91制片厂

Jaime Nolan likes good conversation. In her role as associate vice president for community, equity and diversity, she converses a lot, and with many different people. And, like any good conversationalist, she鈥檚 also a keen listener. Listening is what Nolan has been doing a lot of in recent months. This past fall, she and the 91制片厂 spearheaded a series of conversations on all three 91制片厂 campuses with the aim of finding out how 91制片厂 can foster a learning community that is safe, inclusive and equitable for all. 听

The series, dubbed Conversations at the Crossroads, drew more than 200 community members 鈥� faculty, staff and students 鈥� who took part in facilitated small-group discussions during which they shared what community means to them, what the ideal 91制片厂 community looks like and their ideas about how to make 91制片厂 campuses more inclusive places. A summarizes the conversations, and 91制片厂 Today sat down with Nolan to find out more and learn what comes next.

91制片厂 Today: What鈥檚 the idea behind these conversations?

Nolan: 91制片厂 has a deep commitment to supporting an inclusive and diverse community 鈥� it鈥檚 one of the institutional values outlined in our strategic plan. When the results of an independent evaluation of Title IX efforts last spring revealed that 91制片厂 could be doing more to build a welcoming community, President Mark Huddleston called for the establishment of a task force made up of faculty, staff and students to examine what 91制片厂 understands 鈥渃ommunity鈥� to mean. The idea was to identify steps the university could take to both walk the walk on our institutional values and comply with federal regulations. We kicked off a conversation series in November to engage dialogue on all three campuses.

91制片厂 Today: You鈥檝e just released the summary report. What happens next?

Nolan: We鈥檙e going to take what we鈥檝e learned and create an action plan 鈥� a meaningful action plan that has lines of accountability. We鈥檙e moving into phase two for the task force, which will be charged with doing this through the spring and summer. The action plan will guide our execution of the important work to come. We鈥檒l begin implementation in the fall. 听

91制片厂 Today: According to the summary report, those who participated in the conversations expressed a need for 鈥渃larification and realization鈥� of 91制片厂 values and priorities for inclusion and equity. What does this mean?

Nolan: What we heard from participants across all campuses was that there seems to be a disconnect between the things we say 鈥� our mission statements, diversity statements and so on 鈥� and what is reality, what we do. The community wants us to be more clear about what is aspirational in such statements, i.e., "This is what we hope to achieve," so our aspirations are not construed as what is reality at this time. We also need to be forthcoming and transparent about challenges and where we have fallen short.

91制片厂 Today: The report highlights actions the university could take to forward its efforts in equity and inclusion. Is there any low-hanging fruit? Anything we can go after right away, even before the action plan is complete?

Nolan: Yes. One of the things that kept coming up in the conversations was the need for a process that people can follow if they see something of concern, whether a bias incident or something else, to be able to report it. And we do have that; it鈥檚 called While it works really well on the Manchester campus, elsewhere it鈥檚 perceived as not being fully functional. So we鈥檙e pulling together a group of people to reevaluate it, relaunch it and get it out there in a way that will be more meaningful and accessible to the community. That鈥檚 a relatively easy thing to do.

91制片厂 Today: The report also reveals that community members feel a strong need for more 鈥渆ducation and training opportunities for everyone on all three campuses鈥� in the areas of equity and inclusion. Could you see 91制片厂 following through on this, and if so, what would this look like?

Nolan: I think we could definitely follow through on it, and there are a variety of ways to make this happen. We could offer seminars around such topics as "classrooms as inclusive communities" or "how to build an inclusive course" or "how to navigate difficult dialogue in the classroom." We could offer an enlightening speaker series or a shared reading. We already have a social justice educators program on campus, where training is offered to the 91制片厂 community. I think that if we continue to build on what we鈥檝e started and explore what kinds of new educational opportunities can be developed, we can achieve this. Again, it鈥檚 important to acknowledge that there have been many similar initiatives in the past. It鈥檚 so important to the sustainability of these kinds of efforts that they are not person-dependent. They need to be institutionalized so as not to lose momentum and/or disappear.

91制片厂 Today: Along the same lines, one of the suggestions highlighted in the report calls for making courses on social identity, diversity and social justice for-credit in order to motivate more students to enroll. Could that become a reality?

Nolan: That鈥檚 actually another piece of low-hanging fruit. There has been a lot of work, done well before I got here, to make these kinds of courses part of the discovery program.

91制片厂 Today: These conversations occurred during a time of intense national discourse on similar issues 鈥� equity, inclusiveness, civility. How did that impact the process, if at all?

The Student Perspective

Many students were among the campus community members who took part in the community conversations last fall, lending critical perspective that will inform the forthcoming action plan. But what did they get out of it? We asked Nolan how conversations such as these help prepare 91制片厂 students for the world they will enter when they graduate. Here鈥檚 what she said:

When our students move out into the world, they will need to have the tools to be able to communicate across any chasm of difference, to be able to sit in their discomfort. Conversations like the ones they took part in last fall help them experience this. As an educator and a parent I feel a huge commitment to making this kind of education available to all of our students.

Nolan: I think we were 鈥� and still are听鈥� at a really interesting and critical point. With all that has gone on nationally 鈥� the Black Lives Matter movement, protests across the country about various issues including free speech and civility 鈥� how do we come together on all of that? There鈥檚 so much possibility when people come together across all of that difficulty. But that鈥檚 the challenge 鈥� getting people to be willing to muck around in uncomfortable conversations, to say, "Let鈥檚 put on our boots and roll up our sleeves; it鈥檚 going to be tough for a while, but it鈥檚 going to be great when we can move things to a better place." You can鈥檛 create a beautiful garden without doing some of that.

91制片厂 Today: During the conversations, participants broke into small groups for facilitated discussions. Individuals in one such group asserted that tough conversations should be 鈥渃urious, not furious.鈥� What does a description like that say to you?

Nolan: I love that. And, actually, curiosity is so central. Often times when I鈥檓 working with groups, we talk about distinguishing between curiosity and judgment. If I鈥檓 curious about who you are, anything鈥檚 possible. I want to know more, and I鈥檓 way more likely to find the thread of commonality. If I鈥檓 sitting back judging, being defensive or furious, nothing gets in. If curiosity is there, there鈥檚 possibility for connection, and when there鈥檚 that, there鈥檚 potential empathy. For me, that鈥檚 the game-changer.

91制片厂 Today: One participant commented that the campus conversations were 鈥渁 great start鈥� but that more needs to happen both in terms of the number of people participating as well as overall awareness about these issues. Do you agree or disagree?

Nolan: I agree. I think we need to keep having conversations. This is part of our ongoing education and training 鈥� to keep talking, to go where the discomfort is, to lean into the tensions 鈥� because that is where all the possibilities are.听