 | Nydia González, chief diversity officer, was one of the featured speakers at the Diversity Strategic Planning retreat convened by President Richard C. Levin. |
T H I S
Campus leaders discuss strategies
for increasing staff diversity
President Richard C. Levin convened Yale’s first Diversity Strategic
Planning retreat on April 8 at the Omni Hotel at Yale.
The event brought together senior leaders from across the campus — officers,
deans and other top administrators — to discuss the current state of
diversity among the University’s staff members and to identify ways to
increase the inclusiveness of its workforce in the future.
“Yale is as dedicated to increasing diversity among its staff members as
it is among its students and faculty,” said Levin about the event, “and
as part of that mission, we are working to raise awareness about the challenges
that staff members may face because of their race, gender or other aspects of
their identity, and to promote appreciation of the many ways these unique individuals
enrich our campus community. This gathering of campus leaders is just part of
an ever-expanding initiative to promote equal opportunity and inclusion in Yale’s
employment and work life.”
In addition to an introductory talk by Levin, the retreat included presentations
by, among others, Nydia A. González, chief diversity officer, who discussed
the work that had been done by Yale’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion
since its founding over a year ago; Alice Prochaska, University Librarian,
who spoke about the extensive diversity programs already underway in Yale libraries.
The retreat also included a screening of “Diversity Monologues,” a
program in which actors portrayed staff members in the Yale community as they
discussed the issues they’d encountered in the workplace because of some
aspect of their identity. The script for “Diversity Monologues” was
based on interviews that had been conducted with “homogeneous focus groups” — i.e.,
gatherings of Yale staff members united by such characteristics as ethnicity,
race, sexual orientation, age, gender or mental//physical abilities.
In addition to the presentations and screening, the retreat included break-out
groups where participants discussed issues raised and possible next steps.
As a result of these discussions, the group developed six key strategies aimed
at improving the diversity and inclusion of Yale’s staff:
• Strengthen outreach efforts to diverse external talent pools, and support
recruitment efforts with appropriate financial and people resources;
• Implement talent identification and development programs for high potential/high
performance employees;
• Develop and implement formal mentoring programs to enhance the relationship
and effectiveness of mentors and their mentees with a goal of creating a more
inclusive climate and increasing the likelihood of success for newly hired or
newly promoted staff.;
• Offer diversity education opportunities for all members of the Yale community,
with particular emphasis on managers of people, to facilitate a more inclusive
and respectful workplace climate;
• Develop a system of metrics that can be administered across the University
to track and assess progress; and
• Develop strategies to communicate and publicize Yale diversity strategies,
plans and milestones.
All of the above will be incorporated into a final Diversity Strategic Plan
to institutionalize the University’s commitment to diversity and inclusion
at Yale. The plan will also include the creation of a University-wide Diversity
Council.
The next Diversity Strategic Planning Retreat will take place in the near future.
It will include a broader group of Yale community members. Insights from this
retreat will also become part of the final strategic document.
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Campus leaders discuss strategies for increasing staff diversity
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Campus Notes
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