Commitments made by IT SLT following unconscious bias training

In support of IT’s commitment to be a Workplace of Choice, and at the recommendation of the Climate, Culture, and Inclusion (CCI) Task Force, IT senior leaders and managers attended the “Creating an Environment of Mutual Respect for Managers” course, offered by the Office of Diversity and Inclusion. The course, which was attended on October 7 and October 17, addressed the issue of respect in the workplace and taught ways of empowering work teams to address and deal with disrespectful workplace behavior, to build and sustain a healthy, respectful, and productive work environment.

As a result of this training, as well as recent unconscious bias training and information gained from Gartner and EDUCAUSE conferences over the last quarter, the IT Senior Leadership Team (SLT) is pursuing a series of changes that will positively impact IT’s workplace, including: 

• Requesting that CCI hold a workshop on diversity interviewing, to ensure that hiring managers are equipped to support diversity and inclusion practices as part of their hiring process. 
• Conducting diversity succession planning reviews on a quarterly basis.
• Incorporating diversity and inclusion topics into the IT speaker series.
• Augmenting our hiring practices, such as using a job description screening tool, conducting blind resume reviews, and leveraging diverse interview panels as part of the hiring process. 
• Inviting IT recruiters to join the Baseline & Goals action team.

Progress updates will be provided at future IT Leadership Team meetings as well as in IT Update.