University of Vermont
PA-4: Diversity and Equity Coordination

The President's Commission for Inclusive Excellence (PCIE) is an institutional advisory board at the University of Vermont, whose primary mission is to advance the strategic diversity and inclusion goals of the University of Vermont. The primary functions and responsibilities of the PCIE are to: Promote the integration of the tenets in Our Common Ground throughout the culture, operations, and functions of the University of Vermont. Create, advise and recommend priorities for strategic diversity engagement at all levels and in all areas of the University of Vermont. Track emerging diversity issues at the University of Vermont. Review, update, monitor, and endorse major institutional documents and initiatives through a diversity lens (i.e., the strategic diversity plan). Meet with the University of Vermont President each semester to discuss strategic diversity engagement at the University of Vermont. Make an annual presentation/report to the institution’s senior leadership (i.e., Vice Presidents and Deans) about the University’s progress on advancing strategic institutional diversity goals. Provide opportunities for members of the University of Vermont community to share their thoughts, concerns, and ideas regarding diversity and inclusion at the University of Vermont.

Students: All (through diversity requirement) Staff: Most (covered as part of new Staff Orientation, plus additional optional training offered by Professional Development & Training and Blackboard Jungle Symposium. Faculty: Some (covered as part of new Staff Orientation, plus additional optional training offered by Professional Development & Training. Center for Cultural Pluralism, Blackboard Jungle Symposium and Center for Teaching and Learning. ----------------------- Developing a Diversity Plan - Overall Objectives: The session seeks to give basic tools for beginning the development of a diversity plan. This session will introduce a template for developing a plan for your department and discuss the best practices involved in deploying that plan. In addition to a robust question and answer period, this session will discuss the on and off campus resources available to you. Gender 101 - Exploring the Impact: Roles, Sterotypes and the Binary with the Everyday:Overall Objectives: Gender inequity impacts all of us, this workshop will demonstrate how and why that is the case; as well as provide some tools for recognizing gender inequity in our own lives and the lives of others. This workshop is highly interactive and discussion based and will give participants tools and opportunity to explore the impact a binary gender system (male vs. female, masculine vs. feminine) has upon our everyday lived experiences and cultures. Introduction to Culture: Overall Objectives: The session explores the meaning of culture. What is it? Does everyone have it? Can it change? How is it developed? Through a variety of examples and discussion of our personal and collective experiences we will work to develop a better understand of culture and the impact it has on organizations and people. The objective is for us all to gain a basic ability to analyze our own meanings of culture for human interactions, for our work, and the processes from which our meanings are constructed. LGBTQA Vocabulary and Identity 101: Overall Objectives: This interactive session will create an introductory framework around LGBTQA* identities. Participants will explore allyship and challenges around language. The Wilderness of White Privilege: Overall Objectives: This workshop will explore the reality of white privilege through the lens of wildlife tracking with its emphasis on the role and function of baselines in nature. It will discuss the impact of white privilege on non-white people by looking at the subtle nature of how this privilege plays out in the everyday lived experience. This workshop will offer the opportunity to achieve greater awareness and empathy of what it may be like to forever be apart from the baseline. What is Gender Identity and Why Does it Matter?: Overall Objectives: This interactive session will deconstruct gender identity from the male/female binary. Participants will learn more about language and identities. Participants will also explore how “gender” expectations are formed, how people think about/experience gender, and the limitations of gender What is Prejudice Really? (Part 1): Overall Objectives: This two-part course explores the development of prejudice from a Western scholarly viewpoint. The concepts of bias, discrimination, hatred, genocide and prejudice are key themes in the study of human behavior and attitude. We seek to better understand the emotions and behavioral expressions associated with prejudice. The study of prejudice seeks to empower us to more clearly understand its role in our own lives and those we interact with. What is Prejudice Really? (Part 2): Overall Objectives: This two-part course explores the development of prejudice from a Western scholarly viewpoint. The concepts of bias, discrimination, hatred, genocide and prejudice are key themes in the study of human behavior and attitude. We seek to better understand the emotions and behavioral expressions associated with prejudice. The study of prejudice seeks to empower us to more clearly understand its role in our own lives and those we interact with. The session explores the development of prejudice from a Western viewpoint. It is a term used often but not always well defined. We will look at what is and is not prejudice using our own definitions. This session will help with conversations about bias and discrimination as compared to personal preferences. Come expecting conversation and having to “play” with ideas. What is Race and Why Does it Matter? (Part 1): Overall Objectives: This two-part introductory course focuses on providing a basic understanding of the factors that form our understanding of race and racial groups. How is race constructed and given meanings? This course focuses on institutional and individual factors. It will begin with an exploration of the origin of “race” and look at the impact of those ideas in practice. There will be one assignment in advance of the first meeting required and advance readings (two) for part two. We will have some short films, exercises and opportunities for discussion. What is Race and Why Does it Matter? (Part 2): Overall Objectives: This two-part introductory course focuses on providing a basic understanding of the factors that form our understanding of race and racial groups. How is race constructed and given meanings? This course focuses on institutional and individual factors. It will begin with an exploration of the origin of “race” and look at the impact of those ideas in practice. There will be one assignment in advance of the first meeting required and advance readings (two) for part two. We will have some short films, exercises and opportunities for discussion. When Meetings Go Unexpected Places: Overall Objectives: The purpose of this session is to share a reflective model for assessing contexts in which such difficult conversations might arise and provide a framework for selecting effective responses with the goal of fostering a more culturally relevant and just environment. Through application of the model, we begin to create a new vocabulary and new set of questions that invited us to think differently about the moments in which difficult conversations arise.Session will look at some basic preventive measure and concepts for balancing the overall group dynamic challenges in the meetings or similar settings. The Culturally Responsive Classrooms: Maximizing UVM’s Intercultural Opportunities with Dr. Marie-Terese Claes: Many of us teach classes or deal with students that are culturally and nationally diverse. This seminar addresses issues linked to teaching culturally diverse students: the subject matter, the diverse backgrounds, expectations, and changing composition of audiences we meet in our University, and finally, the role and responsibilities of the instructors and administrators. The seminar will explore the following topics in an interactive way: Awareness of one’s own culture Understanding of collectivist cultures and Chinese cultural concepts Thinking processes: Dialectical Thinking vs. Yin-Yang approach The concept of Face Diversity and Inclusion Understanding Interfaith and Spiritual and Religious Identities in Higher Education with Kenneth I. Clark: The workshop will focus on fostering a climate for religious and spiritual diversity at institutions of Higher Education in the USA. Four key questions will be examined: What are key concepts or policies impacting religion and spirituality on campus ? What are best practices for advancing engagement with religious and spiritual diversity? What terminology has been either challenging or helpful regarding interfaith issues? What types of professional development and training has been beneficial to campuses?