January 15, 2019
Elevating EDI for all Libraries staff
Equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) themes are prominent in the Libraries Strategic Plan, Spanning our values statements, strategic directions, and goals (as well as the UW’s values and priorities), several Cabinet members and I are developing an EDI initiative that aims to achieve multiple, related goals: fostering an equitable and inclusive staff culture; improving communication to foster equitable ways of working; and investing in staff development to support our changing university.
In the coming months, all Libraries staff will be invited to reflect on their accomplishments, goals, and professional interests regarding equity, diversity, and inclusion. The compilation of feedback will provide insight into our collective EDI work and be used to shape our Libraries professional-learning programming around EDI.
Initiative outcomes:
- Creating institutional support for reflecting on one’s learning and accomplishments related to improving the climate for underrepresented/marginalized groups
- Providing information to supervisors about training needs and interests of staff on a range of topics related to EDI (e.g., intercultural understanding, community engagement, multicultural networking, learning a new language, technology accessibility).
- Providing information to Libraries Organization Development and Training and the Diversity Advisory Committee about staff development and learning needs and opportunities.
- Providing information to units to inform their ongoing work in advancing the relevant equity components of the strategic plan.
- Raising the visibility of our collective work on this area.
- Identifying opportunities across-unit initiatives to address Libraries goals.
Following a soft roll-out in the spring, Cabinet expects to fully implement the EDI reflection initiative in the 2019-2020 academic year.
