Commitments

January 29, 2021

During her fall 2020 Convocation address, President Hutchinson discussed Chico State's ongoing commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion and outlined nine specific actions planned this year to confront racism and racist policies within our institution. These commitments are repeated here followed by an update on the progress made in fall 2020 and plans for spring 2021.

Actions Planned for Academic Year 2020–21

Charge a presidential task force with examining existing campus policing and public safety policies and practices, and thinking creatively about the most positive ways that the UPD can be fully integrated into the campus community. The Task Force also will analyze policing and public safety policies and practices for alignment with the University mission and strategic priorities.
The Presidential Task Force on University Policing was established in October 2020, consisting of more than thirty students, faculty, staff, and community members, ten of whom serve as steering committee members. The task force is being facilitated by Reverend Dr. Jaime Washington, president and founder of the Washington Consulting Group and the Social Justice Training Institute. The steering committee met four times this semester and convened the larger task force for an introductory meeting in early December.

Following the blueprint of the national 2015 President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing (PDF), Chico State’s task force will be tackling six areas to provide recommendations for our campus:
  • Building Trust and Legitimacy
  • Policy and Oversight
  • Technology and Social Media
  • Community Policing and Crime Reduction
  • Training and Education
  • Campus Wellness and Safety
As meetings continue in the spring semester, there will be opportunities for campus community input (look for updates via email). The task force’s findings will be submitted to President Hutchinson in April 2021 and shared widely with the campus community. The president has committed to seriously considering the recommended actions. 

Strive to increase faculty diversity by 1% per year to better reflect student demographics by 2030.
This fall, the University implemented a CSU Chancellor’s Office grant to increase retention of diverse faculty by establishing the @Real RTP Learning Community: Navigating the Academy as a Diverse Teacher-Scholar and providing funds to the seven campus affinity groups for their retention efforts.

The campus’ Avoiding Bias in Hiring workshop was revised and facilitated for Chico State as well as multiple CSU campuses as part of the CSU Learn cross-campus pilot training program. The workshop was made mandatory for all members of Chico State staff and MPP search committees beginning January 1, 2021 (already mandatory for faculty search committee members). 

To encourage robust and diverse tenure-track faculty applicant pools we revised template language for vacancy announcements emphasizing EDI-specific campus and candidate priorities, advertised positions through the Chronicle of Higher Education.

We convened Action Now Team (Michelle Morris, Tracy Butts, Seema Sehrawat, Annie Adamian, Shawn Bates, Chunyan Song, Al Shademan) to consult with and/or serve as an outside committee member on current tenure-track faculty search committees, as well as recommend revisions to recruitment and retention policies and practices. These recommendations have included enhancing virtual interview itineraries and reimagining the Faculty Recruitment Manual as a user-friendly web and app-based resource for search committees.

Institutional Research developed new and robust student and employee demographic data dashboards to inform recruitment and retention efforts. Additionally, the EDI Faculty Resources page now includes profiles of diverse scholars’ research, teaching, and service, as well as federally funded campus HSI initiatives.

Evaluate options for increased, mandatory anti-racism training for students, faculty, and staff and provide recommendations to the President by December 2020.
The Acting Chief Diversity Officer evaluated enhanced training options, including what was being used at other campuses to see if there was training already in existence. It appears that most campuses are in the process of developing their own. UDC submitted recommendations to President Hutchinson and will move forward in the spring.

Review the University executive memoranda to identify racist policies and propose modifications for review and consideration by the Academic Senate in the 2020–21 and 2021–22 academic years.
The University is working to hire an outside consultant to conduct a racial equity audit for the campus. The audit will help the campus identify, prioritize, and implement critical changes to campus policies and processes.

Facilitate a survey of students, faculty, and staff to identify critical issues related to racial discrimination and institutional racism on our campus, and report findings and provide recommendations to the President by May 2021.
The planned racial equity audit will include a survey component, so UDC will assess the content of that survey before determining if another is needed.

Implement a rubric to evaluate how courses and programs support equity, diversity, and inclusion learning outcomes.
The UDC designed an academic program-level equity scorecard to evaluate EDI outcomes that was discussed in the Academic Senate’s Educational Policies and Programs Committee (EPPC) this fall. UDC is currently refining the Equity Scorecard to incorporate EPPC feedback. Additionally, the Honors Program plans to include the Equity Scorecard in its spring ’21 program changes to be considered by EPPC and Senate.

Use this year’s Book in Common, How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi, to deepen the campus and community conversation.
In the fall, the Book in Common committee hosted a number of campus conversations discussing films, speeches, and, of course, Ibram X. Kendi’s How to Be an Antiracist. As we continue our conversations this spring, I am pleased to share we will host renowned anti-racist writer and educator Tim Wise for a virtual discussion on March 4. And, we look forward to welcoming Kendi to campus (virtually) for a community conversation on April 21.

Catalog our campus efforts focused on equity, diversity, and inclusion to share our work, progress, and resources while holding ourselves accountable to the community
The Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion website launched in September, clearly laying out the University’s commitment to EDI work and providing resources, information, and updates about EDI activities. The site is promoted prominently from the University homepage, www.csuchico.edu

Following Assembly Bill 1460, which was signed into law this summer, we are preparing to implement a new three-unit ethnic studies course requirement for students who enter as freshmen in 2021–22. These students must take a course in Native American studies, African American studies, Asian American studies, or Latinx studies.
Assembly Bill 1460 is being implemented at Chico State through nine classes that are in the pipeline to meet the new Area F in General Education as a graduation requirement beginning with the class entering fall 2021. The nine classes are all within the Department of Multicultural and Gender Studies, and two are cross-listed with education and sociology. While there are some upper-division classes in the nine, they can be used to meet the lower division GE requirement. 
The classes that will meet AB1460 requirements, with proposed changes, are:
  • AAST 152 (Google Doc) Introduction to the Asian American Experience (cross-listed as SOCI 152) (Intent Memo should note move from D2 to GE lower division Area F)
  • AAST 330 (Google Doc) Hmong Cultural Roots & Contemporary Issues (cross-listed as BLMC 330) (Intent Memo should note that this is a new GE course that will fulfill GE lower-division Area F)
  • AFAM 170 (Google Doc) Introduction to Black and African American Studies (Intent Memo should note move from D2 to GE lower division Area F)
  • AFAM 320 Hip Hop Culture (Intent Memo should note that this is a new GE course that will fulfill GE lower-division Area F)
  • AIST 170 Introduction to American Indian Studies (Intent Memo should note move from D1 to GE lower division Area F)
  • AIST 365 (Google Doc) American Indian Storytelling/Oral Narrative (Intent Memo should note that this is a new course and a new GE course that will fulfill GE lower-division Area F)
  • CHLX 157 Introduction to Latinx Studies (cross-listed as SOCI 157) (Intent Memo should note move from D2 to GE lower division Area F)
  • CHLX 415 Latinx and Immigration (Intent Memo should note that this is a new GE course that will fulfill GE lower-division Area F)
  • MCGS 155 Introduction to Intersectional Ethnic Studies (Intent Memo should note move from D1 to GE lower division Area F)
  • and MCGS 155W Introduction to Intersectional Ethnic Studies (Intent Memo should note move from D1 to GE lower division Area F)