2005-2006 Diversity Inventory
This inventory begins to scratch the surface of the extent of diversity activities and programs at Simmons. It reflects extensive work over the Spring 05 semester by a graduate intern, assisted by contributions from over 33 faculty and staff from across the Simmons community. If your program or department's contribution did not show up in this version of the inventory, be sure to share your activities for the next revision.Since the kind of information collected for this inventory is constantly evolving, this document can only reflect a specific moment in time. In the next phase of this project, scheduled to begin in July 2006, the Diversity Council (TDC) aims to create a more systematic method for gathering information and disseminating it to the community. TDC welcomes your ideas on the best way to collect and present information, and how to make the results most accessible to the community at large. Please send your recommendations to diversity@simmons.edu.
How To Use This Inventory
There are many exciting and innovative events and programs supporting diversity that happen at Simmons every day, from recruitment and retention activities, to training, to lectures and co-curricular events. We have academic and professional experts in disability law, multicultural care giving, gay marriage and much more. There are student, faculty and staff organizations for various ethnic, religious and other traditionally underrepresented groups.
We hope that by highlighting many of these resources, we are providing you with a directory of possible contacts for doing something in your department, school or unit. For example, if you are looking for a speaker to come to a staff meeting, check out internal Simmons experts listed under Expertise. Or if you would like to co-sponsor an event, see the listing of some of what happened at Simmons last academic year - there's an amazing variety of internal talent to learn from, and willing partners to work together to bring in external people and activities.
Our hope is that this inventory will provide a springboard for the sharing of ideas and creation of new events, activities and collaborations that help us to realize our goal of building a diverse community of faculty, staff and students at Simmons in order to enhance learning and prepare students for citizenship, leadership and the professions.
Categories of Information in the Inventory
The inventory is arranged to match the five initiatives in the college-wide Diversity Action Plan:
Campus Climate
Organizations: There are more than 30 organizations dedicated to one or more aspects of diversity on campus. The impact of the work done by many of these organizations reaches well beyond the boundaries of Simmons College. These groups help the College to sustain relationships with diverse community organizations and networks throughout Boston and beyond. For complete information, see the Organizations Appendix.
Events: Simmons held over 217 events on campus geared towards diversity from 9/04-9/05, sponsored by a range of student, academic, administrative and external organizations. See the Events Appendix, Diversity Events from Campus Announcements Appendix, and Student Events Appendix for more information.
Surveys: There are a number of current or ongoing surveys of constituents to determine affiliations and interests, research studies on diversity topics, and changes to Simmons physical and technological facilities to accommodate students, faculty and staff of diverse backgrounds and learning styles. See the Surveys Appendix for sample projects.
What Diversity Means and How to Put it into Practice
Training: Many departments have integrated diversity training into their professional development activities, often through collaboration with other Simmons departments and organizations. The list is far from exhaustive, but is a good representation of inter-departmental collaboration, departmental trainings and programs, and institution-wide trainings, see the Training Appendix.
Recruitment and Retention
Recruiting diverse students, faculty and staff is a priority across campus. The summary represents the formal recruiting and retention efforts that take place at Simmons. Many departments also noted that more informal, networking-based recruitment was an important strategy for them. For information on faculty, staff and student recruitment and retention, see the Recruitment and Retention Appendix.
Curricular and Co-curricular Activities
Academics: Seventeen academic programs have a primary focus on diversity or on working with diverse communities. In addition, many programs seek to integrate diversity into course options. For more in-depth descriptions, see Academics Appendix.
Scholarly Activities
Expertise: The inventory defines "individual expertise" as individuals who have published work, conducted research, or conducted presentations or trainings about issues related to diversity. Biographical information on 64 faculty and staff who are considered to be experts in a diversity-related field is included in the inventory (See Expertise Appendix). This is a quick glimpse into some of the many areas of expertise that individuals at Simmons possess.