Upon arrival in July 2020, the Dean's team began a needs and opportunity assessment, along with engaging friends and donors. One particular area emerged as a shared passion and priority - diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). The college reaffirms our commitment to drive growth in these areas. We espouse a culture of inclusiveness in our teaching, learning, and decision-making, and an appreciation for diverse perspectives and backgrounds, along with equitable access to resources that support faculty/staff development and student learning. The following actions will bring to fruition our aspirations in this are of strategic importance. The CoBT created a Societal Impact Plan to underscore the importance of this area.
Action Steps
1: Involve Minority-Owned Businesses in the Center for Innovation
1: Seek out minority-owned businesses in the middle GA area to involve in the Center for Innovation, HIP's, and possibly formalized large company partnerships
Initial luncheon held March 2024
- Champions:
DEI Team; CoBT GC Journeys Fellow; Center for Innovation Director - Goals/Target Dates:
AY 2023-24 - Key Performance Indicators:
Number of Minority owned companies engaged
Student success measures such as the number of students involved in HIPs with these organizations - Resources Needed:
$500 advertising opportunities to engage
2: Faculty Recruitment
2: Faculty Recruitment - Seek open-rank searches and participate in a cluster hire program
Ongoing
- Champions:
Dean; Chairs; Provost - Goals/Target Dates:
FY23 - request that faculty positions be open-rank so that we may engage a more diverse pool of candidates
FY23-25 - collaborate with the office of the Provost to secure a new faculty line (or identify resources to redirect) for a cluster hire - Key Performance Indicators:
Open rank finance search was held in Fall 2023
Number of hires from underrepresented backgrounds - Resources Needed:
Costs vary by discipline in regard to recruitment
$85,000-120,000 for new faculty line
3: Promise Scholarship
3: Promise Scholarship
There is tremendous energy to develop and implement a holistic, equitable approach to creating educational, social, and economic mobility for underrepresented, first-generation, and minority youth
Donor prospects are being cultivated with plans to secure support in FY24
- Champions:
Dean; Director of the Center for Economic Education; Advancement; Admissions - Goals/Target Dates:
FY23 - Proposal development and donor/prospect engagement
FY24 - inaugural scholarship recipient
FY25 - continued fundraising and engagement to generate additional scholarships - Key Performance Indicators:
Number of donors and/or organizational sponsors
Number of applicants; first-year retention; sophomore retention
Time to graduation - Resources Needed:
$150,000 (endowment for a single scholarship);
$25,000 gift for first-year implementation
4: Student/Faculty Participation
4: Support student/faculty participation in DEI-related conferences and professional development
Ongoing
- Champions:
CoBT GC Journeys Fellow; DEI Team; Associate Dean - Goals/Target Dates:
FY23 - Proposal Development and donor/prospect engagement
FY23 - Double participation rate for student/faculty attendance at the Richard Tapia Diversity in Computing conference
FY23-27 - goal of funding 20 students to attend the annual Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computer conference.
FY23-27 fund attendance of at least two faculty/staff to DEI conference(s) - Key Performance Indicators:
$13,170 has been raised for GHC YTD through 15 donors. In 2023, we had 25 women, as well as four members of our faculty, attend the GHC. Four male students of color and one faculty member attended TAPIA in 2023. These HIPs have been identified as a priority area for the GC Giving Days in April 2024. In 2023, GC WIT had 23 women hosting 25 girls and five teachers from five local high schools. In 2024, 30 GC women served as hosts for 20 girls and 5 teachers from four local high schools. The COBT has held diversity workshops for faculty in Fall 2023 and Spring 2024, with a summer inclusivity reading for all faculty and continued workshops planned for 2024-2025. Additionally, we sent one faculty member to the AACSB Diversity Summit in May of 2023, and are sending a faculty member to attend and present at the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education (NCORE) in 2023 and 2024. - Resources Needed:
$25,000 in donor funds