Diversity at Simmons: Enriching Our Community
Recent Diversity Announcements
Black Student Summit-June 7, 2008-Kotzen Meeting Room (June 06, 2008)
Black Students Summit (May 27, 2008)
Got Inclusion? Panel Part II Tomorrow (Wednesday)!! (April 29, 2008)
Vision/Statement of Values:
As an academic community which integrates the pursuit of the life of the mind with the leadership and analytical skills needed by our graduates to make their own critical and constructive contributions as professionals, scholars and engaged citizens, Simmons College broadly defines diversity to include race, gender, national origin, ethnicity, religion, social class, age, sexual orientation, and physical and learning ability. The College is committed to embracing diversity. We must: ensure that the organization has inclusive leadership, policies and practices;
- integrate diversity into the curriculum, co-curricular programming, admissions, and other activities;
- foster an open, dynamic and critical intellectual environment of respect, civil engagement, and dialogue about differences; and
- increase representation of traditionally underrepresented groups of students, faculty, and staff.
The Diversity Council (TDC)
The Diversity Council, a representative body of the Simmons community, is committed to a culture that fosters awareness and inclusiveness where community members are empowered and committed to an inclusive agenda. The Diversity Council will create and support the development of innovative ideas, effective strategies, and allocation of resources to recruit and retain diverse students, staff, and faculty.
TDC's immediate role is to advise schools and units on their Diversity Actions Plans (DAP) and plan for implementation. By creating a DAP that addresses college-wide initiatives, the Diversity Council will assess both short- and long-term priorities relating to diversity and lead a process that sets a future direction.
TDC Will:
- Determine effective ways to ensure ownership for building a diverse community
- Define an accountability system including auditing diversity activities, assessing outcomes, and measuring success
- Recommend to the President's Council and participate in a process to allocate new College-wide funds to support implementation of specific diversity initiatives
- Ensure broad participation and on-going communication internally and externally about diversity planning, strategies, and successes including reporting annually to the Board of Trustees.
Members of TDC
- Stacy Blake-Beard, SOM
- Jeanais Brodie, Student Life
- Wendy Brown, Graduate Student GSLIS
- Catherine Capolupo, Undergraduate Admissions
- Donna Dolan, Registrar
- Desne Crossly, Advancement
- Sheri Ettinger, Student Counseling
- Patricia Fernandez, Undergraduate Student Rep.
- Elliot Fox, Human Resources
- Robert Gilman, Public Safety
- Denise Haile, Admissions, SOM
- Todd Herriott, Academic Support
- Annette Iglarsh, GSHS
- Kalimah Knight, Marketing
- Michael Melendez, Faculty SSW
- Sandra Northurp, Administration GSHS
- Delia Pollack, Graduate Student, SOM
- Patricia Rissmiller, GSHS, Faculty Senate
- Lisa Smith McQueenie- Associate Dean – Student Life Chair
- Tien Ung, SSW
If you have comments, please feel free email diversity@simmons.edu or to contact any one of the members of TDC directly.
Diversity Action Plan Funding Awards 2008
The Diversity Council made awards totaling $250,000 for 22 initiatives in FY ’08 to build and support a diverse community at Simmons. Following is a summary of the projects that received funding:Administration & Planning $26,600
- $3,950 to provide cultural diversity training for officers and staff of Public Safety.
- $7,650 to continue English as a Second Language (ESL) programming for contract employees.
- $15,000 for outreach and competitive recruitment for diverse staff for Technology.
Advancement $27,500
- $7,500 to subsidize the registration fee for up to 75 student registrations for the 2008 Black Symposium.
- $20,000 for Mosaic Multicultural Mentoring Program, which matches diverse sophomores and juniors with diverse alumnae mentors for job-shadowing, networking, and mentoring.
CAS $32,000
- $32,000 to increase recruitment in areas with high percentages of students of color and where demographic projections indicate a rise in the population of college-bound ALANA students.
College-wide/TDC $39,200
- $14,700 for diversity training for faculty.
- $4,500 for college-wide diversity event hosted by TDC.
- $2,000 for sponsorships of diversity events hosted by groups other than TDC.
- $3,000 for an assessment of TDC Activities and college-wide Diversity Action Plans.
- $4,000 to update, improve and market the Simmons internal diversity inventory.
- $4,500 to develop a college-wide communication plan for diversity initiatives - marketing and publicity for TDC and diversity at Simmons.
- $6,500 to provide training for The Diversity Council.
GSLIS $26,480
- $26,480 to increase students of color in the GSLIS Archives Management Program, through recruitment and retention, including mentoring, and practical work experience in the College Archives.
Marketing $30,000
- $30,000 to perform market research on the higher education needs, values, and preferences of ethnic minorities, and to analyze our current outreach efforts.
SHS $9,732
- $9,732 to identify barriers to success for minority students in the Nursing Program to improve academic success and minority student retention.
SOM $20,000
- $20,000 for recruitment of diverse students for the new BA/MBA accelerated program.
SSW $9,904
- $9,904 to develop a working partnership with Bennett College, a historically black college for women.
Student Life $28,000
- $7,000 for Crossroads: A mid-Year intervention to improve the academic performance of first-year students with low grades.
- $5,500 for continued recruitment of ALANA student athletes.
- $7,500 for Extension of the FACES (First Years Appreciation of Cultural Experiences at Simmons) Program.
- $8,000 for SMART TEAMS (Simmons Mentoring and Retention Teams): establishing and maintaining ongoing mentoring relationships between prospective students of color, current students and faculty and staff.
Diversity Action Plan Funding Awards 2006-2007
The Diversity Council made awards totaling $250,000 for 23 initiatives in FY '06, and $250,000 for 19 initiatives in FY '07 to support the implementation of our diversity action plans. Every school and unit, as well as the Deans Council and TDC received funding. Following is a summary of the projects that received funding:
Advancement $73,500
- $52,000 to build on preliminary diversity training program and serve as the pilot for developing the diversity training program for all managers at Simmons to develop an inclusive workplace and develop skilled managers to lead more diverse teams.
- $21,500 to expand mentoring program for current students that links racially diverse students with alumnae/i mentors.
Administration & Planning $5,400
- $5,400 to provide an English as a Second Language (ESL) program to contract employees.
CAS $124,948
- $47,500 to increase recruitment efforts in areas with high percentages of students of color and where demographic projections indicate a rise in student of color college-bound populations.
- $14,453 Graduate admission diversity recruitment (advertising more effectively (e.g., journals for professionals of color, newspapers, and trade magazines for communities of color, etc.) and developing alternative career fairs in community locations.
- $58,994 to fund internship programs for diverse student populations, targeted to undergraduate and graduate students with disabilities to give them work experience and professional mentoring while they are in school so that they will be better prepared for professional employment upon graduation.
- $4,000 for GEAR UP and Admissions to increase the number of Boston Public School students at Simmons.
Deans Council $25,000
- $25,000 to develop a multidisciplinary course, “Perspectives on Diversity in a Global Society.”
Finance/Human Resources $47,903
- $2,903 towards the development of diversity recruitment strategy.
- $45,000 to provide required diversity awareness training for all employees.
GSLIS $10,000
- $10,000 to design a recruitment program targeting paraprofessionals of color for the GSLIS Archives Management Program.
Marketing $55,000
- $5,000 for an annual membership in the Latino Professional Network
- $$50,000 to increase multicultural outreach to prospective staff and students by advising admissions offices and HR, through the Marketing Council, on targeted marketing techniques and venues.
SHS $10,050
- $10,050 to work with a consultant to develop a program to advance the professional identity development and campus-based concerns of our students of color, and promote development of an ongoing model for maintaining such activities in the future, whether through a student organization or other mentoring model.
SOM $61,950
- $50,000 to develop a 2-year focused effort on recruiting women of color Dix Scholar candidates for the undergraduate management program, and cultivating these students for the new BA/MBA combined degree program.
- $2,950 to sponsor registration fees for students to attend the National Black MBA conference held annually.
- $9,000 to provide three internships for undergraduate students who are majoring in management to work for a semester in the business of a woman of color entrepreneur.
SSW $11,500
- $5,000 to provide paid positions to utilize current ALANA SSW students in the recruitment process.
- $6,500 to create a new marketing brochure detailing our commitment to diversity and purchasing lists for direct mail and e-mail marketing campaigns.
Student Life $31,750
- $10,000 to establish ongoing mentoring relationships between prospective students of color, current students and faculty and staff.
- $7,000 to continue the First Years' Appreciation of Cultural Experiences at Simmons (FACES) Orientation program which demonstrates the importance of diversity in the Simmons community, for all incoming first-year and transfer students.
- $5,750 to staff and support a multi-faith organization designed to raise awareness of issues of religious pluralism on campus.
- $9,000 for recruitment of athletes of diverse backgrounds.
TDC $43,000
- $15,000 to publicize the diversity activities that are taking place on campus and create opportunities for members of the College community to come together to view progress and discuss challenges.
- $5,000 to update, improve and market the Simmons internal diversity inventory.
- $10,000 to hire a consultant to assist TDC with big picture strategic diversity planning, and the next iteration of the Diversity Action Plans.
- $13,000 to create two diversity training sessions: one for faculty (from all the schools) in and one for members of President's Council.
Other Information
Committee materials for The Diversity Council
Feedback:
Please feel free to provide us with feedback by emailing diversity@simmons.edu