Dear, DSA,

As we continue to ramp up preparations for the first day of class, I want to be sure our diversity and inclusion work is not lost in the shuffle.

I am hopeful that you saw in the July 24 issue of UNT Today that as part of UNT’s work implementing its Action Plan for Improving Diversity and Inclusion on Campus the Division of Institutional Equity & Diversity is working with me to determine the number of hours required for training and which training courses will be most beneficial for the staff and faculty in our area.

I have asked the DSA Diversity Council to assist in determining the appropriate hours and trainings for us and more information will be coming to you soon.

Diversity and Inclusion is recommending a mix of live in-person or virtual trainings, as well as a selection of available online trainings, for faculty and staff. 

A few things to note:

• Equal Opportunity training on discrimination and harassment is not Diversity and Inclusion training and will not count toward this training requirement.
• Faculty and staff will be required to complete the specified number of hours and trainings each Vice President mandates for their area, but also are more than welcome to complete any additional trainings offered by Diversity and Inclusion or through LinkedIn Learning.
• For employees who have discipline-based requirements, the individual also must fulfill the divisional requirements for that — unless explicitly waived by the Vice President after setting training requirements for their division.

Visit Diversity and Inclusion or contact diversity.inclusion@unt.edu.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to fill out the Diversity Training Assessment. The results are still being analyzed but so far we know that 85 percent of those who responded found the trainings to be effective. We will have a more detailed report next month, but I feel more confident in our ability to find additional online trainings that are beneficial to our learning, especially in our current COVID environment.

The directors in the Division have been reading “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria” and I’m grateful for Russell Bouyer and Sara Ousby in leading our discussions on the book. We will finish the book and our discussions in the upcoming months and if any of you have an interest in the book, we will be able to hand our copies down to you.

We are also starting to review the results of our Division’s Climate Survey. As we review, I will seek the guidance of the Diversity Council in determining our next steps for staff. In a future Division-wide meeting we will summarize results and discuss further.

Please remember you can still order your diversity-related book. For those of you that haven’t yet, please take advantage of this resource and place your order, and don’t forget to check out our Diversity and Inclusion website.

Thank you all for the hard work towards these crucial initiatives.

Take care,

Elizabeth With, Ed.D.

Vice President for Student Affairs