Theme One - Promote EDI/Inclusive Academic Excellence
1.1. Eliminate inequitable institutional barriers and integrate equity, diversity, and inclusion considerations (EDI) into policies, procedures, and practices
Initiative 1:
Graduate policy revisions made to full time equivalency, new start, when students can take graduate courses, and amount of coursework that can be transferred to the doctoral program to reduce barriers in completing a graduate degree
Actual or Anticipated Completion Date: Completed Spring 2021
Provost Office Point of Contact: Craig McLauchlan
Initiative 2:
Establish an Enrollment, Management and Academic Services (EMAS) Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) committee that is looking at procedures internal to EMAS units with an equity lens in an effort to remove inequitable barriers for staff and students
Actual or Anticipated Completion Date: Committee established Spring 2022. Work is Ongoing.
Provost Office Point of Contact: Stacy Ramsey
Initiative 3:
Develop a list of policies and procedures and plan for review to identify barriers to undergraduate degree completion.
Actual or Anticipated Completion Date: Fall 2022
Provost Office Points of Contact: Amelia Noël-Elkins, Jana Albrecht, Amy Hurd
Initiative 4:
Complete the Institutional Transformation Assessment analysis and work with Solution Network Intermediary (Advising Success Network) to make improvements to student success initiatives.
Actual or Anticipated Completion Date: March 2023.
Provost Office Points of Contact: Amelia Noël-Elkins, Amy Hurd
Initiative 5:
Analyze registration blocks that are unnecessary and prohibit future enrollment and any disproportionate impact on Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) students.
Actual or Anticipated Completion Date: Fall 2022
Provost Office Points of Contact: Amelia Noël-Elkins, Jana Albrecht, Amy Hurd, Noelle Selkow
1.2 Improve academic outcomes for all students; particularly Black and Latinx students
Initiative 1
Graduate Latinx RSO sponsored by the Graduate School. Virtual affinity groups created for Black, Latinx, international, and LGBTQIA+ to provide further outreach to students.
Actual or Anticipated Completion Date: Completed Fall 2020
Provost Office Points of Contact: Noelle Selkow & Craig McLauchlan
Initiative 2:
Implement an assessment plan to determine the effectiveness of existing programs for supporting students from underrepresented groups and identify gaps in service provision.
Actual or Anticipated Completion Date: In process with the Data Literacy Institute.
Provost Office Points of Contact: Amelia Noël-Elkins, Jana Albrecht & Amy Hurd
Initiative 3:
Acquire appropriate data to analyze degree attainment and barriers to degree completion.
Actual or Anticipated Completion Date: Ongoing, anticipated Completion in Fall 2022.
Provost Office Points of Contact: Amy Hurd, Deneca Winfrey Avant
Initiative 4:
Analyze and continue work on advisor caseloads with the addition of the Strategic Partnerships in Advising Needs (SPAN) Advisors.
Actual or Anticipated Completion Date: Completed Spring 2022.
Provost Office Points of Contact: Amy Hurd, Amelia Noël-Elkins
Initiative 5:
Recruit a new Supporting Opportunity Actualization and Realization (SOAR) Scholars cohort and assess the success of the initial cohort.
Actual or Anticipated Completion Date: Completed Fall 2022
Provost Office Points of Contact: Amelia Noël-Elkins, Jana Albrecht & Amy Hurd
Initiative 6:
The Center for Integrated Professional Development is in the process of developing a student success course redesign program with the aim of reducing DFW rates.
Actual or Anticipated Completion Date: In process
Provost Office Points of Contact: Deneca Winfrey Avant, Jennifer Friberg
1.3 Recruit and retain diverse students, faculty, and staff
Initiative 1:
A committee was formed at the request of the Provost to develop a strategy and recommendations for faculty diversity recruitment and retention. Subcommittees reviewed the efficacy of the Education Diversity Enhancement Program (EDEP), explored the literature on best practices for recruiting and retaining diverse faculty, and identified models/templates/exemplars of effective strategies for recruiting and retaining Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) faculty.
Actual or Anticipated Completion Date: Committee and subcommittees formed October 2021; report sent to Provost December 2021 with recommendations. President and Provost announced $4.5 million 5-year commitment to Faculty Diversity Enhancement Program. Guidelines for the program were announced in Spring 2022. Faculty will be reruited for this program in FY23 to join Illinois State University in FY24.
Provost Office Points of Contact: Deneca Winfrey Avant, Craig Gatto
Initiative 2:
Office of Admissions is utilizing GEER funding for targeted recruitment of students.
Actual or Anticipated Completion Date: Completed August 2022 at the conclusion of the award period for GEER I.
Provost Office Points of Contact: Amelia Noël-Elkins, Jana Albrecht
Initiative 3:
The Office of Admissions works with Community Based Organizations (CBOs) to assist with the recruitment of diverse students. Staff members are regularly looking to add more partners.
Actual or Anticipated Completion Date: Ongoing
Provost Office Point of Contact: Jana Albrecht
Initiative 4:
The Offices of Admissions and Financial Aid have developed a financial aid scholarship strategy that allows for a holistic review of a student’s scholarship application. Students now get credit for more than just a test score and a high school GPA.
Actual or Anticipated Completion Date: Fall 2021
Provost Office Point of Contact: Jana Albrecht
Initiative 5:
The Office of Admissions has created visit days specifically for underserved students. These visit days are evaluated with feedback from participants to continually improve the student and parent experience.
Actual or Anticipated Completion Date: Ongoing
Provost Office Point of Contact: Jana Albrecht
1.4. Align faculty incentives and recognition to inclusive teaching practices; develop guidance for more qualitative and holistic assessment of faculty contributions
Initiative 1:
On October 7, the University Review Committee forwarded suggested revisions to ISU Appointment, Salary, Promotion, and Tenure (ASPT) Policies, including changing teaching examples in Appendix 2 to recognize the importance of EDI practices in the classroom.
Actual or Anticipated Completion Date: Articles I-XVII of ISU ASPT Policies approved by the Faculty Caucus of the Academic Senate. Appendix 2 will undergo review by Faculty Caucus in 2022-2023 academic year.
Provost Office Point of Contact: Craig Gatto
Initiative 2:
The University Review Committee continues to work on expanding how faculty are assessed qualitatively and holistically within the ASPT policy's Appendix 2 regarding research/creative scholarship and service.
Actual or Anticipated Completion Date: Submitted to Faculty Caucus of the Academic Senate in May 2022 for consideration during 2022-23 academic year.
Provost Office Point of Contact: Craig Gatto
1.5. Develop sequence-level student success milestones in academic school/departments and campus wide collaborative student success plans
Initiative 1:
The Graduate Education Management system will allow the tracking of progress toward degree for all graduate students.
Actual or Anticipated Completion Date: Implementation began Spring 2022 with a completion date set for December 2022. Spring 2023 will be a pilot period with 7-10 graduate programs, with full rollout Fall 2023.
Provost Office Points of Contact: Noelle Selkow & Craig McLauchlan
Initiative 2:
As part of Illinois State’s reaccreditation through the Higher Learning Commission, Academic Affairs has initiated a Quality Initiative project entitled Development of and Operationalizing of a Comprehensive Framework for Student Success.
Actual or Anticipated Completion Date: Ongoing, final report will be submitted to HLC in 2023. Draft Framework has been developed and will be vetted campus wide in Fall 2022 with a goal of adoption in Spring 2023.
Provost Office Points of Contact: Amelia Noël-Elkins, Ani Yazedjian & Cooper Cutting
